Blog Tour & Review – Sometimes the Darkness by Will Campbell
https://jessicamapreviews.com/2017/10/02/blog-tour-review-sometimes-the-darkness-by-will-campbell/
I went into SOMETIMES THE DARKNESS by Will Campbell blindly. Sometimes that works in my favor and other times I end up encountering a book that’s a genre/reader mismatch. I will say that I love the historical fiction elements and the writing itself, but some of the more religious undertones are themes I try to avoid in books (just a topic that I’m not a huge fan of). That being said, this book is still beautifully written.
Hanley Martin is a wealthy American aerospace industrialist, and he has become troubled by his success. He knows that he must balance out his good fortune by giving back to others in order to feel complete. Everything changes for him in 1999 when his path crosses with the head of a Catholic mission in Sudan. They are desperate for pilots to bring medical supplies and visiting doctors to the remote clinic and school in Mapuordit in southern Sudan. This lies on a refugee trail from Darfur to Kenya and Martin finally feels he has found his calling.
We also follow Sister Marie Claire, a French nun that is already in Mapourdit, and she is working hard to help the Sudanese people flee the war in Darfur. She will stop at nothing to save the children being sold into slavery but there’s one key piece to her plan missing. Will Hanley Martin be the answer to her prayers to help these children?
I will say that the characters and development in this book are great. The author really created these characters for the reader and you can tell Campbell did his research about the tension and conflict in Sudan. While it wasn’t the main focus, the religious theme in the novel just wasn’t the right genre for me personally.
Overall, this was a tensely written novel with some historical and political fiction elements. I will definitely look for future work from Campbell. The characters and writing made for a solid read that kept me pulled in and turning the pages.
#BlogTour #Excerpt #Review: Sometimes the Darkness by Will Campbell
Today I am delighted to be hosting my spot on the blog tour for Will Campbell’s debut novel Sometimes the Darkness. Packed with hard hitting messages, painfully real characters, and history that so many try to ignore this one that I more people will take the time to read. Bravo!
I’m not going to lie, this is one novel that it took me a little while to warm up to. The beginning is packed with loads of context and exposition, so it takes a good chunk of reading before anything truly exciting begins to take shape. The same can be said for the characters, there is a lot of ground-laying and back story, but once the story kicks off even those characters that I found frustrating at the beginning took on new dimensions and quickly earned my admiration.
Let’s face it, it’s easy to dislike Hanley Martin, throwing away all the success that others would kill to have. I spent so much time wondering how this was going to be anything more than some self-gratifying mission – much like Sister Mary Claire. Boy was I wrong! And, when it comes to books, I love being wrong. As the book progressed Hanley got more real, less conceited, and finally started to ask the questions that really mattered.
Sister Mary Claire, on the other hand, was a character that I gravitated to almost immediately. The surly rebel nun instantly caught my attention and never failed to relinquish it after she was introduced. I appreciated how she questioned absolutely everything including her faith, herself, her position, as well as where and how she was truly needed. Her dedication and commitment was more touching and inspiring than Hanley’s quest, and I was left wanting to know more about her.
I was initially curious as to why so many ‘smaller’ characters such as Hanley daughter, Rocky, and Jumma were included as primary perspectives rather than simply being left as supporting characters, but the end result was absolutely stunning. The way everything came together carefully crafted, and really added to the emotional resolution of some hard-fought battles.
The time and the location of the novel made for an interesting read, especially as it calls out global indifference to genocide and human trafficking. We need more works that examine the human impact these events have on the world, and not just the impacts that events like these have on global markets and the profits of individuals. For this alone I can’t help but praise Sometimes the Darkness with it’s real, gritty intensity and refusal to bow down to an ugly subject. I laughed, I cried, and I found myself completely caught up in the shifting perspectives of not only characters, but also the situation itself.
Would I recommend this book? Absolutely! It’s an outstanding debut novel, and I am sure that there are many, more amazing things to come from Mr. Campbell.
Amazon Reviews: Sometimes the Darkness by Will Campbell
Sarah reviewed Sometimes the Darkness
A wonderful book about a tragic time and situation May 1, 2018
A wonderful book about a tragic time and situation. Expertly researched with eloquent character development. I could not put this book down.
Tresa Davis reviewed Sometimes the Darkness
Tells a riveting story January 11, 2018
I found this book both gripping and poignant. Once I started it I couldn't put it down.