Of Stillness and Storm

I decided to review this book because my bother and sister are currently in Indonesia with my niece and nephew. Since this book is about missionaries and their life styles it seemed appropriate.

One thing my child, very astute, noticed first was the ropes on the cover and asked why?

In reading this book it starts off right where they are currently. It is as if you are the apartment with them as they struggle with the life of being a missionary.

This book uses an interesting story telling technique. One chapter is the present situation in Nepal and the other chapter is about the love story between them. I at first was annoyed with this but by the fourth chapter was engaged, expected it, and wanted to know more.

It's interesting that we often don't realise the parallels between the present and the past. The author demonstrates that well in a realistic down to earth sort of way.

One of the differences in reading this book versus others is that the style is different, and I like it. But it has to be a style of reading you are comfortable with. I don't see this making a good movie unless it is done very well. It is like for every scene there is a flash back kind of thing. And the flash backs don't really have anything to do with the present.

That being said, it is nice, because you are hearing the back story at the same time that you are learning about the present.

I found that I had to really have more focused reading time-- meaning that I couldn't just easily pick up where I left off and totally feel I knew where I was. I would often stop in stops to help with homework or whatever, that left me confused when I started back up again. It was a matter of making sure I could devote to reading the whole chapter in one sitting. That way I could get engrossed in the story and be able to keep up.

It is well written in terms of feeling like this could be some one's real story very easily. It had me because there is so much real struggle in there, for example, having it take six years for her to conceive is something that a lot of people experience.

Or without explaining it, being able to share that before you go on mission trips, school debt has to be paid off or you enroll in a program. Since I know this to be actuality and fact with my brother and his medical school loans I knew the explanation with pre-text in real life situations to be able to know what was going on in the story.

I am curious if this was written by someone who has been themselves or if the author is closely tied with missionaries. Either way, it is written very well.

Overall, I would give it ☔☔☔☂ (3.5 to 4) out of 5 umbrellas/stars.

*I received this book in exchange for my honest review*