When
religion is not based in tradition, but only in the ego of the pastor, things
can go wrong very easily.
The
evangelical church in a small town in North-Carolina gets a new preacher after
their previous one dies. This new preacher changes the focus of the church.
Laying hands, speaking in tongues are suddenly normal during the service on
Sunday, while people dance with snakes and drink poison to show their faith.
The old
lady Adelaide Lyle does not trust preacher Chambliss and does not like the
snakes and other things that are going on. After an incident she makes a deal
with Chambliss. She will keep silent, and in return she can take the children
on Sunday, so they won’t see the other things.
Yet one
Sunday there is child present during the service, the autistic son of Ben and
Julie. Ben never goes to church, but Julie hopes her son will finally be
healed. Unfortunately the boy dies during the service, while his younger
brother Jess saw most of what happened. The people in the church close ranks
and do not want to speak up, and sherrif Barefield has the difficult task to
find the truth.
A land more kind than home is a fascinating book. How can
people get caught up in the madness of one man? Of course you see things like
that in cults, and this can be compared with that, this has little to do with
normal religions.
Preacher
Chambliss is a horrible man, an egotripper who thinks other people are beneath
him and he is better and smarter than others. That is also his downfall,
because sheriff Barefield is a lot smarter than Chambliss.
The story
is told through the eyes of Adelaide, Jess and the sheriff. And when you
finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together, it becomes clear there was a
lot more going on that Sunday than just an accident.
The
atmosphere in the little town and the connections between the different
characters are well written.
My only
problem is that Chambliss is nothing but a very bad man, while people who are
both good and bad are much more interesting, as becomes so clear in the
excellent books by Philippe Claudel.
Wiley Cash did a better job when he portrayed Julie, the
mother of the dead boy. On one hand she is a good mother, but she also does
things that are totally in-excusable. This is interesting and well
done.
A land more kind than home was Wiley Cash’ debut, and I am glad I also have his second book on my
shelves. Sometimes you read a new author and you know you need to read more.
Published
in 2012
Comments
Post a Comment