Broken for You

Novel by Stephanie Kallos

Communion. Sacrifice. Heart ache. Mosaic. Broken bones. All of these come to mind from the title and cover art of this lovely book. And all of those ideas are found on the pages inside. Stephanie Kallos's first book is amazingly complex, deep and yet fast-moving, and a little intimidating. And most importantly (for me), it still has a happy ending.

There are so many lovable, damaged characters in this book, but the main two are Wanda, a recently single 30-something, and Margaret, a rich old lady who takes in Wanda as a boarder. Margaret has cancer, and decides to make some changes in her lonely old life before she dies. The two begin a complicated, generous, therapeutic relationship, the growth of which creates a plot with all kinds of interconnections between people. It has wonderful juxtapositions of characters and events (like all those popular movies with the ensemble casts). Also, the setting is Seattle's Capitol Hill, so it's easy for me to imagine it all vividly. In fact, the author credits a visit to Shafer Baillie Mansion in helping her describe the old house that is so central to the story. My husband and I stayed at the Shafer Baillie, which is now a bed and breakfast, a few years ago for our anniversary. It's gorgeous and a bit intimidating (like this book, actually).

As I reflect on the novel, I keep coming back to the title. Broken for you. Usually I hear that during Communion, and truly this is a deeply spiritual novel. But the main characters are either lapsed Catholics, atheists, or Jewish (and you don't realize until more than halfway through what importance the Jewish faith plays in the outcome). So it's interesting to me that Kallos chose such a Christian saying as her title.  On the outside, the philosophy of the book seems to be that religion is unnecessary and negative, something we have to overcome in order for people to really come together. For example, a critic's review of a holy-book-shaped mosaic states, "Schultz-who calls herself a 'spiritual atheist'- reminds us that the words of faith are not only divisive, but insignificant."  I think, however, the real message of this novel is about being open to love, healing, and faith in people, which is also part of most faiths.  I love the continuing theme of doing "mitzvahs,"  the Jewish term for good deeds that can heal the world. Big and small acts of kindness truly do heal people in this story.

There is a point at which I wish I was in a real book club, because I have some questions: How does Wanda not recognize someone from her past for such a long time? Is that real, or just a plot device? And how is she not absolutely enraged at that person? Does that show her change of heart or is it convenient for the story to wrap up?

I suppose I could talk with my mom about these questions; she recommended the book to me. But like me, she reads too many books too fast and can't remember much about them after a while. So if you read this book, keep those questions in mind at the end (I promise, they're not plot spoilers) and email me so we can talk!