Review by Amanda Deck -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
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Amanda Deck
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Review by Amanda Deck -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
Strong Heart is a low-key adventure tale of the present mysteriously mixing with, and shedding light on, the past. Set in the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest, this story explores the ancient history of human migration as Tom Olsen treks deep into the wilderness to pay homage at his grandfather’s grave. With him are his native friends, William and Myra, and Tom’s newly-discovered, mistreated and furious 13-year-old granddaughter, Sarah. The adults are used to this trek into the backcountry, but the men aren’t young anymore, so things get pretty rough. Frightening complications from an adversarial mining company, wild animals, and wildfires make things worse. Then there’s Sarah. Sarah’s unexpected experiences connect the past and present in a whole new way, stoking the fires of disagreement between native beliefs and modern scientific data.
Author Charlie Sheldon’s familiarity with the area and history allows him to portray the geography and possible alternate theory of human movements and experience realistically. Sarah’s mystical experiences alarmed the adult characters, who had to decide if the child was suffering from a head injury or had been touched by spirits of the past. I liked how the characters each responded to Sarah’s assertions of the strange events that happened to her: Tom was dismissive, trying to help her understand that it was a result of her injury; Myra was worried, but couldn’t help but wonder if there was a grain of truth in her story; and William believed. A later character, Sergei, was fascinated. He combined Sarah’s wild tale with what he knew of ancient history and artifacts to test new theories.
One section of the book dragged on too long in my opinion, but once past that, it was quite enjoyable again. The slow parts were important, but repetitive. One other issue I had with it is that the writing was so often one short sentence after another. I would like to have seen sentence length mixed up a bit more.
Strong Heart is a very well-edited story based on events more than characters. We do know what the characters are thinking, and why, but not much of how they feel about what’s happening to them. One character, Myra, became testy and rude. She was quite obnoxious but at least she admitted it later and tried to make up for it. It didn’t make for pleasant reading, but Sarah’s interpretation of Myra’s issue was pretty cute – and she was right.
The focus is on the geography and the cultural ramifications of past events that we, in the present, aren’t quite certain of. Readers with an interest in ancient human history will be intrigued by the author’s take on certain questions, especially if they haven’t yet heard this theory.
Something that may annoy a reader is that the story doesn’t end. None of the questions raised are resolved. It’s hard to tell if that’s because there will be a sequel, or if the author simply wasn’t attempting to write another story about differing definitions of progress – mining versus preservation - or one about a little abused girl finally finding a loving family. Leaving it open highlights the geography, anthropology, and history of the area, so I rate it 4 out of 4 stars.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Strong Heart is a low-key adventure tale of the present mysteriously mixing with, and shedding light on, the past. Set in the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest, this story explores the ancient history of human migration as Tom Olsen treks deep into the wilderness to pay homage at his grandfather’s grave. With him are his native friends, William and Myra, and Tom’s newly-discovered, mistreated and furious 13-year-old granddaughter, Sarah. The adults are used to this trek into the backcountry, but the men aren’t young anymore, so things get pretty rough. Frightening complications from an adversarial mining company, wild animals, and wildfires make things worse. Then there’s Sarah. Sarah’s unexpected experiences connect the past and present in a whole new way, stoking the fires of disagreement between native beliefs and modern scientific data.
Author Charlie Sheldon’s familiarity with the area and history allows him to portray the geography and possible alternate theory of human movements and experience realistically. Sarah’s mystical experiences alarmed the adult characters, who had to decide if the child was suffering from a head injury or had been touched by spirits of the past. I liked how the characters each responded to Sarah’s assertions of the strange events that happened to her: Tom was dismissive, trying to help her understand that it was a result of her injury; Myra was worried, but couldn’t help but wonder if there was a grain of truth in her story; and William believed. A later character, Sergei, was fascinated. He combined Sarah’s wild tale with what he knew of ancient history and artifacts to test new theories.
One section of the book dragged on too long in my opinion, but once past that, it was quite enjoyable again. The slow parts were important, but repetitive. One other issue I had with it is that the writing was so often one short sentence after another. I would like to have seen sentence length mixed up a bit more.
Strong Heart is a very well-edited story based on events more than characters. We do know what the characters are thinking, and why, but not much of how they feel about what’s happening to them. One character, Myra, became testy and rude. She was quite obnoxious but at least she admitted it later and tried to make up for it. It didn’t make for pleasant reading, but Sarah’s interpretation of Myra’s issue was pretty cute – and she was right.
The focus is on the geography and the cultural ramifications of past events that we, in the present, aren’t quite certain of. Readers with an interest in ancient human history will be intrigued by the author’s take on certain questions, especially if they haven’t yet heard this theory.
Something that may annoy a reader is that the story doesn’t end. None of the questions raised are resolved. It’s hard to tell if that’s because there will be a sequel, or if the author simply wasn’t attempting to write another story about differing definitions of progress – mining versus preservation - or one about a little abused girl finally finding a loving family. Leaving it open highlights the geography, anthropology, and history of the area, so I rate it 4 out of 4 stars.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Winds of Fall by Alberto Mercado
