A Sudden Light by Garth Stein

A Sudden Light by Garth Stein – 416 pages

Book Blurb:

In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant, whole trees, and is set on a huge estate overlooking Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch Grandpa Samuel—who is flickering in and out of dementia—to a graduated living facility, sell off the house and property for development into “tract housing for millionaires,” divide up the profits, and live happily ever after. But Trevor soon discovers there’s someone else living in Riddell House: a ghost with an agenda of his own. For while the land holds tremendous value, it is also burdened by the final wishes of the family patriarch, Elijah, who mandated it be allowed to return to untamed forestland as a penance for the millions of trees harvested over the decades by the Riddell Timber company. The ghost will not rest until Elijah’s wish is fulfilled, and Trevor’s willingness to face the past

My Review: 4 stars

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This is an unconventional coming of age story filled with ghosts, crazy people and the love of nature. I went to see Garth Stein for his promotion of this book and sorry Garth; you didn’t sell this book nearly hard enough for the beauty it holds. I waited almost a month before picking it up! This novel was written lyrically with a sense of urgency for the main protagonist to figure out the mystery and make right of a past wrong. Although I loved the writing style, especially the epistolary parts from the past, there were times it seemed to drag on and I wished those scenes were shortened. Readers must be able to believe in spirits, alternative energy or ghosts to experience the full ride of this book. There is a definitive underlying theme of father and son dynamics, which I liked quite a bit as Trevor was trying to figure out his own father. The witty and odd cast of characters kept you interested, as did the ultimate character in the book, the Riddell House.

Quotes I Liked:

“With a book-presuming it’s a good book-you can depend upon an outcome that adheres to the necessities of drama. The question will be answered. It has to be. The answer may not be happy; we can’t guarantee a comedy. Sometimes tragedy strikes. But there will be a conclusion. Of that we can be sure. That’s the whole point of a book.”

-“How do we reconcile the differences between what we see and what we know?”

-“If your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

-Perhaps that what life is about-the search for such a connection. The search for magic. The search for the inexplicable. Not in order to explain it, or contain it. Simply in order to feel it. Because in that recognition of the sublime, we see for a moment the entire universe in the palm of our hand. And in that moment, we touch the face of G-d.”

-“It is not in prayer, but in deeds that we find absolution.”