For Roger by Laura Drake ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

A story of love, truth, and family that shines a light on the shadow between justice and mercy.

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November 2024; Indie; 978-0997072174
ebook, print (296 pages); women's fiction

I have really enjoyed Laura Drake's books and was ready to read this one as soon as it arrived on my Kindle.

Once again she gave her readers characters that they could connect with along with an emotional plot about assisted suicide that had me wondering what I would do if I were in the same situation as the main character.

Joan and Roger are head over heels in love after 12 years of marriage. Roger had been a widower when he met Joan and even though she is much younger (almost the same age as his daughter), they were true soul mates.  Roger is an award-winning scientist and a professor and Joan has just gotten an offer to work with a group that helps empower women.  Roger's daughter Bee, doesn't really approve of Joan and is a very religious woman who is married to a devout preacher.  Roger's world is turned upside down when he receives a diagnosis of Lou Gehrig’s disease.  He understands what he has to face in the future and he asks Joan to help him end his life before the disease takes so much away from him.  She refuses because she wants to spend every minute possible with him.  He decides to take matters into his own hands and has a bicycle accident and flies down a hill into oncoming traffic.  He survives but has multiple fractures and a head injury that causes a crippling stroke. His daughter comes to help out with her father but the animosity between the two women continues.  Joan is still able to communicate with Roger and knows that he still wants her to help him commit suicide.  Can she help give her husband the peace that he wants?  When he dies, Bee is convinced that Joan helped him die and she goes to the police to report an assisted suicide and Joan goes to trial for Roger's death.

This book is extremely emotional and I found the section when Joan is deciding what to do about Roger's request to be difficult to read.  She loves him but how fair is it to keep him alive when he is in so much pain?  

Assisted suicide is a controversial subject in society right now but looking at it from the standpoint that the author presents, makes it easier to understand the ultimate decision.  No matter how you feel about the subject, this is a book that you don't want to miss.  It's about family and love, pain and sickness but most importantly it's a look at how far someone will go to help the person they love that shines a light on the shadow between justice and mercy.  And after you finish the book, you'll be asking yourself what you would do in a similar situation.

Buy For Roger at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is two hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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