JOY IN THE MOURNING, by Beth Rogers, AmErica House, Baltimore, 2000, 217 pages, softcover, $17.95.

Many have experienced the death of a family member and can remember the feeling of little or no closure, with the wound sometimes taking years to heal. In “Joy in the Mourning,” Beth Rogers of Bangor writes of two women who deal with such tragedy.

Through careful crafting Rogers has created a book of characters coping with the loss of loved ones. In the process Rogers shares the friendship of these women and their connection to family and faith.

In the book, Joy Shaw loses her husband in a plane crash determined to be the result of “pilot error.” A year later, she still is grieving his death as she continues to volunteer in the nursery of her local hospital. She notices that one of the doctors, Jack Curtis, is more haggard and tired every day she sees him. She inquires why he is worn out, and discovers that his wife, Carolyn, is dying of cancer.

Feeling she has a connection with Carolyn because of her own tragedy, Joy begins writing letters to Carolyn under an assumed name. She signs her letters as “Sarah,” hoping to keep the correspondence a secret and prevent people from gossiping about her sudden friendship with the dying wife of a prominent doctor.

Both women form a close bond as they write letters back and forth and as the cancer drains life from Carolyn. Because of their comforting friendship, Carolyn learns to let go of her bitterness with God for taking her from her family. Joy begins to spend her time outside her family and volunteer job, realizing her husband would want her to continue enjoying life even after he is gone. And both realize how much they needed each other and their faith in God.

The faith of both women also affects their families, and Jack gains faith in God too. Even after Carolyn’s body can no longer fight the cancer and she passes away, her spirit continues to influence friends and family.

Rogers had never written any book before she sat down six years ago to write “Joy in the Mourning.”

But she found Christian books to be less than realistic and satisfying reading. “The women in Christian fiction always end up with happy endings,” she said. “I wanted God to be bigger than that. He is God even when you are struggling and can’t find the answer to Him. He doesn’t change.”

Rogers also stated that the characters in such fiction are often flat because they don’t have real feelings or emotions. “There is this misconception that we all should be on this spiritual level as Christians and pain shouldn’t affect us, but that isn’t what happens when you deal with it.”

The story forms Dickens style, revealing details gradually to readers and those characters, such as Jack, who are unaware of the two women’s friendship. The puzzle comes together too slowly until after Carolyn’s death, when Joy is faced with a difficult decision. In fact, everyday events are described in detail throughout the book, such as what Joy makes for dinner or what she wears on a date. This makes some passages dull, reading much like a to-do list. Despite these digressions, however, people’s relationships and interactions are more closely woven together by Rogers as the story progresses.

The beautifully thoughtful letters and prayers in this book also reflect that Rogers grasps the many complex emotions experienced during times of suffering. The characters wrestle with depression and death as anyone would, except that their strong faith carries them through these difficulties. And though the book is not based on any specific personal tragedy of the author, she does not deal with it flippantly, and the introspection of her characters is not contrived. Anyone who has lost a family member can connect with the experiences of Joy and Carolyn and their families.