I read this book on the
recommendation of an author friend. “His writing is amazing. I would love to be
able to write like him.” That was enough of an endorsement for me to buy the book.
It didn’t take me long to see what
she meant. His descriptive writing is heavenly, painting a perfectly detailed
portrait of each scene. The story ran along at a very nice pace, except for a
few brief spots I’ll mention later.
From the author’s website:
What marks the boundary between a miracle from God and the imagination of
a child?
Leah is a child from Away, isolated from her peers because of her
stutter. But then she begins painting scenes that are epic in scope, brilliant
in detail, and suffused with rich, prophetic imagery. When the event
foreshadowed in the first painting dramatically comes true, the town of
Mattingly takes notice.
Leah attributes her ability to foretell the future to an invisible friend
she calls the Rainbow Man. Some of the townsfolk are enchanted with her. Others
fear her. But there is one thing they all agree on—there is no such thing as
the Rainbow Man.
I quickly fell in love with the main
character, nine-year-old Leah. One reviewer was irritated by the young girl’s
stuttering. Hint: don’t read the stutter. I found it only added to the charm of
her character. Her new best friend Allie is equally delightful, as well as Barney,
a has-been toy-maker/shopkeeper with an ailing wife whom he deeply loves.
The original story line was equally
entertaining and suspenseful. Is Leah hearing a messenger from the Lord? Or is
her imagination getting the best of her? Either way, it makes it hard for her
family to blend into their new hometown. The local church body is having a really
hard time with the whole “love thy neighbor” thing.
The story alludes to an earlier
incident involving another resident of the small town being “touched by the
magic,” but that major clue is left unresolved. I really wanted to know what it
was all about. (-1/2 star)
The author really loves to use parentheses (you know—these little curved
thingies) in a lot of sentences. I would
have liked them to have been a little less (or maybe a lot less) of an occurrence.
In many places, (though I don’t have a tally of the number of places the author
chose to use them) they interrupted the pace a bit. I don’t like to get to the
end of a sentence only to forget (mostly because my brain is getting older) what
the beginning of the sentence said. I think you get my point. I know it’s a
style thing, but it’s a bit overdone. (-1/2 star)
Skimming a few one-star reviews, I
noticed a few people slamming the theology. This is fiction. And it has a very good lesson I hope most readers catch.
A few reviewers criticized this book for the inspirational aspect. This IS inspirational fiction.
Overall, I really liked this book and
will definitely read more from this author.
Do you read the low-rated reviews before buying a
book?
How much importance
do you give them?
