Sensible Shoes: A Novel by Sharon Garlough
Book Description:
Meg Crane has never had a longing for adventure. She’s never even traveled more than two hundred miles from home. But when she receives an invitation from the New Hope Retreat Center to travel deeper into God’s heart, Meg says yes.
Book Review:
When was the last time you found yourself transported by a journey that never left home? “Sensible Shoes” whispers to that quiet part of us that yearns for transformation while wearing our most comfortable footwear.
There’s something achingly beautiful about Garlough’s premise here – the way she positions spiritual awakening as the greatest adventure one could embark upon. In Meg Crane, we meet a character who feels startlingly real: someone who has lived life within careful boundaries, whose comfort zone could be drawn with a compass using her hometown as the center point. But isn’t that so many of us? We’re given a protagonist who doesn’t scale mountains or chase criminals across continents, but instead faces perhaps the most daunting journey of all – the one into her own heart.
What really draws me in is the gentle irony of the title paired with this premise. “Sensible Shoes” suggests practicality, safety, staying grounded – yet here’s a story about taking spiritual risks. The New Hope Retreat Center serves as both literal destination and metaphor, promising a journey that transcends physical distance. The invitation Meg receives isn’t just to a retreat – it’s to challenge everything she’s known about herself and her relationship with faith.
