Elizabeth and Michael Whittaker have been living an enamored life, passionately in love with one another and raising a beautiful daughter, when things change in a horrifying instant.  Suffering from a frightening spell of dizziness and paralyzing weakness, Elizabeth finds herself in the hospital and thrust into a world she has never known.  Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an incurable degenerating neuromuscular disease, the Whittakers are forced to adjust to a different way of life.   Michael begins to smother Elizabeth with his worry as does her mother and she is having a hard time dealing with the limitations the disease has put on her life.  She forms bonds with others, who are struggling, like her cousin who is recovering from a devastating divorce and a new friend who also has an incurable condition but encourages her to live life to the fullest no matter the adversity.

These relationships cause strain in those closest to her but she finds she needs to look beyond what she has always depended on to get through the ups and downs of a chronic illness.  Remarkably, many lives end up being touched during her emotional journey and she finds strength within that surprises, yet motivates her to keep on.  According to her pastor, experiencing a sundog moment, a moment where a bright halo can be seen around the sun, a moment where God gives you a sign of hope, is when you find joy in the sorrow that comes like a rainbow after a storm.  Elizabeth searches for her sundog moment and ends up finding a peace in her faith.

You can feel the emotional journey the author must have gone through when multiple sclerosis changed her life.  Sharon Baldacci has been living with MS for over twenty-one years and in this novel, she has perfectly captured the confusing, helpless terror one deals with when given the diagnosis.  Living with an incurable disease changes everything in your life and it takes loving support and understanding from family and friends as well as strength of your mind, body and soul to make it through each day.  I know this firsthand because I also live with MS.  The connection I felt to Elizabeth and her struggle was instantaneous, allowing me to experience the story on a poignant, private level.  The pace of the plot picked up as the story progressed with the addition of a few intriguing, mysterious moments.  Sharon Baldacci hit it out of the park with this debut novel and I look forward to reading more.