Love Never Dies

Waiting For Butterflies  by Karen Sargent is a most beautiful contemporary Christian novel about a love that never dies. It is a study of grief so beautifully written that the words will penetrate your very soul.

Waiting For Butterflies is a work of fiction showing death is not the end. You cannot kill love. Everyone handles grief differently and needs to work through their grief to find a new type of ‘normal.’ The family in the novel was “trying to find our way back to normal.” There was anger and emptiness to work through as best as one could. There is no right or wrong way to grieve. There is only immense pain.

Guilt is a normal part of grieving, There is always something left unsaid or something we wish we’d done differently. Regrets figure too and the pain of never having chance to say goodbye.

The novel has the difficult topic of self harm and a path of self destruction. Karen Sargent has written this with so much sensitivity that I, as the reader could ‘feel’ the pain and the relief as the blood flowed. The physical pain dulled the mental anguish to give a few minutes of something else to focus on. Karen Sargent captured the mood and the pain perfectly.

Faith and trust in God may help to navigate ones way through grief. There may be anger but God wants us to give Him our anger. What God doesn’t want is withdrawal. He wants to help us in our pain. We need to continue to pray but sometimes all we can do is ask why. “While you are praying, do me a favour, ask God why.” Prayer may be hard but it is “just talking to God.” He wants us to continue to communicate with Him.

Wading through grief is hard. It can be “a blanket of sorrow suffocating him.” Karen Sargent has portrayed the mood sympathetically. The reader ‘feels’ the anguish, the pain, the despair.

There is also the subject of sin. “We’ve all sinned, but we’re blessed that’s not how the story ends.” God provides grace to cover all our sins.

God has promised to never leave us. Sometimes the pain is so deep that we cannot feel or see God. It is only when we look back that we see His hands at work in our lives.

The novel shows that our mission field is right where we are. “I just try to do the next right thing.” God can use you exactly where He has placed you. You do not need to travel abroad to spread the Good News.

There is the theme of healing – physically, mentally and spiritually. Our lives may be healed in ways we never thought possible as God sends people to cross our paths.

God is the God of restoration. The old house can be seen as a motif for our lives. It needs fixing up and as it is mended bit by bit, so one day the house will be restored and whole again.

Families are important. Families need to pull together. Sometimes tragedies can blow them apart instead of uniting them in their grief.

Waiting For Butterflies was a most unusual but beautiful novel. The scenes ‘spoke’ to my soul. The love radiated out from the pages. The pain pierced my hear. The whole novel was beautifully written and left me feeling calm, peaceful and loved. I cannot urge you strongly enough to buy a copy and experience the beauty for yourself.

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON

 

Waiting For Butterflies blog tour on Celebrate Lit

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