Everyone Is A Thing of Beauty—Book Review

Lisa Samson’s novels probably aren’t for everyone. Her characters range from quirky to flawed to mystical. She’s not afraid to cover hard topics or to challenge our behavior while weaving a compelling story. She allows her characters to use real and unsavory language where it fits them, but never in a gratuitous way. She’s gotten hate mail for it._140_245_Book.1453.cover

I can’t say I’ve always loved her stories. But I’ve loved enough of them deeply enough to grab her newest offering whenever it comes out. A Thing of Beauty was no exception, and I received a review copy through BookLookBloggers.

This one I loved.

Fiona is a former child star who has been scarred by sexual abuse. She has divorced the parents who didn’t protect her, moved across the country and become a hoarder of junk. It’s junk she imagines repurposing into beautiful art, but she never quite gets around to doing so.

As Fiona describes her current state:

“I want somebody to write this book: the three steps you need to take before you’re ready to take any step at all. But so far I haven’t found anything like it.”

A Thing of Beauty is a story that is paradoxically filled with hope. Hope for healing that comes through the love of people who believe in you, even when you don’t believe in yourself. Hope that each small step makes a difference. Hope that some relationships can be mended and that there is freedom in recognizing those that can’t.

This book was itself a thing of beauty—a hope-filled promise that life can be different; a gentle call to recover our lives and to help others recover theirs; a reminder that God is at work and we are deeply loved.

 

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