Strangers and Sojourners

Exceptional book, masterful use of the english language, well developed characters. I highly recommend this book.

I almost don't want to write a review for Strangers and Sojourners. Though I've taken O'Briens other books off the bookshelf to re-read them over and over again, I've only read Strangers and Sojourners once. This is not a sign to be taken that the book is bad. No, quite the contrary. I'm still digesting the deep pathos that have lodged themselves somewhere in my mind and heart, I'm scared to take the book back down(being more than a year) again for fear of disrupting the beauty and wisdom that is still growing within. The book is very strange indeed. I work part-time at a little grocery store where most of my work time is spent in the back of the store doing monotonous produce work. I spend the rest of my time as an artist/writer and re-emerging, struggling Catholic. I can give testimony that Strangers and Sojourners has helped me in ways that I do not understand. Events, moods, situations and characters from the book will just pop up in my mind from out of nowhere, while I'm in the middle of a hundred different chores at work or home. The most 'ordinary' things and people have gradually become more and more exciting and mysterious to me. I've come to cherish 'ordinary' things with a thankfulness that is quite alien to me. The sacrament of marriage(though i'm single)especially after reading this book is something so, so beautiful and heroic. This book in the future will emerge in families homes all over. There is no other place where it can emerge.

As an English major and general bookworm, I've read a lot of Canadian literature over the years. Unfortunately, a lot of it barely qualifies as "literature": the reader has to wade through page after page of self-indulgent, derivative meanderings, with a few snowbanks and hockey games thrown in for colour. On the other hand, there are excellent literary works that barely qualify as "Canadian". I'm thinking here of award-winning first-generation Canadian writers whose novels are mainly set in their countries of origin (Ondaatje, Rau Badami, Mistry, Moore, etc.) Even if these books live up to the praise they receive, they don't really form the foundation for a national literature.Of course, there are books that escape both these trends, and _Strangers and Sojourners_ is a wonderful example. I came across it by chance, and I'm glad I did. The plot is fairly simple: The main character has come from England at the turn of the century to teach school in the BC interior. Faced with harsh wilderness and an unfamiliar culture (or lack thereof), she has to adapt to her new surroundings. Her external struggles, triumphs and defeats - illness, raising children, public opinion - are accompanied by deep inner growth, in the love she shares with her husband and in her personal spiritual journey. O'Brien writes in the context of deep Christian faith, which is unfashionable in Canadian academia these days. This might explain why _Strangers and Sojourners_ hasn't received as much attention as it deserves. Still, there's no need to label this book "For Christians only". The book's deeper elements are relevant to people of any faith (or no faith) who are interested in the development of the soul, and the interplay between nature and spiritual life.A recent article in the _National Post_ criticized O'Brien, saying he's not as good a writer as Dostoyevsky (as some of his fans have claimed). Well, perhaps not. But is that really the criterion for judging whether or not a book is worth reading? _Strangers and Sojourners_ is beautifully written, and it makes us think about where we've been and where we might be going, both as individuals and as a nation. It's a profound book with an enjoyable story. Highly recommended!

I've read all his books, and while I found the others to be more adventurous, this was my favorite. It is a capital 'L' Literature book. I luxuriated in the slow pace, the images and the people. The life saga of a spiritual journey captivated me. It is exciting to read the other books in the series and see how the lives and stories of their characters proceeded from this book. If you prefer the fast pace of beer commercials and Sports Utility Vehicles commercials on TV, you probably won't like this book. If you mourn that "There hath passed away a glory from the earth" in much modern literature, you will like this book.

In Father Elijah, O'Brien showed us the sword. In Strangers and Sojourners, he shows us the heart. Anne Kingsley Ashton is a character that I will never forget-- in so many ways her struggles are my struggles. She is often overhwhelmed by life, both the daily struggles for existence and the spiritual questions of meaning and purpose. The battle she fights against the temptation of despair defines courage. What tools, if any, can Anne find to fight these feelings? And what is at the root of her discontent? I, too, have wondered these things about myself. O'Brien has given life to the process of healing the emotional and spiritual wounds we accumulate throughout a lifetime. And most of all, shown us the importance of courage. I would recommend this book to anyone.

As with his previous novel, Father Elijah, O'Brien's Strangers and Sojournors is an instant classic. It is much different from his best-selling debut, however, for it deals with a woman who comes from England in the early part of the 20th century to live in the wilds of northern British Columbia. It is her story, the story of a human being dealing with the mystery of human existence. Hence it is our story, too, for, as the title belies, we are all strangers and sojournors on this earth. With this book, O'Brien shows his artistic side; one can almost hear the music and poetry behind the prose, which will reach deep into the heart of the reader. Noted writer Peter Kreeft has said that "No novel since Dostoyevsky has nourished my soul like Strangers and Sojournors." I agree. O'Brien is a spiritual storyteller of the most extraordinary calibre and this book is his best so far.