READ: Review, Beyond the Night by Marlo Schalesky
I’m a big fan of our local library. Although our family owns more than our share of books, we have the privilege of reading many others that we find on our regular trips there.
My husband brought home the one I’ll review today. He didn’t know I had longed to read it, although the words “Christy Award Winner” may have caught his eye. Enjoy my review. You can find the book at this Amazon link, wherever Christian books are sold. And who knows? You may discover it on your next library visit!
Click. The camera closes in on a woman in a hospital bed. The tubes and machines indicate that she’s fighting for her life. But is she?
Click. A man waits at her bedside, remembering.
Click. A college friendship blooms into the love God planted long before.
Click. The pain of a genetic curse of blindness deepens with the revelation of past secrets and present betrayal.
These scenes—and many more—make Beyond the Night the stuff movies are made of. We follow author Marlo Schalesky’s camera of words as she records the love-memories of Paul and Maddy. Through vivid description, realistic dialogue, and judicious use of flashbacks, she unwinds a story that combines the power of enduring love with the angst of hidden wounds, the depth of true-to-life characters with a page-turning storyline.
The imperfections of Schalesky’s characters help us identify with each one. Their tender, tangled relationships remind us of our own lives. And the book’s surprising, hope-filled conclusion draws us back to the essentials.
At times, the author said a little too much. I wanted to draw my own conclusions about Paul and Maddy, and she made most of them for me. But I find that a minor flaw in a work that delighted and inspired me. I hope to read more from Marlo Schalesky and look forward to my next opportunity to look through her multifaceted lens.
We can learn so much from reading others’ writings, can’t we? I too love our local library and support them. Ohio had major funding cuts this past year and libraries were threatened with closure. The public rebelled and complained in support of them. They still lost some state funding but not nearly as much as first predicted. Nice written review, Marti
Thank you, Jean. The first libraries I visited were in Ohio (you may remember that I grew up in and around Cincinnati. Thanks again!