Review by ellep20 -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
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ellep20
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- Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
Review by ellep20 -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Strong Heart is a unique and intriguing tale of the Pacific Northwest written by Charlie Sheldon, a biologist and fisherman turned novelist.
Tom, along with his friend William and William’s daughter Myra, is preparing for an ambitious and personal backpacking trip deep into Olympic National Park when Tom’s callous ex-wife shows up with Sarah, his granddaughter, a broken orphan whom he had no knowledge of prior. Not wanting to cancel the trip (and with a little persuasion from William) Tom brings Sarah along. What started out as an awkward quest of unfinished business for Tom becomes a voyage beyond time and space for Sarah after she falls into a cave.
While the main subject of the novel is Sarah and her wild story she tells after she emerges from the cave, the book also dives into the clashes of local tribal rights and outside commercial endeavors as well as balancing conservation with growing industries, battles that are very familiar to anyone living in the Western part of the United States. Those who enjoy the nation’s national parks and forests and those that like to explore the origins of mankind will find this book fascinating.
The majority of the novel is told from William’s point of view; however, the book switches to Sarah’s point of view when she begins to explain what happened to her down in the cave. The quick switch to Sarah’s point of view was slightly confusing as the book suddenly becomes set in a time period thousands of years back. I found myself having to reread Sarah’s story a few times just to get the new characters and new setting straight in my mind. This switch between time frames may have made more sense if there was more of an ease into Sarah’s story. There are a couple lines in the novel that seemed a little corny. For example, early into the trip, Sarah claims to have seen a large bear, a bear that Myra says has been extinct for thousands of years. While Tom and Myra dismiss Sarah’s claim, William states, “Myra, we think we brought Sarah on this trip, but maybe it is she, who is taking us.” This conclusion just didn’t seem genuine or something a real person would come up with after a young girl with an attitude says she saw an animal that has been dead since the last ice age.
Overall, I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The novel kept me interested as I am also a lover of hiking in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains; however, the confusion between shifting to Sarah’s tale and the modern time and more specifically, the new character description and almost over detail of the setting of her tale was frustrating at times. All in all, this is a good book and quite different from any other book I’ve read in the past year.
******
Strong Heart
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3 out of 4 stars
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Strong Heart is a unique and intriguing tale of the Pacific Northwest written by Charlie Sheldon, a biologist and fisherman turned novelist.
Tom, along with his friend William and William’s daughter Myra, is preparing for an ambitious and personal backpacking trip deep into Olympic National Park when Tom’s callous ex-wife shows up with Sarah, his granddaughter, a broken orphan whom he had no knowledge of prior. Not wanting to cancel the trip (and with a little persuasion from William) Tom brings Sarah along. What started out as an awkward quest of unfinished business for Tom becomes a voyage beyond time and space for Sarah after she falls into a cave.
While the main subject of the novel is Sarah and her wild story she tells after she emerges from the cave, the book also dives into the clashes of local tribal rights and outside commercial endeavors as well as balancing conservation with growing industries, battles that are very familiar to anyone living in the Western part of the United States. Those who enjoy the nation’s national parks and forests and those that like to explore the origins of mankind will find this book fascinating.
The majority of the novel is told from William’s point of view; however, the book switches to Sarah’s point of view when she begins to explain what happened to her down in the cave. The quick switch to Sarah’s point of view was slightly confusing as the book suddenly becomes set in a time period thousands of years back. I found myself having to reread Sarah’s story a few times just to get the new characters and new setting straight in my mind. This switch between time frames may have made more sense if there was more of an ease into Sarah’s story. There are a couple lines in the novel that seemed a little corny. For example, early into the trip, Sarah claims to have seen a large bear, a bear that Myra says has been extinct for thousands of years. While Tom and Myra dismiss Sarah’s claim, William states, “Myra, we think we brought Sarah on this trip, but maybe it is she, who is taking us.” This conclusion just didn’t seem genuine or something a real person would come up with after a young girl with an attitude says she saw an animal that has been dead since the last ice age.
Overall, I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The novel kept me interested as I am also a lover of hiking in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains; however, the confusion between shifting to Sarah’s tale and the modern time and more specifically, the new character description and almost over detail of the setting of her tale was frustrating at times. All in all, this is a good book and quite different from any other book I’ve read in the past year.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like ellep20's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
