Ebookwormy1's Reviews > City of Tranquil Light

This is a review I don't want to write. Though I finished "City of Tranquil Light" a couple of weeks ago, and the aura of the characters has faded, I'm not ready to close the book. It is a book that has a classic feel, and calls out to be read and re-read.

"City of Tranquil Light" is a deep, tender, story that flows on many levels. Themes of life's purpose/ calling, maturity, China, marriage, cross-cultural living/ transformation, life & death, suffering, self-sacrifice, retirement, health struggles, and a deep abiding love for the LORD, for others and one's spouse, are poured into the story which is told as an old man's reminiscence.

While the subject matter is COMPLETELY different, and their styles are not the same, the way that Caldwell crafts every scene, every dialogue, every paragraph, reminds me of the exquisite work of Olive Ann Burns' "Cold Sassy Tree."

The one dissonant note, for me, in "City of Tranquil Light" was the first few pages. I had difficulty following the narrator's train of thought. But, once I understood Will, his voice became a quiet stream that my mind was happy to be carried by to another time and another place, full of struggles that resonate today, joys that transcend time, all told with the softness of good memories, and the benefit of hindsight that illuminates a life well lived. The journal entries of Katherine provided a counter-melody that gave the story additional detail and depth. My heart is still singing. I trust yours will, too.

Cold Sassy Tree, Burns, 1984
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

For more on China, see
The Good Earth (Good Earth Trilogy #1), Buck, 1931
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

For another book of reflections from an old man's life, see
Gilead, Robinson, 2004
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...