If You Knew…

By Richard Plourde (Indie author, 2026)

Genre: hard to peg. Closest we can get: Narrative Nonfiction/Speculative Fiction

Pages (Print): 295

Via: Author request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book for honest review.

What if it were true?

Every once in a while we come across a book that’s so hauntingly beautiful and powerfully poignant, it takes our breath away.

If You Knew… is one of those books.

The Basics

When their four-year-old son Gabriel’s leukemia relapses, Richard and his wife, Joycelene, are thrust back into the nightmare they thought they had escaped. Every heartbeat feels like a countdown as they beg for a miracle to keep their child alive.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in time, Bill — a young university student reeling from heartbreak — suddenly glimpses a future that shouldn’t be his to see. Horrified by the suffering that seems to await, he vows to defy it at all costs.

As both men confront what they most fear, their stories converge into a haunting clash of destiny, courage, and life-altering choices. Will the actions they take be enough to rewrite fate, or are some destinies impossible to escape? Can one really “cross the boundary of time” and stand in his or her own future?

Parts

Part memoir, part time travel, the story also involves parallel universes and a  divine intervention. Think Arrival meets The Time Machine meets Back to the Future.

Utterly mesmerizing and thoroughly absorbing, the story hinges on a split narrative revolving around Richard and Bill. It dances between 1991 (Bill) and 2003 (Richard). Bill is an optometry student. Richard is husband to Joycelene and father to Gabriel and Isabelle, age three. The dueling timelines gave one of us whiplash at first (Hi, Mom). But we got used to it after a while.

A Roller Coaster

Make no mistake. This book is an emotional roller coaster. (Kimber: I’d buckle up ‘fize you.) With stops at unconditional love. The “generosity of life.” Choices. Destiny vs. determinism. Family. Bunny! Much more. (We do not subscribe to the “Saint Joseph” as “Jesus’ father” view presented in the text. Just sayin’.)

Remarkable

Heart-wrenching and heart-warming, If You Knew is a remarkable accomplishment. There’s an occasional typo, but this does not detract from the overall read. Also, we found the back-and-forth timeline between Bill and Richard to be jarring and confusing at times. So you may want to bring a crash helmet. Additionally, the book synopsis references a relapse of the Plourde’s “four-year-old son.” But the story says Gabriel is six years old while in hospital awaiting/receiving a bone marrow transplant after relapsing. So that got a little confusing.

Intense

Inspired by the author’s experience when his young son was diagnosed with leukemia, If You Knew has more plot twists than Snake Alley. It’s intense. The story pulled us in from chapter one and didn’t let go until the final page. But we had to put it down more than once. Walk away. Take some deep breaths (see below). It packs a wallop. It’s also beautifully written and brimming with love and hope. Indeed, If You Knew… is the kind of book that will echo in your heart and mind long after the final page is turned.

A Personal Note

We received a copy of this book in January. We couldn’t read it. Our own hospital/ICU experience was too fresh. (See An Update on Mom.). So, we kept this book at arm’s length for a while. Like you would a coiled rattlesnake. When we finally opened it, we turned pages slowly. Gingerly. It turned out okay. Just be advised that If You Knew may be a harrowing read, especially if you’ve had a loved one in the hospital recently.

Kimber: I’d bring Kleenex ‘fize you. Maybe a whole pallet. Just sayin’ again.

Our Rating: 4.0

If you enjoyed If You Knew…, you may also like:

These Strange Ashes: Is God Still in Charge? by Elisabeth Elliot (Non-fiction)

A Path Through Suffering; Discovering the Relationship Between Our God’s Mercy and Our Pain by Elisabeth Elliot (Non-fiction)

Disappointment With God by Philip Yancey (Non-fiction)

The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity by Wm. Paul Young

No Graven Image by Elisabeth Elliot (Fiction)

A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean (Semi-autobiographical fiction)

The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans (Fiction)