Book Review: The Book of Jonas

Whoever is choosing the BlogHer Book Club selections lately is doing a stellar job. Last month I fell in love with The Fault in Our Stars. This month I found myself racing to finish The Book of Jonas. The novel tells the story of three main characters: Jonas (an orphaned victim of war), Christopher Henderson (an American military soldier) and Rose Henderson (Christopher’s mother).

Throughout the novel you learn that Christopher saved Jonas’s life. You also learn that Christopher went missing shortly after the raid on Jonas’s village and that the soldier’s mother has been searching for his true whereabouts ever since the military informed her of his MIA status.

For much of the story the focus is solely on Jonas. The details of his life unfold in a series of short chapters that depict various scenes from Jonas’s past including a time before the war, the night of the raid and weeks that followed and his subsequent journey and life in America.

The chapters switch perspective quickly. One minute we walk through a day in Jonas’s life, the next you read one of Christopher’s journal entries and then jump to a scene depicting Rose’s daily struggles.

I found myself reading with an undeterred speed. Midway through the novel I had a pretty good idea of how it was going to end, but I raced through the chapters in order to discover what happened to the military soldier who was missing in action.

If you are a fast reader this is one of those books you can read in a day. If you’re like me you’ll make guesses about the whereabouts of Christopher Henderson early on in the novel. There are hints throughout the book, but as the last chapters unfold you’ll probably guess the ending before it’s finally told. Still I couldn’t wait to read the final words.

While this book is a mystery it’s also much more complex and interesting than just that. It’s a story about war and the lives of three people who are impacted by it.

Note: I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.