Review by Sunday diamond -- The Spirit of Want

[Sunday diamond]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Spirit of Want" by William H. Coles.]

---

4 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

The book titled The Spirit Of Want is a fictional prose literature, written by William H. Coles. The book teaches its reader the detrimental consequences of egoism and love-of-pleasure. The book reveals the life of three Major characters: A.J. MacMiel, Lucy MacMiel and Hower Bain, whom by their love for pleasure and over-ambitiousness, turned egoistic and possessive which consequently ruined their reputations. Out of the many key characters in this book, I choose to pick out these three mentioned above as the main characters, because of their roles in the book which actually addressed the title- 'The Spirit Of Want' of which, if I may have my way I'll name it 'The Spirit Of Pleasure'.

Lucy is the adopted daughter of A.J. MacMiel, a lawyer by proffession, and Elizabeth was his biological daughter, who was born two years after Lucy was adopted. However, A.J was never contended with the 'different but complementary features of his daughters'- Lucy and Elizabeth. Lucy is a beautiful, astonishing and ambitious woman with a lot of messy attitudes such as; aggressiveness, impulsiveness, and pleasure as the priority of her life. Elizabeth on the other hand, was a selfless, loving and caring woman just like her mum- Agnes, but not as ambitious as Lucy, and she'd never placed pleasure as her priority but loved her profession as a children teacher.

A.J loved Lucy for being ambitious, and of course for her beauty- but hated her for being aggressive, impulsive and selfish. He loved Elizabeth, only because she's his biological daughter but hated her for not having those features he admired in Lucy. Therefore he seems not generous in dealing with his household, and his wife- Agnes not exempted. Therefore the question is; who did he actually love?- Elizabeth or Lucy. Lucy therefore developed the sense that, the whole MacMiel's family were actually discriminating her. She thought, probably because she's an African child, and with the fact that she was adopted, were enough to get her discriminated by her family members. Instead of her to look inward and show herself approved by being the best she can be and leave the rest; she kept on jumping into actions that created hatred in the heart of A.J, Agnes, Elizabeth, Luke and even her entire loved ones. Lucy found Luke to be her husband, she unexpectedly got pregnant and wished to terminate the baby by all cost just to avoid the role of a mother. After unsuccessful efforts to get her pregnancy terminated; she eventually gave birth to her first and only child- Jennifer but abandon her, just to hook up with her new love- Hower Bain who's her client under interrogation and investigation on child rapping. They flee from Atlanta to Africa; precisely at Ghana. She spent many years with Hower Bain with whom she started another relationship, to satify her love for freedom and pleasure. She refused to give Jennifer the maternal care she needed, and abandon her family due to the wrong sense she had about them. Luke, Elizabeth and Agnes had to assume the role of a mother which Lucy had ignored. Agnes found it difficult living peacefully with A.J her husband due to his unsatisfiable taste he had in Elizabeth and Agnes while lucy was away. Elizabeth understood Lucy, but Lucy find it difficult to understand Elizabeth if she's truly caring and selfless or she's pretending to be one; not until she came across the greatest problem of her life while away at Georgia with Hower Bain the preacher- she needed a kidney donor for her kidney transplant. She couldn't approach Elizabeth, because she thought she's her 'number one' enemy and likewise the rest of the family members. She searched highs and lows, pillars and poles but can't find a perfect donor except Elizabeth, who accepted without hesitation to donate hers but was disqualified by a test, because she was pregnant. Lucy then had to suffer for what she caused to herself.

Over ambition and love for pleasure landed Lucy in so many troubles such as: been poisoned, loved the wrong man, lose her only daughter- Jenifer, destroyed her loyalty and trust as a lawyer, therefore putting her career at risk. Likewise, love for pleasure and possessiveness landed Hower Bain in destroying his reputation as a preacher. The love for unsatisfiable wants in A.J caused him to become fierce in the sight of his wife- Agnes and his workers. Elizabeth received her crown at last for being selfless as she and Luke surprised Lucy, by showing her the attention and concern which she'd never expected from them, especially when she needed someone who can risk his or her life just for her to survive. The kind of love and care she have been yearning for, which led her searching for love with her last drop, was found readily at her fingertips. She was blindfolded by over thinking, impulsiveness and too much love for pleasure.

The book was carefully and systematically written; to address the subject matter, and make it easily understood to its readers. I love many features of this book. Firstly the manner the characters were named; such as Luke and Lucy- the names sounds rhythmic. Secondly is the genre of the book- a prose which is narative in structure. As I was reading the book, I felt as if i was watching it on a screen due to the practical approach used by the author. Also the book featured different countries of the world and their culture. Such as Atlanta, California, Georgia, Africa etc., with all these features, i wished the book was filmed.

All in all, I enjoyed reading the book despite its bulky content. Reading a chapter will ever continue to create more interest in reading another. Therefore, this book titled: The Spirit Of Want by William H. Coles just deserve a rating not less than 4 out of 4 stars and I give it with all pleasure.

This book is for all, who love reading narrative stories, however, I know every one will love to read this book. The book seems to end with suspense, therefore I assumed it should continue to part 4. If this is true I can't wait to get the next part of the book.

******
The Spirit of Want
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords

Like Sunday diamond's review? Post a comment saying so!

[gen_g]

Thanks for the detailed review! It seems like a well-constructed book with an interesting premise.

[Samy Lax]

Whom did A.J. love actually? Elizabeth or Lucy? This is such a valid question. I think I would read this if given the chance.

Great review!

[Connie Otwani]

Thanks for thorough review. 'Spirit of pleasure' seems apt. Lucy sounds quite a handful. Great review!