Mommy Brain

“Tyler had driven back from Brockmorton that afternoon understanding that the seminary’s campus belonged to other men, and yet it had seemed, when he was a student there, to be constructed wholly and utterly for him. “I am not in my youth,” he had said to George, and it was true that wehn he walked back through the hallway of Blake Hall, the building seemed diminished, as though it had shriveled imperceptibly, taking with it the stateliness Tyler’s younger self had imbued it with. On the way to his car, he thought the campus seemed no more than old gray buildings set on a hill. As he drove along the narrow road, the clouds lowering so it seemed he was driving into a hallway, he remembered the perfect smack of a football catch on that field out behind his old high school, and he felt that he had been catapulted straight from his childhood to driving this car as a widower and father – and he was absolutely stunned.” -p. 115-116

“On the hill past town where the Meadowses’ house sat, the sky was now almost the color of the large sweeps of field that unrolled behind; the horizon line was thin and indistinct except for where hackmatack trees grew in a scattering, the bare woodbine twirled through their branches, all of it with a light snow covering from days before. And there were tall clumps of wheat grass closer to the house that had snow in their bent tops. Everything – the lightly covered snow fields and the bare trees and the grasses – held the lightest tint of lavender.

Katherine, bunched inside a winter coat, wearing a woolen hat and thick gloves, gazed around her. She thought maybe the world was built on the boot of a giant, like Paul Bunyan, only the giant was much, much bigger; on his toe was the town of West Annett, and in the summer, moss grew on his boot, little clumps of earth, and houses were built there, like the Meadowses’ red house, and like her own house, and in the winter, when the giant went walking in the snow, the houses got covered with the snow, and nobody knew they were living on the boot of a giant, but it could be true. He was a nice giant, meaning no harm, and maybe he didn’t even know the world was growing on the toe of his boot, because he would be so tall he couldn’t see all the way down.

But her mother would know, because up in heaven you could see far.” -p. 246-247

I finished Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout today. Abide with Me is the story of Tyler Caskey, a small town preacher in West Annett, Maine. He is beloved by his congregation – as long as he continues to behave in the expected manner. But when Tyler’s faith and emotional well-being are destroyed by the death of his wife, the true nature of love is challenged.

This book has so many things to recommend it – lyrical writing, a storyline that made me think, and realistic portrayals of sinful Christians, and an exploration of the true nature of faith. The members of Tyler’s church are such a varied bunch, and in Tyler’s hour of need, they demonstrate some of the worst of human nature. But they also demonstrate some of the best.

My only hesitation in giving it 5 stars is based on one of the subplots. A member of Tyler’s church is having an affair. He is eaten up by guilt, but his thoughts are consumed by the woman. And his thoughts are specific and the language very strong. I would love to pass this book on to my mother, but I won’t because I know that she would put it down because of this.

I can understand why Ms. Strout used such strong language – it reinforces the seriousness of the sin this man has committed – but it is shocking in some places. If you can get past a few instances of profanity to get at the heart of a story, I recommend this book. If not, you’ll want to give it a pass.

4 out of 5 stars

I read Abide with Me as part of Semicolon‘s Saturday Review Challenge.