Light from Distant Stars by Shawn Smucker
Revell/Baker Publishing July 16 2019
Christian/Suspense
review copy provided by the publisher, thank you!
When Cohen Marah steps over his father's body in the basement embalming room of the family's funeral home, he has no idea that he is stepping into a labyrinth of memory. As the last one to see his father, Cohen is the primary suspect.
Over the next week, Cohen's childhood memories come back in living color. The dramatic events that led to his father being asked to leave his pastoral position. The game of baseball that somehow kept them together. And the two children in the forest who became his friends--and enlisted him in a dark and dangerous undertaking. As the lines blur between what was real and what was imaginary, Cohen is faced with the question he's been avoiding: Did he kill his father?
In Light from Distant Stars, master story weaver Shawn Smucker relays a tale both eerie and enchanting, one that will have you questioning reality and reaching out for what is true, good, and genuine.
There was a review I read on another book but the same publisher that complained they did not realize it was a book that referenced 'god'. Let it be known that Revell is a publisher that brings us stories with a faith based theme. Sometimes it is not very prevalent but Shawn Smucker's Light From Distant Stars does not shy from the faith speak/God talk from page one. You will not like this novel if this scares you. I pretty much love everything from this publisher, so I chose Light from Distant Stars by Shawn Smucker as our neighborhood book club read since I planned on reading it anyway this summer. Then I start reading .. and immediately start wondering if my book clubbers are going to be annoyed at the faith aspect. (Which points to so many other issues such as my insecurities, the reality that it is not cool to love and honor God etc.) So ..yes.. I am a little scared to find out what the other reactions are when the book club meeting comes along.
Shawn Smucker's previous novels were more of a young adult genre and Light From Distant Stars is marketed towards adult yet given the actual plot line I can see where it would be hard to differentiate between the two markets. The novel is told from Cohen's viewpoint but alternating between two time periods in his life where each period has a momentous event occurring. What was most impressive about these shifts in narration is how they were seamless; each chapter another layer is unveiled and the symbolism reveals itself slowly but also quite magnificently can be interpreted in several ways. There is a saying that no two persons ever reads the same book and this book can be the phrase's poster child.
As the synopsis states, Cohen may or may not be responsible for his father's death. And I thought the book would be about who killed his dad but that is definitely not what this book is about. It is about how Cohen comes to terms with his parent's divorce, betrayal of why that happened many years ago, possible depression, insanity or anxiety, shadows, beasts, light, darkness.. and how he comes to grips with the reality of his life. One of my favorite aspects of the novel is the graphic page that introduces a new part of the book and it quotes a line from Genesis. The other favorite part is the seemingly effortless way of writing put forth by Shawn Smucker.
"The waters are separating. The waters of the sky are blowing away in the wind and the waters of the earth lay before him, and he walks through them to the church and up the sidewalk ramp. The door is unlocked."
And since I was raised Catholic, I can totally appreciate the confessional scenes. The Lord has put away all your sins. Thanks be to God. While this novel did not end up being what I expected, I am pleased to say that I really enjoyed this character driven novel and should bring up some interesting topics at book club!
I turned off commenting long ago on the blog but I welcome comments at the Facebook page here.
.JPG)