When is strong too strong? When does being self-sufficient become a
cover for, a mask for intense loneliness, and, possibly, fear? These are good questions to ask about the
problem of loneliness. Who is shy? Who, instead of being shy suffers from
existential loneliness? Is it only a few
people; the odd ones? Is it we,
ourselves? How does our own loneliness affect
others, especially children whose natural inclination to love and to help
everyone might break through the walls loneliness builds? How does the lonely
one cope with her loneliness? In work?
“This Heavy Silence” by Nicole
Mazzarella is a difficult book to read.
It bleeds like an open wound, and frustrates the reader who might want
someone to help the wounded, to SEE the wound in the first place. It frustrates because of all people in the
story, the person who is wounded by loneliness seems the most blind to her loneliness. Alone, she farms the land. Strong,
resilient, and deeply loyal, Dottie Connell farms her family’s three hundred
acres in rural Ohio alone, having sacrificed love and family for land she does
not own. A sudden, inexplicable event leaves the daughter of her childhood
friend in her care. Pressured by her community to allow her former fiancée to
raise the child, Dottie must face the past she has worked fifteen years to
forget. The resulting story explores the
intricate and delicate nature of dealing with a foster child, the problems of loneliness
and the existential difficulies of relationship that result from failing to provide a nurturing environment
for a growing child
Spanning a decade, “This Heavy
Silence” explores the power of the vows we make to others, and, more binding,
those we make to ourselves. Evoking the hardship, spring-fed beauty, and the
complexities of community in the rural Midwest, this beautifully observed novel
leads us to question our ideas about motherhood, faith, and the debts we owe.
The Christian Book Corner happily
offers this book and others like it at our generous discount. All of our books
and products are from reputable suppliers.
Visit us at http://www.t-CBC.com and
browse our growing selection of the best in Christian and Catholic literature
all of it “Chosen with care; chosen with Prayer.”
