Turner often reveals the characters through their thoughts. These are brought to us in a stream of consciousness manner so we are taken on all kinds of rambling journeys to the past and the imagined future. Ben questions the value of his photographic memory as snatches from his reading in Chloe’s Bible come to mind at the oddest times. Of course this is rewarding for the reader because the quotes add wisdom, depth, and layers of meaning.
Turner’s descriptions also shine. I love the family gatherings. Who can’t relate to such a scene?
“’Lavinia spilled Coke,’ Mackenzie called from the living room, and Vera Bridgewater jumped up and ran to the kitchen to get paper towels.‘Lavinia is not supposed to be drinking Coke,’ Brittany said. ‘Adelaide, what are you drinking? Do you have Coke too?’
‘Oh, I just gave them a taste,’ Vera called from the kitchen. ‘Let them live a little, Britt. They’re on vacation.’ Brittany looked at Grant and sighed.
Well, so much for cutting the mustard, Ben thought. No one seemed the least big interested in the rest of his explanation." (p. 172)
Not surprisingly, family is a theme Turner has woven through the book. Ben’s family is certainly dysfunctional but in Sometimes A Light Surprises there are second chances, grace and redemption. It doesn’t come in a blaze or flash but slowly, as William Cowper describes it in the poem from which the title is taken:
Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings;
It is the Lord who rises with healing in his wings.
When comforts are declining, he grants the soul again
A season of clear shining, to cheer it after rain. (p. 399)Sometimes A Light Surprises is a quiet but moving and gracious story, with all kinds of wisdom and other delights found on its pages.
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