THE SADDLEMAKER'S WIFE

Author: Earlene Fowler ISBN: 9780709082712 6/2007 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: ROBERT HALE LTD.

Ruby McGavin isn't quite sure what she's doing in the small town of Cardinal. After the death of her husband, Cole, Ruby is shocked to learn from his will that she had inherited part of a cattle ranch. But she is even more surprised to find out that the family he claimed died years ago is very much alive. With her own family history still haunting her, Ruby arrives in town with her husband's ashes, intending on selling her part of the ranch back to the McGavins and leaving town to start a new life. But as she comes to know them, in particular the handsome saddlemaker Lucas McGavin, Ruby learns even more surprising family secrets about her departed husband and his family that make her wonder if she ever really knew Cole. Driven to uncover the whole story, Ruby tries to piece together the lies she was told with the truths she's not sure she can believe, and uncovers a legacy of pain and denial that has pursued the McGavin family for too long...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I have been a fan of Earlene Fowler's writing for many years. She is an author whose stories are full-bodied and vivid, with characters whose layers are many, engaged in plots that are never dull. THE SADDLEMAKER'S WIFE is another brilliant novel by an incredible writer. I loved it, and I know it will be like so many of Earlene Fowler's other books that are in my library-read time and again.

This story has a different tone than others written by this author. Ruby McGavin travels to Cardinal to put her husband to rest. He, along with most of her worldly possessions, is in the car she's driving. His urn belongs, she believes, with his family-the family he hid from her during their short marriage. Apparently Cole kept a number of other things from Ruby, too. Following a journey that is at times intensely spiritual, she learns all she can about her husband, and comes face-to-face with realizations about herself and the people she meets in Cardinal as well. Ruby goes from having no one to finding a whole town full of people who will care for her, if she's willing to let them.

Earlene Fowler is an expert at weaving realistic interpersonal relationships into complex plots. THE SADDLEMAKER’S WIFE is another example of her monumental talent. It was impossible not to be moved by this book, both to tears and laughter. Ruby, and the people she meets, experience the whole range of life's emotions, and all within the confines of this volume. Earlene Fowler's fans will not be disappointed in this book. She will, I suspect, gather quite a few new fans, as well. THE SADDLEMAKER’S WIFE is just too great not to cause a stir!

Kay James