Comment

May 15, 2017Kayleb_Miekell_avarn10n rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I'd heard the book referred to as "beautiful" and wasn't expecting much, especially since the dashes rather than quotation marks being used for dialogue seemed pretentious at first. Having finished the book, I can honestly say that "beautiful" really is the best word for this remarkable book, which shows more than in any other story I've read the beauty and brokenness that exist side by side in a fallen world. The author doesn't shy away from tough questions and hard circumstances, and some of these remain unresolved at the book's end, but because it is openly acknowledged, God's grace shines through more fully than it could in any book of the same sort written in today's cultural climate. The characters are very human and relatable, especially Kumalo and Msimangu, who are as they say they are (and as I am too): weak and sinful, but God put his hands on them. All is not lost, but what is lost deserves to be mourned. There is tragedy and yet there is hope. Great things can be done for the little valley, but there are other little valleys with nothing being done for them. No human knows the reason for everything that happens, but there is a God who can be trusted.