At the age of eighteen, musician and songwriter Cooper O’Connor took everything his father held dear and drove 1,200 miles from home to Nashville, his life riding on a six-string guitar and the bold wager that he had talent. But his wager soon proved foolish.
Five years after losing everything, he falls in love with Daley Cross, an angelic voice in need of a song. But just as he realizes his love for Daley, Cooper faces a tragedy that threatens his life as well as his career. With nowhere else to go, he returns to his remote home in the Colorado Mountains, searching for answers about his father and his faith.
When Daley shows up on his street corner twenty years later, he wonders if it’s too late to tell her the truth about his past—and if he is ready to face it.
A radical retelling of the story of the prodigal son, Long Way Gone takes us from tent revivals to the Ryman Auditorium to the tender relationship between a broken man and the father who never stopped calling him home.
My review:
This is actually the first book by Charles Martin that I have read. I've never been a big fan of books written from the first person point of view, and shy away from trying a new author using that style of writing. This book is on one of my favorite topics - God's love for prodigals - so I decided to review it.
To say the book affected me is an understatement. I actually blogged about it on my other blog (http://markallansmusings.blogspot.com/2016/10/long-way-gone.html). I didn't mind the first person point of view, and am actually putting a couple of his books on my Christmas wish list after reading this one.
The book is described as a "radical retelling of the prodigal son story", and it is radical. There is one major difference in this story, which I can't say because it would be a spoiler. The story itself is awesome, and Martin brings the message of Jesus' parable through in a way that had me literally in tears. His style of writing, his characters, and the words he used all combined to make this a truly great story.
It was different weaving the story around Nashville and country music, but it worked. I honestly didn't want to put the book down, and I was pulled into the story and didn't want to stop reading, though I had to a few times because of time constraints.
Charles Martin truly did the story of the prodigal son justice with his retelling of it. I highly recommend it..... it will definitely stir you and bring afresh the realization of how much God loves us.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
About the author:
CHARLES MARTIN is a New York Times bestselling author of ten previous novels, including his most recent book A Life Intercepted. His work is available in 17 languages. He lives in Jacksonville, Florida with his wife and their three sons.
Long Way Gone is available from Thomas Nelson Publishing.
Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for the review copy.
1 comments:
I was never a fan of 1st person story telling either until this author. His writing and story telling is amazing. Water from my Heart is another favorite of mine that he has written and that left me pondering the story and it's affect on me for weeks. And his story The Mountain Between Us is being made into a movie next year. I hope Hollywood does it justice as it's another fave of mine.
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