Forget Me Not Characters

Book Title: Soon After

Author: Sherryle Kiser Jackson

But why did aunt Elaine burn down the church? That is the burning question. My mind should not be on this book. I reached THE END, so I must move on to other books, I didn’t finish months back.

I have quite a few. I stop reading when I come across yet another New York Times best seller which ‘reads’ like a Hollywood movie: a reporter, crime committed, wrong suspect, detectives. God! Detectives! Why must most books have detectives? What’s the point of buying books when you know what will happen? Slow down, take a deep breath. I will.

Soon After has all of the above except detectives. It has a fire chief  instead. The title could easily be soon after the fire, because someone  burnt down the Harvest Baptist church. Soon After works though, short and sweet, and there’s fire on the cover.

COVID-19 lockdown is forcing me to attend all unfinished business, including books. Aunt Elaine is an enigma because she doesn’t feature that much, has very little real estate in the book, except that she is married to uncle Charley, the chief suspect. He has nobody to blame but himself for running away from Washington D.C. to Louisiana.

Why do you keep talking about aunt Elaine and uncle Charley? Oh! They are Pastor Abe’s relatives, but that’s another story. Aunt Elaine is the star of this review because she renews my faith in books, in writing.

She is no carbon copy character. There is no reason for the reader to suspect her, unlike uncle Charley who is guilty at first glance. The author padded aunt Elaine so well, she would have survived a fall from a tenth floor window.

The end of the book gives the reason for the arson, but somehow, I’m not convinced. Why did aunt Elaine burn down the church?

This is another ‘written podcast’ by Nonqaba waka Msimang.