Something to Be Saved by Melanie Rigney

Something to Be Saved is a Christian women’s-fiction novel set in current-day Virginia. Peter and Rachel Gregory have been married 26 years, but Peter’s a womanizer, and Rachel’s just barely hanging on … to her faith as well as her marriage. They’ve had separate bedrooms for the past seven years. As the title subtly asks, is there something left in the marriage to be saved?

I liked that we get alternating points of view from Peter as well as Rachel. No, it’s not right to commit adultery, but Rigney explores Peter’s reasoning. Rigney shows the reader that Peter is a jerk, but that he has some humanity in him too. Perhaps the marriage is salvageable.

I also like that this is a middle-aged couple. It seems to me most women’s fiction books feature either young, married women or older, divorced/widowed women. Rachel was profoundly relatable to me (married, an empty-nester, shame over sins from my youth). At one point Rachel thinks what I’ve thought many times:

It seemed like every time she thought she gained some control over her emotions, the devil found a way to undermine her efforts.

Melanie Rigney, Something to Be Saved

There are secrets and surprises. I got so engrossed in the story that at one shocking revelation, I threw my fork. (I was eating lunch while reading, and now you probably know more about my reading habits than you wanted to know.) 

The support characters are fantastic and easy to distinguish from one another. They include Rachel’s bestie from childhood, Peter and Rachel’s adult daughter, the old man (named “Shoe,” isn’t that cute?) who raised Peter, the marriage counselor, the pastor at church, Peter’s beautiful and most recent fling, Rachel’s grumpy parents, a handsome man with his eyes on Rachel, and a persnickety church committee member. They all add complexity and drama to the story.

I did take off half a fish. I thought Rigney included too much backstory too soon. But it wasn’t that conspicuous, so only half a fish. Some readers may stumble over the phrasing in certain characters’ dialogue, but I didn’t take off any fish for that because authentic Virginia Blue Ridge or Shenandoah Valley dialogue IS a little archaic. (I used to live in Virginia.) “I thank you” instead of “Thanks.” Or “That were crazy talk” instead of “That was crazy talk.”

So 4.5 fish from me. Excellent, thought-provoking story.

I read Something to Be Saved through Kindle Unlimited.