Of Stillness and Storm ~ Review

Of Stillness and Storm
By Michèle Phoenix 

Lauren's one goal in life was to be a mother, but somehow her goal - her calling got lost to her husband Sam's calling. While studying overseas Sam and Lauren were drawn to one another and after returning to their respective homes in the United States decided that they were to be together.

But when Sam's calling takes them and their son Ryan to the remote regions of Nepal - Lauren and Ryan are left for weeks at a time while Sam works in the Himalayas visiting remote isolated villages. Lauren and Ryan feel this neglect and after a couple of years the stress starts cutting the ties that have bound them together as a family.

When a dear friend encourages Lauren to reconnect with the world outside Nepal - Lauren reluctantly does. This opens the door for Lauren to connect with a childhood friend - Aidan.  But some doors should never be opened and Lauren is about to discover every choice has a cost - she just never realized just how high a price she and Ryan would have to pay.

Of Stillness and Storm is not a book I would have ever picked up to read myself , but I was surprisingly drawn into to the story of Lauren's life once I started reading. There is a back and forth between the present and pivotal moments in the past that have gotten Lauren, Ryan, and Sam to the point that they are now at. The cover is apt a stormy background and a cord that is no longer whole - the cover is Lauren and Ryan's life as they are lost to the drive of Sam's calling.  This book is a tragic story in that Sam is so caught up in his vision, in his goal that he can't and won't see the life that he is helping to crush. And unfortunately this is an occurrence one can see if one looks in the right direction. This is a moving story that is worth reading. 

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher through the Fiction Guild with no expectation of a review positive or otherwise. All opinions expressed are my own.

About the Book:

“I felt torn between two worlds. 

Each with its own mystery. 

One more captivating than the other, 

but the other more real and breathing.”

It took Lauren and her husband ten years to achieve their dream—reaching primitive tribes in remote regions of Nepal. But while Sam treks into the Himalayas for weeks at a time, finding passion and purpose in his work among the needy, Lauren and Ryan stay behind, their daily reality more taxing than inspiring. For them, what started as a calling begins to feel like the family’s undoing.

At the peak of her isolation and disillusion, a friend from Lauren’s past enters her life again. But as her communication with Aidan intensifies, so does the tension of coping with the present while reengaging with the past. It’s thirteen-year-old Ryan who most keenly bears the brunt of her distraction.

Intimate and bold, Of Stillness and Storm weaves profound dilemmas into a tale of troubled love and honorable intentions gone awry.