Stunningly beautiful heartbreak

 

 ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ My first Chris Whitaker book and, definitely, not the last. It seems wrong, yet fitting, to call this book a beautiful gut punch. Such detail and descriptive power is sure to leave a mark on the reader and linger long after the last page has been read. I can tell this will be a chaotic review, and apologise, but the process of unpicking the story, thinking about the ramifications for the characters and working through my own emotions is still underway. Needless to say, I loved this novel and my time in Monta Clare.

What a literary force Chris Whitaker is! I haven't read a novel with such emotional heft in some time. This story of young friends, poor Patch and orphaned Saint, growing beyond their turbulent childhood in 1970s Missouri caught me unaware with its beautifully painted, vivid picture. There is a high level of description that drops the reader into the time and place with artful ease. My senses came alive with the text and I felt a longing for life in America that I haven't felt before. A bittersweet nostalgia for a sense of community in a simpler time and place as seen through a child's eyes. An innocent age, though painful at times to behold, worth cherishing. Perfectly captured. I could not foresee where life would take Patch and Saint and willingly submitted to a journey that delivered a full spectrum of heartache, disappointment, joy, laughter and tears. It was entirely worth it.