THE DANCE, by Dan Walsh and Gary Smalley

Jim Anderson is stunned when he arrives home from work after a busy day and discovers his wife is missing. His shirts aren't ironed. Dinner isn't on the stove. How could she do this to him?

After twenty-seven years of being Jim's version of a perfect wife, Marilyn Anderson has had enough. She leaves Jim a note telling him not to contact her, then settles into an apartment with a girlfriend.

Finally free to do what she wants for a change, Marilyn finds a job and fulfills a lifetime dream by signing up for dance lessons.

As it turns out, Jim is the only one who's clueless about why she left. Their children are not surprised and tell him so. At this point in The Dance, I have to confess that Walsh did such a good job of portraying Jim as a jerk that I was hoping Marilyn would just run far away and leave him forever. However, the focus of this story is restoration.

As the days of Marilyn's absence mount up, Jim slowly recognizes that he's to blame for the crumbling of his marriage, but has no idea what to do to win her back. How will he change a lifetime of putting himself first? And how can he expect to heal his marriage when Marilyn won"t even talk to him?

The Dance is the first in The Restoration series. Walsh and Smalley have written a remarkable novel that will impact readers as they take the journey of restoration along with the Andersons.

The Dance is a skillfully told story. I give it two hearty thumbs up!

My thanks to the author and Revell for providing me with a review copy.