'Read at least one book a week' is the advice that Stephen King gives to writers. His recommendation has changed the way I allocate my time. I have been freed from the guilt I used to suffer from using my time “unproductively.” In fact, I feel like I have been given the keys to a Little Debbie delivery truck and told all the treats are calorie-free.
However, I have become very discriminating in my reading, enjoying mostly memoirs, since that is the genre I am most interested in from a writing point of view. But I do occasionally sneak in one of the many novels I’ve ordered from Amazon that are stacked on the bookshelves like soldiers at attention calling to me like Circe. This tantalizing title, Our Lady of the Lost and Found by Diane Schoemperlen, became my most recent choice.
Imagine having a woman dressed in a blue raincoat and Nikes appear in your living room, identify herself as Mary, Mother of God, and ask if she can stay for a week’s rest. This is what has happened to the narrator, a single, middle-aged, non-Catholic woman who is a writer. Amazingly enough, their week together is quite low-key, however, Mary does tell of some of her miracles, and the narrator tells us of many more. But that isn’t all.
The meaning of life, the evil in the world, faith, mystery, time, reality and history are just some of the philosophical topics that the author addresses in a very readable and yet thought-provoking manner. Her reflections and soul-searching lead us to do the same.
What would you do if a woman carrying a suitcase and a purse appeared in your house claiming she was the Virgin Mary? Think about it. Then pick up this book and be prepared to be transformed.
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