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Review by Sadel12 -- The Spirit of Want by William H. Coles

Posted: 08 Oct 2018, 11:28
by chidiekweozor
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Spirit of Want" by William H. Coles.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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Review of The Spirit of Want by William H. Coles.The main characters in this novel are Dr Abner J. MacMiel,a Surgeon,married to Agnes,and the father of Lucy and Elizabeth. Lucy is introduced as a light-bronze-skinned,dark-eyed,stunningly beautiful woman of thirty four or thirty five and a lawyer. On the other hand,Elizabeth has delicate features,sharp blue eyes and blemish-free skin but with slightly overweight figure,sturdy legs and thick ankles. She is a school teacher and loves children. There is Luke Osborne,A.J.'s colleague and friend but more of his protégé. And then ,there is Hower Brain, a celebrity preacher and the founder of Apostolic Church of Christ. The whole story revolves around the MacMiel family.


Luke Osborne married Lucy MacMiel and they have a daughter, Jennifer. But Lucy's involvement in the Hower Bain case strained her marriage relationship since she had to spend more time in the Church compound of North Georgia in the process of preparing her defense for Bain's trial. Lucy was fired by her office and even disbarred because it was discovered that she was having an affair with Bain. Howie was indicted and he left Georgia for Africa. Lucy abandoned her husband and daughter,joined Bain in Africa. This didn't go well for her because she almost died from poisoning by an unknown person in Bain's staff. She moved back to Atlanta,got another Job in California and moved over.


Jennifer died of leukemia eventually,Hower Bain moved back to Georgia as soon as he was acquitted and Lucy moved back in with him. Unfortunately, Bain was indicted a second time for tax fraud and misuse of church money. By this time, Dr MacMiel was being investigated for malpractice,Luke had married Elizabeth and Lucy diagnosed of kidney failure. Elizabeth was willing to donate for Lucy but for Luke's objection and also,she became pregnant at the time. Lucy eventually died of a head injury sustained during an accidental fall.


One thing i enjoyed about this book is that it brought into perspective the increase in the global divorce rate. Almost all the marriages in this novel have either been through a divorce or about to go through with it. This is in agreement with available data. The global divorce rate was at 12% in 1960 but has risen to 44% in 2017,meaning that the global divorce rate increased by 251.8% since 1960.Another thing i enjoyed about this book is the way it exposed the rot in the legal,medical and pastoral profession using Lucy, A.J,and Hower Bain as case studies respectively.


On the other hand,i didn't like the fact that Luke later Married Elizabeth. In African culture,no man gets to marry two sisters no matter the circumstance. Such practice is an abomination where i come from and moreover, the God of the Christians warned against such practice in the Bible. Again,i didn't like it that Dr MacMiel never told Lucy the whole truth about her paternity. This made her seem angry with Elizabeth because she felt unaccepted and unloved.


I rate this book 4 out of 4 Star. I didn't give it a 3 Star because it is an interesting story,told with literary depth and finesse. I recommend it for anyone that enjoys romance without reservations.

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The Spirit of Want
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