Book Review: Composing Amelia

Title:  Composing Amelia
Author:  Alison Strobel
Where I got it:  From NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review

Amazon Summary:

Can a brand-new marriage withstand the weight of generations-old baggage?

Newlyweds Amelia and Marcus Sheffield are recent college grads, trying to stay afloat in LA while searching for their dream jobs. Marcus hopes to become a mega-church pastor. Amelia has an esteemed music degree, and longs to play piano professionally. The Sheffields are clearly city people.

But when a small town church offers Marcus a job, the couple’s dedication to their dreams and each other is tested. After a risky compromise is made, Amelia falls into a dark emotional place, where she finds skeletons she’d fought hard to deny. In desperation, she calls out to God. But why can’t she find Him? While Amelia struggles, Marcus learns news that nearly crushes him. He must lean on his faith to withstand the pressure… or risk losing his wife forever.

My Thoughts:

Although this is the first book by Alison Strobel that I've read, now that I've looked I recognize several other titles by her, and after reading Composing Amelia, I will definitely be checking them out.

Amelia and Marcus are newlyweds struggling to make ends meet when they both receive career opportunities that conflict.  Amelia's dream has always been to perform piano, and Marcus is a minister just out of seminary looking for a job.  Not long after Amelia receives her first paying performance job in California, Marcus is asked to interview for a prestigious position in a small town in Nebraska.  This conflict begins a series of events for the couple that will cause questions of faith, challenge the marriage, and ultimately force them to discover who they really are, both as individuals and as a couple.  

I completely identified with Amelia throughout this book, for a lot of reasons.  First, I empathize with her desire for independence, for her own career, and for a sense of partnership with her spouse, rather than an unequal, husband dominated relationship.  I also completely understand and empathize with her fear of becoming like her mother that sometimes dominates her thoughts and actions.  To an extent, I also understand Marcus' perspective as he deals with his own family drama as well, because he realizes that he may have been pursuing various aspects of his life to win approval, rather than because he was truly called.

This novel deals with the topic of mental illness and family drama in a very heartfelt, realistic manner.  I have a basis of experience from growing up with my mother that really made this book speak to me.  Fans of religious fiction and relationship stories should definitely check out this one!