Reviewed by Ambrea
Ben Payne is a surgeon with a busy
schedule and Ashley Knox is a magazine writer, who is desperate to make it to
her own wedding. Together, they charter a small plane in the hopes of
making it home before a blizzard strands them in Salt Lake City. But when
their pilot crashes, Ben and Ashley find themselves stranded in the High Uintas
Mountains without food, without shelter, badly injured and hopelessly
lost. They will have to rely implicitly upon each other if they hope to
survive.
The Mountain Between Us by
Charles Martin is an absolutely wonderful book. Primarily told from the
perspective of Ben Payne, captured through snippets of his personal narrative
and recordings he makes, The Mountain Between Us is one of those
novels that’s hard to put down. Although the suspense of the story—I
literally spent hours wondering, would Ashley make it? Was Ben going to
survive?—kept me glued to the pages, I think the pacing had a lot to do with
why I couldn’t seem to pry myself away for more than a few minutes at a time.
A recording separates nearly each
chapter, giving readers a glimpse into the harsh realities of what Ben and
Ashley face and, moreover, offering readers the opportunity to learn more about
Ben’s life. These little dividing chapters are not very long, but they
have a lot of impact and they feel very intimate, very personal. They
also help to flesh out Ben’s character and give him a depth—a very human
aspect—that I appreciated.
Although The Mountain Between
Us is listed under Christian fiction, I noticed Martin uses religion with
a very subtle touch. Likewise, the romance isn’t forced—it builds very
slowly and, more importantly, it doesn’t overshadow the fact that both Ashley
and Ben are fighting for their survival. The progression of their
relationship feels natural, which I really liked, because, let’s be honest, if
I were stranded and starving on a bleak mountainside with serious injuries, I
really wouldn’t be thinking much about romantic intentions—even if he is Idris
Elba.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading The
Mountain Between Us for BPL Book Club and I look forward to checking out
more from Charles Martin.
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