I don’t think I knew what to expect when I picked up Room for Two by Abel Keogh. I knew the basic storyline–that it was the story of his experiences when his pregnant wife committed suicide, how he dealt with his loss, and getting back into dating again. Still, like any book where you know the eventual outcome, it’s the journey that’s important.

Through his pain, a move, old house renovation, two funerals, and the slow process of beginning to date again, the reader gets an inside look into what his life was like. Abel was very honest with his difficulties and trials, his mistakes and regrets. This is a touching love story, a search for self, and the journey to forgiveness. It is beautifully written and introspective.

There is a point in his book where he mentions that years before, his mother had told him trials could be a spiritual experience, referring to a man he’d known who who had battled cancer. Abel says that he hadn’t been able to understand that when she told him. Later, he remembers their conversation. “What my mom was trying to explain to me was something I didn’t understand until that morning: personal and spiritual development doesn’t come when life is good and unchallenging. It’s the hard times–the ones when we are forced to wake up every day and put one foot in front of the other–where real growth occurs. I was learning that difficult times helped me appreciate the sweet ones. And if I let them, these trying moments would teach me what was truly important.”

This paperback book is 224 pages, was printed by Cedar Fort Inc in August of 2007. You can purchase it from Amazon here, or request it at your local bookstore by using ISBN-10: 1599550626 or
ISBN-13: 978-1599550626.