Lone Star Book Blog Tour: Light from Distant Stars by Shawn Smucker (Review)

“Sometimes people don’t have the power to be
what we need them to be for us.”

Light from Distant Stars by Shawn Smucker is more than a tale of a grown man coming to terms with events from his childhood and his rocky relationship with his father, all with a hefty dose of Christianity. Cohen Marah’s adolescence consisted of baseball and lying under the pew each Sunday listening to his father’s sermon, but a spontaneous decision based on jealousy and confusion sets life-altering changes in motion for both Cohen and his family.

The overall story seamlessly flows between Cohen’s present at age 40 and his past when his childhood took a heart-wrenching turn. In the present, Cohen confronts his feelings of responsibility for his father’s impending death through the sacramental act of reconciliation and through the swirling memories of when his family splintered beyond repair. Shawn Smucker profoundly presents a story that on the surface is about a son remembering his childhood and a far-fetched, mystical memory of  when he meets two children and together they confront an unknown Beast. But on a deeper level, this story reveals universal truths about family, childhood, and relationships. Families are never perfect, parents are fallible, and children sometimes become confused between reality and fantasy as a form of self-preservation.

What is this Beast from Cohen’s past? While that mystery is eventually revealed, the symbolism of the Beast gives this story an interesting depth. What if the Beast represents the struggle of adolescence and the coming of age in a household that is anything but stable? Or perhaps the Beast represents betrayal and the inability to forgive oneself and others. Maybe the Beast is a stand in for loneliness or sadness when a child must navigate into adulthood alone. Parents who hurt their children are also Beasts. Each reader will see this frightening shadow differently, and that is what makes this novel so fantastic.

Light from Distant Stars explores many emotions and often travels down dark and threatening paths, both real and imaginary. Just as the light is forever linked to its distant star, so is our past forever linked to our present as we traverse through life. The hospital is an interesting setting as Cohen and his sister, Kaye, who is pregnant with twins, watch their father’s life slowly slip away. Death and life are engaged in a slow and heartbreaking dance here, and the author beautifully presents the two with dignity and wonder, mixed with a little bit of terror.

Shawn Smucker’s writing is excellent, and he skillfully paints characters, scenes, emotions, and actions with a tantalizing literary brush. His ability to combine drama, horror, and magical realism and still maintain an air of credibility firmly positions him high on the list of authors to follow, to read, and to wait anxiously for that next book.

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