The Boy Who Loved Rain ~ Review

The Boy Who Loved Rain
By Gerard Kelly

Colom is haunted by a dream.  A dream that keeps coming.  His sister is drowning and he can't save her.  But Colom has never had a sister.  But why can't he clear her from this dreams?

Colom's dreams are slowly breaking his family.  His behavior attributed to normal adolescent swings is becoming destructive.  As he slides deeper into himself his mother determines to save him.

Desperate to save the life of her teenage son Fiona Dryden, makes a decision that she hopes will keep Colom from taking his own life.  Calling on an old friend for assistance, Fiona, with Colom, flees England for a coastal town in France.  Can the peace offered by a town cut off from the rest of the world break down the wall of pain and silence Colom lives behind?

But Colom's pain is one that has been buried by years of lies and secrets.  Can the truth set him free? Or is it too late?  And who is the sister Colom can't save?

The Boy Who Loved Rain is a powerful and moving story that looks into the fabric of a family slowly losing itself to lies and half truths.  Lies given out of love but nonetheless destructive.  This story explores the persistence of memory and how traumatic events can lay dormant eating away at the core of one's being until eventually manifesting in destructive behavior.  But more importantly it is a story of the power of love.

I don't normally read stories quite like this and the few times I have I've come away feeling rather depressed.  The Boy Who Loved Rain didn't leave me with this feeling.  There is hope in this book which was refreshing.  Like the first rain at winter's end, something new can be felt.  The bleakness of winter's end gives way to the new growth of spring.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher Lion Hudson, through Kregel's blogging program in exchange for my honest review.

Description:

They say that what you don’t know can’t hurt you. They’re wrong.

Colom had the perfect childhood, the much-loved only child of a church pastor. Yet he wakes screaming from dreams in which his sister is drowning and he can’t save her.

Fiona turns to her husband, desperate to help their son. But David will not acknowledge that help is needed—and certainly not help from beyond the church.

Then they find the suicide pledge.

Fiona, in panic, takes Colom and flees… but when will she acknowledge that the unnamed demons Colom faces might be of her and David’s own creation?

This beautifully written and searching novel by poet Gerard Kelly explores the toxicity of secrets, the nature of healing, and the ever-present power of rain.

From March 23 - 27, 2015 Kregel is offering 

The Boy Who Loved Rain at a special price of $0.99 

for the Kindle eBook on Amazon.