The Choice

Travis Parker has everything a man could want: a good job; loyal friends; his dream home in small-town North Carolina. In full pursuit of the good life, he believes that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp his style. That is until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Despite Travis's attempts to be friendly, she seems to have a chip on her shoulder about him. But something compels Travis to get to know his new neighbour. His persistent efforts lead them both to make tough decisions, the consequences of which neither could have foreseen. The Choice confronts us with that most heart-wrenching question of all: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive? .

Now available in paperback – Jan Hatanaka's powerful, life-enhancing book on how six people, encountering significant adversity, made a conscious choice to work to build a life of meaning.

Using six stories from her casebook as a therapist, Hatanaka explores and illustrates the complex relationships that exist between death and grief and the path that can lead to reconciling that grief.

Included in her stories is her own heart-wrenching and dramatic experience following a major health crisis. Hatanaka draws on her personal, clinical, and academic experience as she takes the reader through the Grief Reconciliation Process, describing the actual steps taken by people who manage to build a life of meaning in the face of significant adversity.

The Choice is brilliant in its simple, gentle, and profound exploration of the reality of suffering as part of the human experience. It exposes the hope that can be hidden in affliction.

The Choice will be of great help to those currently in the grips of personal adversity; the loved ones of those who are suffering; and health-care professionals, including medical practitioners, counsellors, therapists, and spiritual advisors.

Jan Hatanaka, the founder of Grief Reconciliation International Inc., holds positions at York University, Toronto, in the Department of Nursing, the Religious Studies program, and the York Institute for Health Research. She has a B.Sc. in Nursing from the University of Ottawa, a Master's degree in Education and Counselling Psychology from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Wales. Dr. Hatanaka's approach to grief and reconciliation is informed by her personal experience; her extensive academic research on the universality of grief and loss; and her in-depth discussions with hundreds of individuals willing to recount their personal stories. .

A kidnap... Matt Westbrook only turned his back for a moment. But when he looks around, his car - with his three young children inside - has vanished. A ransom... Panicked, Matt assumes a car thief has got more than he bargained for, but then he starts to receive text messages: This is a kidnap. If you want to see your children again, you will exchange them for your wife. A choice... Matt and his wife Annabelle are horrified. They can’t involve the police, or their children will be killed. Which means they have to choose: Annabelle, or their children. Either option is unthinkable. But one is inevitable. And they have only hours to make their decision... The gripping new thriller you won’t be able to put down! .