The Wonder Worker Book

A novel of what is essentially five parts. I thought it interesting that the author chose to 'get into the heads' of the individual characters so to speak. A ploy that may not have worked as well as it did, as it was it provided a multi-faceted perspective of events as we heard firstly from Alice, then from Lewis, Rosalind and Nicholas (also known as Nick/Nicky) before coming back full-circle to a much changed Alice again. It's just a shame that though featured throughout we never get to hear directly from Stacy, a young priest, who though under-used was one of my favourites.

One of those novels that if asked you'd have difficulty pinpointing just why you'd enjoyed it so much. Despite its many flaws ...

The so-so, arguably stereotypical, characters. The overweight Alice with low self esteem. Lewis, the elderly, border-line alcoholic priest with a panache for the politically incorrect.

. The over-use of certain catch phrases. I lost count how many times I read the words 'a woman of integrity' used to describe Alice's aunt, the words 'wonder worker' used by Rosalind. Both, depending on the publisher/book title (the novel was published as both A Question Of Integrity and The Wonder Worker) of course being key words in the title.

. The bizarre turn of events. Set in a healing ministry. What could be said to be a novel of every day ministry as Nicholas came to the aid of a grieving Alice all became a bit, well, surreal, as (hoping I don't give too much away here) one of the characters is declared if not exactly possessed, 'heavy with a demonic infestation

. How predictable it was. The above aside I found myself several steps ahead of events throughout so no particularly big surprises ....

oddly enough I thought A Question Of Integrity a compelling read that I found myself still reading well into the wee small hours.

Copyright: Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper