The father, having been raised by a religious wacko of his own, disapproves of this girl but keeps quiet, receeding into his work, giving fishing tours to local tourists.
The family's daughter has a peanut alllergy. When the son and girlfriend decide to take the father's boat out for a ride, the younger sister asks to come along. The girlfriend, trying to ingratiate herself with the family, readily agrees. While the three are on the boat an accident occurs. There is blood everywhere - so much blood it's difficult to figure out what really happened. It turns out the son and girlfriend mixed a bit of peanut butter into the sister's sandwich because the girlfriend thought the daughter would build up a tolerance. The girlfriend unfortunately convinces the brother their prayers would pull them all through, but of course, she is horrifically mistaken.
Not to give away too much away - as the daugher lays in the hospital, struggling to recover we learn about the parents and their battle to believe their daughter will (or won't) recover. They argue over how best to handle their son who, upon being released from prison and bailing out zealot girlfriend, flees to live with his grandmother - the same one his father refuses to speak to.
In the end the daughter comes out of her coma but will never be whole again. The girlfriend returns to her fugitive life after being outed as older than she let on and more criminally inclined. She escapes back to her family leaving the son holding the bag and facing years in prison. The end of this novel could have easily been sappy but wasn't which was a plesant surprise.
If you are interested in matters of faith and enjoy an interesting twist on a family saga, check this book out.
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