Ian used to think that his life had been disappointingly easy, compared to the pioneers. He had a happy marriage, four children, a satisfactory job and, for just over a year, he has served the church in his role as Bishop of the local congregation, an enormous responsibility.
And then Issy died.
Now his wife, Claire, won't get out of their dead daughter's bottom bunk and she won't speak. Claire doesn't want a blessing or a sympathy card and she's got nothing to say to the Lord. She just wants to be left alone to be sad.
Ian doesn't know what to do to make things better. Zippy and Alma are trying to combine living with grieving and being Mormons with being teenagers. Only seven-year-old Jacob has a plan. He knows that his faith is bigger than a mustard seed; it's at least as big as a toffee bonbon, maybe bigger. It's clear that if he wants Issy back, it's up to him to perform a resurrection miracle.
Incredibly moving, unexpectedly funny and so sharply observed it will make you feel as if you could pick the woodchip off the bedroom wall, A Song for Issy Bradley is about doubt and faith. But most of all it's about a family trying to work out how to carry on when their world has been blown apart.
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[Jacob wakes up early]***
(@WindmillBooks, 7 May 2015, first published 19 June 2014, 404 pages, paperback, #popsugarreadingchallenge 2020, the first book you touch on a shelf with your eyes closed, bought from @BarnardosScot)
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I've read a few of the author's books since I bought this and have been generally impressed. I actually had a false memory of reading this book before I found it, jammed at the back of a shelf crammed with books, tucked out of the way. The perfect choice for this category. I enjoyed this book, though maybe enjoy isn't the correct terminology to use. Can you enjoy something so sad? Can you enjoy something that makes you cry and devastates you so much? What can I say; I'm a sucker for books about dead kids. That will get me every time. I was crying before the end of the first chapter so knew I was in for an emotional ride. I liked the fact the narrator focuses on a different character for each chapter, gradually revealing the impact of Issy's death on each member of the family and how they all cope and the different ways they are affected by grief. The chapter from the POV of Claire, Issy's mother were particularly hard to read. Her grief was so much worse than the rest of the family; she was literally floored by it. There is hope and love as well which almost balances out the sadness.