The Promise of Rain

It is Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand, lest we forget, and I read the perfect book. If you don't know what Anzac Day is, you could have a look on my blog.

My lovely Aunty Pat sent me this book from Perth, and I coincidentally started to read it yesterday without realizing the appropriateness. After returning from the march today I finished it with many tears. Donna Milner is a wonderful Canadian writer, who has published After River, which Aunty Pat reckons is great and is now on my TBR list.

The Promise of Rain a book about family, love, war and secrets. The story concerns a family whose father returns from Hong Kong after WW2 weak in body and damaged in mind. Despite the dark subject matter, the book was engaging and touching, with a glimmer of hope at the end. That didn't stop me from crying through the last third, though.

I found interesting parallels with the book, my recent readings and life in general. The main speaker at today's Anzac service spoke of the soldiers lost to war, but reminded us that often veterans and their families are forgotten. Life after war is not easy, and that is one of the themes of the book.

Family is another of the book's central ideas, and in particular, the love of a family for their brother who has Down's Syndrome. Not long ago I posted a link to Pioneer Woman's blog, who has a much cherished brother with an intellectual disability. I've also been spending time at my school with high school boys buddied to intellectually disabled adults. It has been a wonderful experience.

Books like this are special: they resonate in my everyday life and make a connection with my current mood and musings. I recommend you read it soon, or at the very least, next time your country honours its soldiers.