City of Tranquil Light - A Review

From Marketing: City Of Tranquil Light takes place in historical China and was inspired by the lives of Bo’s grandparents (view photo gallery). At the center of the novel are Will and Katherine, two Mennonite missionaries from the heartland, who have come to China because they feel called by God to serve the poor and spread the Good News. But this is more than a missionary story; it is really the portrait of a marriage set against the backdrop of a radically shifting nation that is plunging into revolution.

Her deft touch with issues of faith has been compared to Marilynne Robinson’s and her ability to bring historical China to vivid life is like that of Janice Y. K. Lee and Anchee Min. City Of Tranquil Light is a tender and elegiac portrait of a young married couple and what they must endure in the chaotic beauty of pre–Communist Revolution China.

What did I think?  This book read like an autobiography.  As I started to read through the book, I felt like I was in bible college again reading just another missionary's autobiography.  However this story held my attention and I quickly became attached to the characters.  City Of Tranquil Light is a bitter sweet story, which brought tears to my eyes in a few places near the end.  I enjoyed reading this novel.


Thank you to Henry Holt and Company for sending me this free book to review.