Shade
by Calvin Miller
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This novella depicts the lives of a mother,
her dying husband, their two sons and the women in their
lives. It takes place during one hot summer of their lives.
More than moisture is sucked dry from the earth by the unrelenting
heat in this novel. The soul is sucked dry within each character
in their own way. One would expect moisture or new life
to be replenished within each of these hurting souls by
novel's end, but I wouldn't say that is the case at all.
Some souls are left as barren as the grass after the hot
summer winds have come and gone. Set during the Great Depression
Era, the characters are each searching for their own pot
of gold at the end of the rainbow, be it for love, financial
security during financially devestating times, or an understanding
of God. This is not a typical "feel good" novel.
Some may wish to read it for that particular reason. Others
may wish to stay clear.
I found this to be an unsettling and strange
book over all. Perhaps it is just the time of life when
I am dealing with my own journey with post partum depression
that made me particularly sensitive to the mental illness
depicted by one of the main characters, "dizzy Izzy."
I felt her illness was depicted as mysterious, strange,
and evil - which is a somewhat typical depiction of people
who have mental illnesses. I never really understood what
it was that took control of this character. Perhaps that
is what the author intended, one can only speculate.
The rest of the characters were sad, depressing,
and unremarkable. In fact, the entire story line was one
without hope or happiness in it. Maybe that makes this book
remarkable in that way. I expected to see more hope in God,
more faith, more goodness at the hand of God than I did.
Perhaps this was a "real" depiction of life, however.
Not all stories turn out happily-ever-after.
I did discover that the author has an unique
and interesting turn of words throughout this novel. It
was his particularly catching or haunting phrases and sentences
that enticed me to turn the page and carry on. Here are
a couple of short senteces that I found to be particularly
beautiful or well-expressed.
Hard words often come fast, and the speed
at which they come breaks the heart with their casual desperation.
pg. 23 Shade
Ingrid turned the word over and over in
her mind until at last it did define itself. The ugly word
fell like a stone on the numbness of her soul.
pg. 24 Shade
The jury is still out on this one. Perhaps
it is a good read for the language alone.
