A Gritty Read

A Bird Alone by Ericka Clay is a powerful Christian novel. It is a tale of real problems faced by real people. It is a tale of overcoming by God’s grace.

This is a gritty read. Being a Christian is no guarantee of an easy life. In fact the Bible tells us that in this life we will have troubles but we know that God will never leave us to face life alone. “Belief isn’t a thrown up prayer and crossing your fingers … It’s an utter reliance on Jesus.” When we face problems, we know that we can turn to Jesus and trust Him with the outcome. “Prayed for peace, a sense of reliance on Jesus no matter the outcome.”

We see faith in God played out in the novel as a character walks beside God and tries to show the Father’s love to all those that he meets. Life is better when this character walks into the room. There is a young boy with autism who can ‘see’ the difference in the man of faith compared with others.

Life certainly deals a character some bitter blows. God is questioned as the character feels abandoned. Why do bad things happen to good people? There are often no answers but we just need to press into God. “Giving everything over to God was peace.”

The novel is set in small town America. It is awful to see that racial prejudice still exists in 1999 as we read “Travis learned that Jesus loved him even if the white man didn’t.”

Along with racial prejudice, we see homophobia with disastrous results. It is hard to read that a character had to hide his true nature from everyone, including his family.

Ericka Clay has written a powerful, realistic novel that tackles relevant issues that affect lives. We see that life is not always good but God is faithful. We can put our trust in Him.

I received a free copy from the author. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

JULIA WILSON