Peace Like A River by Leif Enger

I'm a mom.  A title I love with satisfaction and pride.  A mom who loves to read - only for the enjoyment of it.  I'm not deep or scholarly, I don't enjoy the type of reading that requires a dictionary be close at hand.  I like to lose myself temporarily into another world.  Luckily I am not the only one  posting to this newly formed blog. So if your tastes vary from mine, you should still be satisfied.  
This Book review is of the Fictional story Peace Like A River by Leif Enger.  
I was in the waiting room of the VA hospital waiting for my hubby to have a biopsy done of this leg when I finally cracked open the cover of the book loaned to me over a year previous from my mom.  It was just what I needed it to be, interesting enough at the very beginning to keep my mind occupied, not hard at all to get into, but could easily be set aside for long periods of time. Which is exactly what happened.  Once we arrived home it sat unopened for a few more weeks, then I began plunking away at it.  It was refreshing to be reading a book that I enjoyed but that could be a relaxing, casual read. 

First Line: From my first breath in this world, all I wanted was a good set of lungs and the air to fill them with--given circumstances, you might presume, for an American baby of the twentieth century.

Reuben grew up with his father and two siblings  in the generation following the great depression.  His Father worked miracles hidden among everyday life, and Reuben was counted among them.  Basically pronounced dead at birth, is first breath was something his body was unable to perform and it only happened with the faith filled command of his father "Reuben Land, in the name of the living God I am telling you to breathe."  And he did.  The family had their share (or more) of trials.  The biggest of which when Reuben's older brother, Davy, shot and killed 2 boys that had broken into their house, the same two boys that had kidnapped for the afternoon his little sister, Swede, a few weeks prior.  When the case of 'self-defense' didn't seem it was going to hold Davy took off, escaped from Jail and headed west.  The younger kids had a passion for Wild West literature, and thought it a great adventure to pack up and head in pursuit.  By the home stretch all casualness had disappeared.  I couldn't put it down through the unexpected and teary ending.  Truly inspiring faith and love shown by a Father.