2023 Book Review #5: These Silent Woods

 

Powerful.

Compelling.

Tear-jerker. Funny. Important. 

Ending with Soli deo gloria.

This book captured my heart, my soul and my mind.   This author is gifted with pen.

STORY SUMMARY

Cooper (born Kenny) and his 8 year old daughter Finch (born Grace Elizabeth) have lived in the Appalachian Mountain woods for the last 8 years in the family cabin of his best friend Jake.  The cabin is in a very remote section and the property borders on National Forest land. Cooper has chosen to live an isolated lifestyle. He's got a lot to hide. Finch has been raised on  the books that fill the cabin's bookshelves, raised on knowing how to deal with life in the wilderness, and raised without her precious mother (who died in a tragic car accident when Finch was a newborn). 

Finch is pushing back now against the sheltered life that Cooper has made for her.  He is still haunted by the painful truths of what led him to the wilderness to begin with. 

The only people who actually know they exist are Jake who lives in Michigan near his sister Marie, and the local hermit neighbor who goes by the name Scotland.  Jake visits them each December, bringing enough food and supplies to get them through the winter. Finch has never set foot in town or in a store. 

This year, Jake doesn't show up. And starting with him not showing up, a series of events take place that will change the course of their lives forever.  A stranger.....a young woman....wanders into their property and Finch becomes obsessed with her. This obsession with trying to find out who she is, what she's doing there, is going to make things dangerous for Cooper and Finch.  After a shocking disappearance threatens to to upend the only life Finch has ever known, Cooper is forced to decide whether to keep hiding...or to face the sins of his past. 

MY THOUGHTS

This is the best book I've read in the last few months.  

It is about survival, sacrifice, and how far a father will go to be with the child he loves especially when faced with losing that child. 

This book touches on PTSD from the war on terror after 2001 with Afghanistan.  It's compelling and moves forward fluidly with a bit of tenseness and mysteriousness. 

There are moments of light and laughter and there are moments of darkness and dread. 

The setting and character development are exquisite.  I feel like Scotland was a type of Christ and it's just so well written that my mind was blown. I literally cried at this one section that speaks of grace.  Here are some quotes that jumped out at me:

"Because if your own child, the person for whom you've sacrificed everything, for whom you've broken laws as well as your own personal sense of boundaries, has lost confidence in you, and in turn, in themselves and the world at large, then what's the point of any of it?" (pg 240 These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant, c.2021)

"I know that right now, you feel it's unjust for me to  carry this burden on your behalf.  But Cooper, there is a word for such unmerited favor. That word is "grace". The thing about grace is that your don't deserve it.  You can't earn it. You can only accept it.  Or not....." (pg 284)

"P.S. "Greater love hath no man that this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13" (pg 284)

Other themes in this story are:  single parenthood, wilderness living, homeschooling, loss, death, friendship, forgiveness, honesty, the father-daughter relationship, dating abuse, second chances, grace. 

If you like reading about family relationships, with some drama, humor and mystery, then you will love this book.  It preaches a fantastic lesson:  grace isn't earned.  It's freely given. 

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.