Evelyn Oliver

What does it mean to fall in love? To give all of yourself to a cause? Clara Cumberhart doesn't know and doesn't really care. All she cares about is her tourist agency job and her modern lifestyle. All she wants is to get to Houston in time for her sister's wedding. And yet while stuck in Paris waiting for her delayed connection from Cairo to Texas, she stumbles out of her ennui into a world far wider and far more dangerous than anything she could have imagined. And it all begins with a letter from The Egyptian Guide.

By opening and reading the letter, Clara becomes the unwitting linchpin in a series of events that culminate in the death of four people and the saving of dozens—without ever leaving Orly Airport. Shocked back to her childhood Catholicism, her entire life takes on new meaning. The letter opens the way to a new job serving others and a new life among in the Coptic Catholic community of Cairo, one both tested and strengthened by the sacrifices of its martyrs. Her love of her faith in turn brings her to a man who can offer the kind of love she's always dreamed of. Giving herself over to love, whether of God or man, is not easy, but still Clara perseveres. The world is a hard place full of doubts, trials, and temptations. Friends can seem enemies and enemies friends. The only way though is the trust in God, and trust Clara does. But what happens when the sacrifices God demands are more than you can bear? What then? Clara is about to find out.

A strong debut novel, with good characterizations and a tight narrative structure that manages to be inherently Catholic without being preachy. Clara is not always the best person, but she's always an interesting one. The story does suffer a bit with pacing towards the end, speeding up so that some plot points and characters seem to appear only to spin off into nothing, but this is a forgivable frustration in an otherwise excellent work. There aren't many novels focusing on the Christian experience in the modern Middle East, much less Catholic ones, so this volume will be a welcome addition to many shelves.

Highly recommended for those who enjoy Catholic fiction, thrillers, speculative fiction, and books with plots ripped from the headlines.

Readers who enjoy this book may also enjoy The First Century after Beatrice by Amin Maalouf, The Lord of the World and The Dawn of All by Robert Hugh Benson, and Martin Mosebach's upcoming travel memoir The 21: A Journey into the Land of Coptic Martyrs.… (más)