Sam Hill always saw the world through different eyes. Born with red pupils, he was called "Devil Boy" or Sam "Hell" by his classmates; "God's will" is what his mother called his ocular albinism. Her words were of little comfort, but Sam persevered, buoyed by his mother's devout faith, his father's practical wisdom, and his two other misfit friends.
Sam believed it was God who sent Ernie Cantwell, the only African American kid in his class, to be the friend he so desperately needed. And that it was God's idea for Mickie Kennedy to storm into Our Lady of Mercy like a tornado, uprooting every rule Sam had been taught about boys and girls.
Forty years later, Sam, a small-town eye doctor, is no longer certain anything was by design-especially not the tragedy that caused him to turn his back on his friends, his hometown, and the life he'd always known. Running from the pain, eyes closed, served little purpose. Now, as he looks back on his life, Sam embarks on a journey that will take him halfway around the world. This time, his eyes are wide open bringing into clear view what changed him, defined him, and made him so afraid, until he can finally see what truly matters.
Winner of Suspense Magazine 's Crimson Scribe Award.
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The bells sounded so clear they caused me to sit up, though intuitively I knew I could not have heard them in that sterile, cramped doctor's office.- 1: 1989, BURLIMNGAME, CALIFORNIA
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(Lake Union Publishing, 24 April 2018, e-book, 449 pages, bought from @AmazonKindle)
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I really loved The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell. This is a joyous, heart-breaking book that sucker-punched my heart and left me winded and sobbing. I fell in love with Sam, Ernie and Mickie and their life-affirming, incredible friendship. I liked the way the book is structure occasionally shifting from past to present and we experience Sam's strength and resilience in the face of prejudice and misunderstanding. This is a corker of a read.