By: Sara Brunsvold
Dakota County Library paperback 354 pages plus extras (author's notes, etc.)
Published: 2022
Genre: Christian fiction, historical fiction
Oh! This was so good! I read it all yesterday and am contemplating buying a copy . . . but I won't, since I'm trying to decrease my possessions. I will highly recommend it, though!
Mrs. Kip is a childless widow who goes into hospice after recently being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Aidyn Kelley is a talented writer who feels stuck in her assistant role at a newspaper.
The story switches between "present day" (2016) and Clara's (Mrs. Kip's) past going from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Page 27 (May 10, 1969): "She didn't like Scotch either, not like John did. And she hated that ugly chair, which barely fit in her tiny dwelling. And she had long stopped considering their song a pleasant experience. But they were all the material things she had left of her husband. Those three things. All of them empty promises from a happier time when they were both too inexperienced to know what life was capable of."
This was so sad! We learn more about Clara and John and what happened later in the story. But here, she is a young grieving widow. And stuff is just stuff. The theme of grief runs strong in this story. I wonder if my brother would read it.
Page 47/48 (2016): "For the next twenty minutes, she sat in the armchair next to his bed and listened to his stories of work, of his wife, of the other things that brought him joy. She helped him forget he was widowed and dying.
The tender worship of companionship. A hard art to learn."
Oh my! For Clara to be in hospice and extend grace and compassion to her crotchety room neighbor Charles was so sweet! I love that she barged into his life and insisted on becoming his friend. I love that she wasn't put off by his rudeness but knew that he needed some friendship. She saw through his exterior to the sadness and loneliness within.
Page 114 (2016): "Clara smiled, feeling the lightness in her heart - that sensation of the Lord's hand at work, orchestrating his people to be part of a generous answer to prayer."
Clara and Rosario are talking about "hidden warriors" and specifically Aidyn's editor Bella Woods. I love the way we can be receptive to seeing God at work. He's at work whether we're cognizant of it or not! This is reminiscent of the Godwinks books a little . . . watch for the ways God is at work in our lives!
Page 159 (July 1, 1975): "These were the very same men who bravely risked everything to help the US fight in exchange for the promise of protection and reward. A gentlemen's agreement had brought Mahasajun and Mai to specialized training in the first place. But with President Ford's sudden order to withdraw from Laos, the US effectively reneged and abandoned the people to face the consequences of their allegiance. Alone and unarmed. The news reports had not been pretty."
Actions have consequences. People act as though politics and international relations should just be done a certain way and everything would turn out fine. But there are typically so many angles and aspects . . . and human lives that are dramatically affected by the decisions made by others. I was a little kid in 1975. I just wanted to play, read, watch cartoons, and eat yummy food. But what is happening now in 2023 that I'm not paying attention to?
Page 164 (2016): "You are precious. Do you hear me? You are seen. You are known. You are longed for. Do you believe that? . . . So long as we have breath, the Lord calls to our hearts."
Clara is talking to Charles, who is unresponsive and near death. Her desire to share salvation with him is impressive. I love her as a character! She is an inspiration. This may be my favorite scene in the book.
Page 193 (2016): "'When things like that happen, you need friends, Miss Kelley. You need the Lord more than anything, but in his benevolence, he often shows up in the form of friends. Like Jonathan for David in the Bible.'"
I love all of Clara's life advice to Aidyn, but this passage led to her sharing about her friend Martha getting her to go to counseling after nine years of grieving John's sudden death (when they were only 23 and had been married only 8 months!). Friendship matters. God blesses us with friends!
Page 243 (2016): "The heart is designed to give far more love than the brain can calculate and to endure far more loss than the body anticipates."
Clara is deeply moved by Charles' death. And she loves being outdoors by the trees and in the sunlight. The mix of sad and sweet (and funny) in this story kept me reading.
Page 250 (2016): "Lord, you are so good, and your love holds everything together. Give me joy in every minute I have remaining here in this place you have called me to. If I have any work remaining, please give me wisdom and grace to complete it. Amen."
Clara has "broken out" of the home and is soaking in the natural beauty outdoors. Her prayer is one of willingness (even wanting) to serve, rather than anything for herself. What a woman!
Page 293: She trusted the muted words overflowing from her lips floated across the room, slipped between the grains of the windowpane, and flew upward on the streams of the wind, where they morphed into a great shout and sailed straight to the ears of heaven. Loud, soft, or silent, all praise was heard by the Lord.
'My lips will glorify you because your faithful love is better than life.' Psalm 63:3"
I love that Clara had a theme verse! I love that she lived out the glorifying the Lord on a regular basis! Before I forget, Jimmy, the teenager who worked at the nursing home, was a fantastic character. What an incredible young man!
Page 306 (2016): "Would Aidyn remain teachable? Would she grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and people? Would she stay on the narrow path to heaven? And the biggest question of all: Had Clara loved her enough?"
Again, I love that Clara was thinking of others as she was preparing to go into Eternity. God first, others second. I want to live like that!
Page 308 (2016): Psalm 16:8 "I always let the Lord guide me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken."
Clara "gives" Aidyn a life verse just as Martha had given her Psalm 63:3. I love that she has her repeat it over and over and asks her how she will deal with future situations. My NIV has "I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken." I think I like Clara's Bible version better. I love that Aidyn admits that she hasn't been reading her Bible much lately and Clara helps her see why she should get back into Scripture as a habit. (It's a good reminder for me, too!)
Page 324 (2016): "How odd it must have been to walk through those sliding glass doors knowing she would never come back out. How hard it must have been to leave behind her old life - her home, her lifestyle, her relationships - and come to this strange place with only some personal items and two white storage boxes, as if she herself was a kind of refugee.
How difficult it must have been to know that the people she came to live among were not long for the world, and neither was she."
Aidyn is starting to realize the truth of Clara's life, both in the past and now in the present. I was crying off and on from Charles' death to the end of the book. The VR headset scene, the reconciliation of Aidyn's friendship with Rahmiya, the contacts in Thailand, . . . Oh my. This book is good. I don't know that I've read any of Brunsvold's other books, but I may need to request some!
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