I have finished this massive read! In short it is a beautiful tapestry of a life fraught with sorrow and pain peppered with moments of so much joy I held my breath for it to once again end for poor Cyril, the main character. After finishing this I feel that his life indeed was very beautiful. When you look upon a tapestry rug the backside is so messy and not actually beautiful but when you turn it over the beauty from all the mess appears. That’s how I felt reading this book.
The part of the book labeled 1987 particular struck home for me.
The memories for me of being in my late teens and early 20s when the AIDS epidemic hit hard, you forget (or your mind protects) just how very awful that time in the 1980s was. I remember protesting on my friends college campus for the rights for information regarding treatment, as her campus was near a medical village of several hospitals…..the hateful treatment in my small town of someone from my high school who had full-blown HIV…wretched. Many in our community had to stay hidden, and when they died no funeral home would take the body, no church would hold the funeral……a few stepped forward and I so wish I could recall which ones those were to give them credit. As I was entering the medical field at this time we were told such misinformation it boggles the mind. Working in group homes we were told our risk was higher so we had to practice extreme caution, and once we worked with a known case we would no longer be able to work in another field. Crazy to think about all these years later. It’s extremely important even in a fiction story to portray these facts, to get conversation moving.
The other part of the book that made me go OH MY I remember …..was the very beginning when a pregnant girl had to stand before church and confess her sin. This happened in my small town when I was a teen in the 1980s and even 1990s. The boy had to stand with the girl by the 2000s and then it stopped. At least as far as I have researched by asking friends of all denominations. My high school best friend from those years long ago had to stand in front of church and do this, the baby just turned 30 last week. I will never forget the thoughts of what hypocrisy that was…….God is LOVE, GRACE, MERCY and PEACE…….where exactly does this practice fit in?? In my high school the girls would be kicked out, but the boys could stay was the same insane philosophy. HOWEVER if she gave the baby up for adoption she could stay. So unfathomable. Reading all the happenings in this book to some has seemed far-fetched or too much. These things really happened to real life people and was common. I witnessed it.
Adding to the deliciousness of this book was discussing it weekly with my BOTM buddy readers on LITSY. It made me see the book from many perspectives and made me think of how I viewed a passage of the book to their view. It enhanced the reading so very much. We have our final discussion this week and I can not wait to discuss!!!
I binge read this until 3 am to finish it and I feel like I have a ‘book hangover’ I’m going to miss these characters and this book will definitely make my TOP TEN reads for the year.
Although graphic I would highly recommend reading this book. It was a wonderful journey for me.
PEACE.
