The Dog That Talked to God
“The Dog That Talked to God is a moving and powerful read, inspirational long after the last page has been turned.”
To lose a spouse to accident or illness is heartbreaking, but to lose both a spouse and a young child at the same time is unconscionable. This is exactly what happened to Mary Fassler.
Mary had it all: a great marriage, a wonderful son, and a flourishing career as a novelist of Amish fiction. Then one fateful day, a fatal accident made everything crash down around her. How does one survive such devastation?
Though offered pithy aphorisms by her parents and friends about life having to go on and loved ones being in a better place, Mary wallows in self-pity, stumbling through her large and empty home trying to make sense of her life. She finds her desire to write has waned and, what’s worse, her agent informs her Amish novels have lessened in popularity.
In dire need of something to love, Mary adopts the runt of a schnauzer litter. She names the little guy Rufus and is amazed at how well he acclimates to his new surroundings and his new owner.
Mary and Rufus daily walk her Chicago neighborhood while she ponders her future. She initiates a dialogue with Rufus, her canine sounding board, but is astonished when he actually responds to her musings.
Has she lost her mind? Dogs don’t talk. Nevertheless, it seems Rufus does. Not only does he talk to her, Rufus relays sentiments directly from Him. God, that is.
But Mary no longer believes in God. Why would a loving and just God take away her loved ones? How could anyone believe in a deity who would do something so horrendous? And she is steadfast in her atheism.
After a few years, Mary’s friends assert it is time she starts dating. Though she knows no one can replace the husband she loved, she is lonely and misses adult male companionship. After being introduced to a suitable suitor, she asks Rufus’s opinion of her new gentleman. With the canine’s go-ahead, it appears that she may be on the road to new love.
But near disaster causes Mary to totally reinvent her life: She sells most of her possessions as well as her rambling house and she and Rufus move a thousand miles away to the North Carolina coast. Will she ever be able to accept God’s will, lose her bitterness, and find the happiness she deserves?
Written in the first person, The Dog That Talked to God puts readers directly inside Mary’s head and heart. Though filled with despair, this tale blends humor to prevent it from being maudlin. The Dog That Talked to God is a moving and powerful read, inspirational long after the last page has been turned.