y grandmother died in 1977. The reason this is significant is (hat, in handling the grief of losing her, I needed to know more about the stages of grief, the very nature of grief, so I could understand it better. I’m positive (here are guardian angels, because whenever I need to know more about something, no matter what the subject, I am suddenly flooded with articles and material about that subject I can pick up almost any magazine and find a pertinent article. It’s weird, but I’ve stopped questioning it. I guess my guardian angel knows that, since I’m a writer, this is the best way to reach me, and the easiest way for me to understand something.

In the process of learning about grief and how it can affect you, a germ of an idea was born. This germ took several years to grow, but one day the thought was crystal clear in my head: what happens when a really strong man is dealt a blow so devastating that most people wouldn’t be able to bear it? How does he bear the grief?

This is Rome Matthews’ story; he’s (he center of the book, because he’s the man who lost his entire family. I remember, when the book first came out, some readers didn’t like it because he had been attracted to Sarah even while his wife, to whom he was faithful, was still alive. To me, it shows more character for a man to remain faithful even though he does find another woman attractive, than it does if there had been no temptation. After all, it’s always easier not to eat if you aren’t hungry in the first place! Rome is a man of strong character, a man who is trying to deal with his pain and a man who finds the strength to love again.

Rome is a hero, and Sarah is the woman who was special enough, understanding enough, to pull him out of the darkness of his grief.

I hope you enjoy the book.