What the Thunder Said

For those who are looking for a spiritual context in very modern literature, Janet Peery's stories offer much to discuss. Her characters often arrive at a "moment of grace." There is a redemptive quality to many of the stories. Just how and when these special moments occur is an excellent topic for discussion, as is the question of whether they are intentionally spiritual or just an illustration that spiritual meaning is present in our world and can be found in the most ordinary and extraordinary occurrences.

I admit to buying this book in order to fulfill my $25 purchase in order to get free shipping. Imagine my delight when I couldn't wait to get back to the stories. There is one novella and then shorter stories that follow, but they are all about the members of the original family. I am sharing this book with friends and hope we can use it in our bookclub. I am So glad that I read this book and will look for other books by Janet Peery.

This is one of the most interesting books I've read in years. I recommend it highly to anybody interested in good fiction--both avid readers and those who have let too much time slip by since their last read. Perfect pacing and control of revelation and suspense allow you to lose yourself in the delight of a good story. There's music in the language and complexity in the characters and the plot lines. As a bit of a history buff, I'm often let down by this sort of novel. I was astounded by the accuracy with which this book brings a historical world alive. The book is funny at times, and tragic, like our lives. The human relationships in the book are all so real I was often deeply shaken. Of all the book's many admirable qualities, though, what I would say was the most rewarding to me as a reader (and RE-READER) is the this book's innovative form. Like any great work of art, the form of this book honors our long literary tradition and renews, adds to, or deepens that very tradition through innovations so subtle and yet so fascinating that their meanings unravel only slowly--a strong brain-satisfaction lasted on long after I had finished reading. It's a collection of stories that intricately interconnect. The gaps make the world of the book enormous; the overlapping makes it real. Characters from earlier stories turn up later fully grown, with their lives already lived, so that what I take away is the most amazing twist of the Postmodern "fragmentation" theme yet to be written: diverging plots and wandering characters somehow converge again because our lives are not only hellish at times and lonely and hard but magnificent--and mysteriously whole.