Winner of the 2007 Christian Book Award, Charles Martin’s 2006 novel, When Crickets Cry: a Novel of the Heart, is a work of Christian fiction set in rural Georgia. It tells the story of Reese, a former heart surgeon who’s hiding from his past and his relationship with Annie, a hopeful little girl with a failing heart. When these two characters unexpectedly cross paths, their stories become intertwined, bringing healing to Reese’s past and hope to Annie’s future. Although the novel’s accessible and mild language is appropriate for all audiences, many of its themes, including love, loss, hope, and regret, skew toward adult readers.

Plot Summary

Narrated in first person, When Crickets Cry tells the story of Reese, aka former heart surgeon Dr. Jonathon Mitchell. He lives in a secluded house on Lake Burton, where his main pastimes are rowing and fixing old boats alongside his brother-in-law, Charlie. His late wife and childhood best friend, Emma, born with a severe hole in her heart, inspired Reese to become a heart surgeon. When Emma died, Reese stopped performing surgeries, changed his name, and rejected his past life.

Five years after Emma’s death, Reese meets Annie, a seven-year-old who has the same heart condition that plagued Emma. When Annie is hit by a car, Reese saves her life, launching a relationship between Reese, Annie, and Annie’s guardian, Aunt Cindy. Despite Emma’s failing heart, she had hope for her future; likewise, Annie draws comfort and optimism from her faith. Reese feels like he failed Emma because he couldn’t save her life, and he fears that the same thing will happen if he tries to help Annie.

Reese, Annie, and Cindy grow closer, and Reese conceals his identity while closely monitoring Annie’s condition. Paralyzed by his regret, he doesn’t really let himself live; meanwhile, Annie, like Emma, lives each day to the fullest despite the specter of mortality.

To clear his conscience, Reese confesses what truly happened on the night of Emma’s death: Exhausted from a dependence on stimulants that made him impossible to rouse, he didn’t hear Emma when she needed him, which delayed her treatment and led to an accident that resulted in her brother Charlie’s blindness. After receiving Charlie’s forgiveness, Reese reveals his true identity to Annie, successfully performs her heart transplant, and opens himself to the chance at new love with Cindy.