Malachi and Delilah Evans and their family move to Sinking Creek, where Malachi is to pastor a church, in the hope of starting afresh after losing their young son, Carver.
Delilah, or Deedee as she is called, holds her fourteen year old daughter, Sparrow, responsible for Carver's death. We see how grief takes hold of Deedee to the extent that she really cannot function properly, how she blames Sparrow relentlessly and how her unkindness leads Sparrow, who feels very guilty for not looking after her little brother, to feel unloved and worthless.
Emma Mullet, the wife of an Amish head deacon, also has a great sadness - she cannot get over losing her little daughter. She is lonely and has a hard time covering up her own secret and that of her husband, John. Their son, Johnny, is friends with the wrong crowd and Emma is afraid for him.
These two unlikely women, unable to get on with the women in their own communities, are drawn to one another. We see their friendship growing, even as they battle to hold to the traditions of their very different churches.
Emma and Sparrow become very close. Emma sees Sparrow as her own daughter and gives her the affection that she has not received from her mother since Carver's drowning. Deedee gives Emma the affection she craves as well.
The pond on Emma's property, and water in general, play a big part in the story. As we see Emma, Deedee and Johnny helping to clean people up and put ointment on their wounds, we are reminded of how the Lord takes us, battered and filthy as we are, washes us clean, and restores us to life in Him.
The story is beautifully told and we really get insight into the struggles that the characters are going through. It is a story of friendship, forgiveness, restoration, accountability, family relationships, making the right choices and the importance of being real and honest with one another.
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