A Father's Tale

I've been reading A Father's Tale by Michael D. O'Brien on my Kindle, and now several days after I have finished, I feel ready to say something about the story.  It's funny how after reading some books, I experience a sort of grief over the book ending, as if the world that I've been inhabiting for a week or so has gone.  And so it is with this one, when it was over I was kind of lost.

The book is about a man who converted part of his house into a bookshop. His wife has died, his two boys have left home and he feels like a man whose life is over and he's just hanging around waiting to die as well. He's very reclusive and introverted, preferring to spend time with his books rather than with people. But God has other plans for him, starting with a startling rescue of two children from a freezing cold river that almost kills him. However that was just a warm up for the major journey he has to undertake to rescue one of his sons from a cult, which takes him to England, Sweden and eventually, Russia. Suffice to say, this man who was waiting to die finds his life again.

It's an amazing story, and woven through it, Michael D. O'Brien writes of the metaphysical problems that both East and West face in our current time period. His wisdom is evident through evocative writing. I highly recommend it to anyone needing more than just a standard story.