Monthly Book Review

 "When a moment is so tremendous it knocks the familiar part of the world off balance, you'd think there would be some sort of clue before it happened.  Maybe just a hint, or even a premonition that would have allowed me to at least hold my breath until the moment had passed and I could find my footing once again."   

From 'A Symphony of Cicadas'.

I just finished reading a fabulous novel I found at Amazon.. Before I buy anything, I read always all of the reviews and download a sample chapter on my Kindle. Sometimes I buy.  Sometimes I don't.  This time I bought.  I  use the reviews as a guide.  I once bought on the 'merits' of title alone, but I've learned that the most intriguing titles can entice one into purchasing the most boring of books.  

I found that almost everyone of the reviews for this book were positive and only one gave it only one star.  I had to find out why.  Well, according to the reviewer the book 'is not worth reading' because she is a Christian and the book talks about an entirely different view of the afterlife than the one she has been taught to believe in.  Such a shame that one is so close-minded that they will refuse to read a good book because the ideas are different than there own. Because, in fact, "A Symphony of Cicadas (Forever After)" by  Crissi Langwell is one of the best books I read all year.

The story centers around two single parents of teenage boys who are only two weeks away from their wedding when  death tears them apart.  Rachel Ashby is returning home after a trip to the shop to measure her son's tuxedo when both she and her 13 year old son, Joey perish in a car accident.  Rachel  finds herself caught between worlds in what the Catholics call purgatory, and we follow her on her long spiritual journey towards healing as she searches for her son,  comes to terms with the fact that she has to let go of the living, and eventually moves onward to heaven. The following is from the book description...

'Crissi Langwell has written a novel of love and loss in a portrait of one woman's journey through the afterlife. Langwell shares the story of two single parents striving to blend their families only to be ripped apart by death. The tale continues beyond the grave, offering a beautiful yet somber glimpse into the mystical world of spirits, and the heartache and healing in the world of the living. The lives of the characters slowly unravel, coming apart at the ends as they endure drastic change and devastating loss. But a glimmer of grace is revealed in the midst of tragedy. The story expands beyond mourning the loss of carefully laid out plans, revealing the emergence of hope and the evolution of strength in learning how to let go.' 

I was a wee bit disappointed that Rachel never did find her son Joey, but as the book explains,  when we pass on, we each enter into our own reality. As Rachel's Aunt Rose, her spirit guide tells her, "He's in his own reality. And he's safe.  I assure you.  We all are.  But you won't see him until it's time."  But, all is not lost in this sense. I guessing we will find out what happens to mother and child when her new book, "Forever Thirteen" is published in 2014.  I know I, for on, will be anxiously waiting for i.