I
thought this was going to be one of those outstanding but sad novels like The Yellow Birds or Billie Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. I thought it was going to be a beautifully
written book that would help me bear witness to the effects of war and poverty. I love those novels because they challenge me
and imbed me in a world I need to understand.
But, We Are Called to Rise is
a different animal. Yes, it’s
beautifully written, bears witness, and challenges but in addition it offers incredible
hope. It blindsided me with the
unexpected pleasure of watching people do the right thing and it astonished me
with the simple joy of observing people who care.
Set
in the Las Vegas most of us don’t know, the Las Vegas where real people live
oblivious to the neon and glitz of the strip, four realistic characters weave intersecting
stories into a cohesive whole. Bashkim is an earnest eight-year-old boy working
to help his Albanian refugee parents survive. He seems older than eight because
the turmoil and poverty in his home force him to be wise. Given a school assignment to write a local
soldier serving in Iraq, Bashkim pens a letter that sets up a chain of
unexpected events.
Luis,
the tormented recipient of Bashkim’s letter, lies in a bed at Walter Reed
Hospital recovering from an injury he doesn’t recall happening. His anguished thoughts
and dreams spill onto the page making the reader wonder if he’ll ever be able
to tell enough to be helped. Enter Dr. Ghosh, a VA psychiatrist, who listens
and offers him caring treatment and possibly a way out of his troubles.
Average-seeming
Avis opens the book as her husband unexpectedly leaves her for another
woman. She’s also deeply concerned about
her son Nate’s mental health after his third stint in Iraq. She lost her baby daughter
Emily when she was barely pregnant with Nate and her life is a testament to “how
quickly life could change, how quickly everything important could disappear, to
always be trying to feel this unexpectedly beautiful life to its core.”
Roberta
is a lawyer, a Las Vegas native. She serves as a volunteer advocate for
children. She cares deeply and sometimes gets hurt. She’s anxious to make certain that Bashkim and
children like him get what they need not what the system spits out for
them. She and other “helpers” in the
novel try to do what’s right.
What
if everyone worked together to do what was best for a child? What if “the helpers” all really helped? What if the staffs at all our VA hospitals had
the time, training, and temperament to help returning veterans as Dr. Ghosh
tries to help Luis? The epigraph of the
novel tells us what’s to come as it hints at what could happen if . . .
We
never know how high we are
Till
we are called to rise;
And
then, if we are true to plan,
Our
statures touch the skies
-- Emily
Dickinson
Author
Laura McBride says, “I wanted to tell a story that might make a reader have a
big feeling, the sense that no matter how cruel life could be in a given
moment, no matter how terrible the consequences of a tiny mistake, it was
ultimately beautiful to live. I didn’t
set out to write a book about war or poverty or racism, I just wanted the
reader to love a child enough to feel devastated when that child’s heart was
broken and euphoric when that child got a chance at hope.” Readers: Debut author McBride accomplished
her goal.
Summing
it Up:
This
novel gave me hope and a feeling that all might just be right in the world if
each of us answered the call to rise. Laura McBride eloquently showcases a
group of people who rise to help others who probably wouldn’t make it without their
help. She touches the sky with this authentic, uplifting story of a boy I’ll
never forget and the people (they aren’t characters to me – they’re real
people) who cared enough to try to help him and others in need. I’ve never wanted to travel to Las Vegas but
I could change my mind if I could visit Bashkim, Luis, Avis, Roberta and some
other people I already know and love who happen to live there.
Rating:
5 stars
Category:
Fiction, Five Stars, Grandma’s Pot Roast, Super Nutrition, Book Club
Publication
date: June 3, 2014
Read
an Excerpt: http://www.scribd.com/doc/204362300/We-Are-Called-to-Rise-A-Novel-by-Laura-McBride-Special-Preview-Excerpt
Interview
with the Author: http://readherlikeanopenbook.com/2014/06/11/a-conversation-with-laura-mcbride-to-me-a-novelists-research-is-about-picking-up-tone-and-voice-and-the-occasional-telling-detail-from-there-it-has-to-be-a-work-of-personal-imagination/
Reading
Group Guide: http://books.simonandschuster.com/We-Are-Called-to-Rise/Laura-McBride/9781476738963/reading_group_guide#rgg
What
Others are Saying:
Library
Journal: http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2014/04/books/fiction/literary-evaristo-stories-by-galchen-debut-by-mcbride-thrillers-more-fiction-reviews/
Publishers
Weekly: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4767-3896-3
I wrote about "helpers" in this post and thought readers might want to know the origin of this. Mr. Rogers often told this story about when he was a boy and would see scary things on the news: "My mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world."
ReplyDeleteA good book .
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing
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