The underlying message of this novel is good - that you have to let people find their own way to faith and peace.

The way it gets there isn't ideal - because in trying to say that Baptist missionaries work too hard to change the beliefs of a people and they are exerting too much control, the way the story tries to say that ends up reading just as heavy handed as any missionary in Colombia trying to turn Catholics into Baptists would be.

Full disclosure, I'm agnostic so it probably wasn't the best for me to give this sort of book a try so if the story of a teenage daughter of missionaries finding her other path to faith and peace sounds appealing to you, you absolutely should give this book a try.

(I received this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest and original review.)

The main character Josie has just finished year ten at her school in Cali, Columbia, the child of Baptist missionaries. They live in a nice area of town (read that as relatively safe) and have everything you could wish for including a Columbian maid to pick up the pieces behind them. Life seems picture perfect, that is until things are not. Both her parents, Astrid and Henry are hiding huge secrets from each other and themselves, things so big that it could tear the family and their way of life apart And its not just her parents who are hiding secrets. Older brother Aaron is rebelling against his strict Baptist upbringing, behaving in ways that would make most parents quake and Josie herself, with her interest in things not acceptable within Baptist circles (such as yoga and Catholicism) has the potential to cause her family trouble also.
This is an interesting book. Jeannie Zokan writes from place of personal experience, having grown up in Cali, Columbia, although it is murky as to whether she was a MK (Missionary Kid) herself, although it is hinted at in the Acknowledgements section. The characters are written in a vital manner, they leap off the page at you, with all their faults and foibles. There are plot twists that will make your jaw drop when they are finally revealed. The rough and tumble of life in Cali feels so real you can feel the heat and humidity of the city rising up within your core. As the secrets slowly unravel the tension builds as you wonder where all this is going to lead.
Being a MK is a tough gig. Your own life is effected directly by the choices your parents have made and you get no say in the matter. Not that you get a say if your parents are missionaries, but missionary work is a special kind of commitment that tends to extract a high price on the family's personal lives. There are privileges involved in living in another county, but it does come at a cost of losing your home culture. And there is the very real expectation that you are going to behave better and achieve more than others who live a conventional life.
The story line is very human in its frailty. The writing is rich. The ending isn't a clear happily ever after for everyone. The choices made can seem wrong and there is a good old dose of selfishness shown clearly in the choices of all the players.
Powerful, evocative, troubling with moments of hope, this is a book not to miss.

Sixteen-year-old Josie Wales is the daughter of Baptist missionaries growing up in Columbia in 1976. Although mostly isolated from the turbulence brewing in the outside world, nothing can protect her from the turbulent times ahead within her own family.

Josie finds herself drawn to the Catholicism of her adopted country, she starts to confide her secrets in their maid instead of in her parents. Just normal secrets, like her new boyfriend but she is to discover that her parents’ have secrets of their own, ones that have the power to destroy their life.

This is one of those deceptive books. It poses a whole bunch of serious moral questions but does so in a voice so young and fresh that a sweet summer breeze seems to be floating around them, whispering to you to relax and take it easy, making it a deceptively easy read.

Not to say there is no action, or conflict, far from it. Josie is battling her entire family in different ways, and she is battling the unnoticed arrogance of the missinary culture. Add to that the danger her brother is determined to court, bringing the violence of Columbia’s mafia to their very door. It is quite startling how the author manges to keep the summery atmosphere going throughout, all to often writers would be tempted to use dark, depressing similes for such events that would have shredded the important physical context of the story.

This book would be a good read for Young Adults and Adults alike. For me with my interest in religions and their affects on the world I found it had a lot to say but yet it never preached. It does have an autobiographical ring to it and I would be interested to see how the author will write other books, this is a strong debut and could be the start of solid career, but I’m a little worried it may be the one book she has in her. I hope not.

4 Bites

NB I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in return for an honest review. The BookEaters always write honest reviews.

I reserve comment as I quickly discovered this book is not my cup of tea.