For Better or For Worse

Rhonda McKnight's debut novel, Secrets and Lies is about a married couple who despite their comfortable financial situation are a family in crisis.  Jonah Morgan's successful practice in Pediatric Cardiology allows his wife Faith to be a stay-at-home mother to their two children in a beautiful house in an affluent Atlanta neighborhood with good schools and wonderful friends and neighbors.  They drive the best cars, wear expensive clothes and their children are exposed to everything good that life has to offer.   

The family attends an upwardly mobile and progressive church with an outreach to the community. On the outside, they look like the perfect African American family.   However; their lives are far from perfect. Faith is very active in the women's ministry, Jonah is not so active.  Faith is a dedicated mother and housewife, struggling with her faith in a marriage that no longer meets her needs.  Jonah is so dedicated to his work that he has lost his focus on fatherhood and family life.  He is obsessed with saving the lives of sick children due to a secret tragedy that occurred when he was a child.  But Faith has no idea what fuels her husband's passion nor does she know just what to do about her unhappiness.

Educated, cultured and caring, the couple has lost the life they worked so hard to build.  Faith suspects that Jonah is having an affair but is afraid to confront her husband while Jonah battles his own demons without his mate's knowledge or understanding. He seeks solace in drinking every evening after work, much to her dismay.  Will the lack of communication be the ending of this couple's marriage?

McKnight is a good writer.  The words just seem to flow in a very concise storyline that tugs at the readers' heart while keeping them engaged and interested.  The author spins a tale of faith and inspiration with a bit of drama and a twist of reality.  Readers take this journey with Faith and Jonah's most intimate selves and they are so many lessons to be learned in reading this novel.

Jonah finds himself the victim of an unholy attack when he is accused of sexual harassment in the workplace.  How can he expect Faith to believe in his innocence and to support him when he already has kept her in the dark about his past?   How does Faith find it in her heart to forgive her husband once his secret is revealed to her and she is left feeling betrayed like she never really has known him at all?

The author makes good use of this crisis situation in Faith and Jonah's lives.  You won't be disappointed with this story.  It makes for a night of good reading as they both find healing in a way that mends their family's torn lives.