I'll Wait for You

For fans of Anne Tyler or Elizabeth Strout, AS WE IMAGINED by Rebecca Kauffman follows one couple's journey through seasons of hope and heartache over the course of several decades as they navigate working class realities in a changing world.

On learning of his wife Pauline's pregnancy, Dennis makes the painful decision to sell his family's home and orchard acreage, which is no longer profitable, and take a janitorial job at the local university, where paychecks will be modest but consistent, healthcare benefits are included, and the promise of free tuition for family members of staff offers hope that Dennis can provide a brighter future for his offspring.

The free tuition benefit comes with several provisions, including one that staff children enroll in the undergraduate program by the age of twenty-five. Initially, Dennis and Pauline laugh off the possibility that this deadline will pose a threat, but over the years, forces from within and without intercede on their son's life, and Dennis and Pauline's high hopes for him are imperiled. As obstacles mount, cracks in their history - both as a couple and in their lives before - are exposed, ideals are challenged, bonds are put to the test.

AS WE IMAGINED is a tender story of family, class, faith, futility, tragedy, triumph, hope, and love; the many extraordinary mysteries of ordinary lives.