Review of the book The Circle of Friendship: “If God is love, why did his son die?” by Barbara Weston
Although this book is fiction, it is based on real-life tragedies experienced by close friends of the author, so the story is very real and moving.
There’s not much that makes me cry – hardship, cruelty, disaster or tragedy don’t really affect me – but this book made me cry. Not because of the tragedy, but because of the kindness described that hinted at the glow of a better world. What a wonderful book, what a wonderful story! It really lifted my spirits and gave me hope in the midst of the chaos of our world.
The book is about a young mother, Shona, who loses her 9-year-old son in a bicycle accident. Her world falls apart and she retreats to a quiet town, leaving even her husband behind, to try to recover. The story details her journey of discovery and recovery as she perceives God’s tender love shining through the ordinary, kind and struggling people around her.
The author herself is a very caring person: although she has perfect hearing, she learned sign language, and for many years she did this sign language for deaf people in her local church, so that they could also understand the sermon and what was being said. happening. in the life of the church.
The book is rich in descriptive passages of the countryside and the people, immersing you in the history and setting to the point where you wonder if perhaps you have ever been there before, as it leaves such a vivid impression on the mind. I enjoyed letting my imagination run wild with text painting, where relevant focal points were masterfully traced on the canvas of my mind to make me feel like I was in that room or paddling that current. I experienced this kind of immersion long before when I was in school reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte as a regular book, and have always enjoyed it ever since.
I found the book encouraging, inspiring and even a bit educational in the sense of learning how we should live and treat each other. He showed how tragedy in people’s lives can eventually result in someone else struggling, so that something absolutely wonderful comes out of something that is abysmally tragic. It is a story of victory coming out of tribulation, made even more poignant by the fact that this story is just fiction because the names and places have been changed; the events described are actually a mosaic of several real events.
This book is worth reading, it should be read! Kindness is the only thing that could solve all the problems in this world, and this book tells you how to do it!
Highly recommended!