Christopher Meades
Park Row Books
From the publisher:
From highly acclaimed, award-winning author Christopher Meades comes a magical, provocative tale of forbidden love and one girl's struggle for liberation
Hanna has never been outside her secluded community of Clearhaven. She has never questioned why her father has four wives or why she has fourteen brothers and sisters. And in only one week, on her eighteenth birthday, Hanna will follow tradition and become the fifth wife of a man more than twice her age.
But just days before the wedding, Hanna meets Daniel, an enigmatic stranger who challenges her to question her fate and to follow her own will. Then her mother tells her a secret—one that could grant Hanna the freedom she's known only in her dreams. As her world unravels around her, Hanna must decide whether she was really meant for something greater than the claustrophobic world of Clearhaven. But can she abandon her beloved younger sister and the only home she's ever known? Or is there another option—one too fantastical to believe?
With lush, evocative prose, Christopher Meades takes readers on an emotional journey into a fascinating, unknown world—and, along the way, brilliantly illuminates complexities of faith, identity and how our origins shape who we are.
It was definitely the description of this book that caught my attention originally and I was happy to discover the wait list at the library was relatively short. I mean, when was the last time you read a book about a polygamist community? I can't even remember! I was immediately drawn into Hanna's world, desperately wishing for her to find a way to lead the life she deserved. I am curious to know how much research the author did on polygamist communities. This community seemed fairly stereotypical and simplistic in its beliefs. Something seemed a little off to me, though not enough to detract from the plot itself.
The best part of the book were characters, who were well thought out and unique. Hanna was a fantastic character, well-developed with quite a personality, so she was easy to root for. Hanna has compassion for others, especially for the little ones in her family and for her disabled sister whom she cares for like a mother. Her strength is mirrored in her ability to question that which she was taught to never question. I so wanted her to be happy!
If Hanna was easy to love, then her father was easy to hate. His drinking problem made him belligerent and violent. I kept waiting for some sort of redeeming quality to emerge, or perhaps for him to show some compassion to Hanna. Most of Hanna's sister-mothers were placid in their relationships with him, which was unfortunate but we have to remember that is how they were raised and we cannot fault them for that.
The plot, while a little basic, was filled with conflict on several different levels. Everything in the book takes place over the span of two weeks or so, yet the plot moves quickly. Hanna surely crammed a lot into her last two weeks before her wedding! If the plot moved fast, her relationship with Daniel moved even faster. I can't help wonder if she fell in love with him simply because he was a convenient alternative.
So overall, Hanna Who Fell from the Sky is an excellent book. I give it four out of five stars. It looses a star from me for being a little basic, but I definitely think there is something to be gained from reading this book!
Have you read this book or other books that take place in polygamist communities? Let me know in the comments!
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