Come Back by Rudy Wiebe

Hal Wiens, a retired professor, is no stranger to grief and unanswered questions. While mourning the recent death of his wife, Yo, he tries to regain normalcy in his life. Visits to a coffee shop with his friend Owl offer companionship and an alternative perspective to his Mennonite background.

One morning at the coffee shop, Hal’s memories are wrenched loose when a man resembling his son Gabriel walks by the window. Hal gives chase and runs into traffic, setting in motion collisions that are physical, emotional, and spiritual. Unable to find the man, Hal returns to his empty house and to Gabriel’s journals, diaries, and pictures—all that remain after his son’s suicide 25 years earlier when Gabriel was just 24 years old.

InCome Back, a many-faceted, somber, yet hopeful novel, Rudy Wiebe skillfully draws readers into the mind of a tormented young man. And he subtly—not by sermonizing or moralizing—reveals God as the compassionate Father he is. (Knopf Canada)