Novel Review: A Soft Morning by Murray Pura

 I reviewed this novel on 08/01/20 in a previous blog, now defunct.

A Soft Morning

He loved his lady and woman more than he loved his own soul. But when their storybook marriage fell apart under the weight of a dark depression that threatened to take her life, he was helpless. In desperation, he turned to a God and a faith he had rejected years before. And when healing did not come right away he prayed the most desperate prayer of his life - "Take the depression out of her, make it into the form of a beast, and let me fight that beast to the death. If I slay it, I slay her darkness and set her free, and she lives again." Of all the prayers he might have prayed to a God he'd turned his back on this was the one he prayed and this was the one that was answered.

Perspective by Peter: 

I was asked by the author to review this short story. It is a short story of 50 pages in length. It is part 1 on a 2 part story. I thought this would be a quick read, maybe within 2 hours, but it turned out to be not the case. The reason? Pura's writing style. I have not come across this in previous novellas or short stories I have read of his. 

It is lyrical, poetic without the rhyming and very descriptive. It is not what I would call "direct" narrative that once read you know exactly what the author is depicting. I am not sure if there is a specific name for both of these styles. The former meant I had to concentrate more and most of the time re-read what I had read. I say this not as a criticism or that I did not enjoy what I was reading. It suits this story. I would not have this any other way. It was a positive challenge.

As always with Pura's short stories, he packs a lot into the short number of pages. Specifically in this short, one reason is due to the very descriptive narrative. It reads like there is more than this page amount. There is more description than dialogue but the latter is there when it is needed and is not in short supply.

At first, I found the reason for Scathach's depression to be something organically (physiologically) wrong with her or due to some event that had happened that Pura has not mentioned at that point, but the plot thickens when further into the story, the real reason is revealed to her depression. I would not have picked this up, but once revealed, I could see that this added to the suspense and intrigue that Pura had already depicted. It adds to the dilemma that Micah finds himself in and him accepting the solution and acting on it. It makes him confront his spiritual deficit and rejection of God before meeting Scathach.

At this point in the story, Micah had come to the crossroads, a point of final decision. Does he believe what Solomon has confronted him with, which is the truth of his spiritual state and its consequences, or does he remain in denial and delusion, allowing the reason for his rejection of his faith and of God to dictate his actions? And it is here that Pura increases the intensity and suspense. I found myself getting tense and slightly panicky as knowing what would happen if Micah chose incorrectly. And even with the decision that Micah makes, it is the attitude behind this that carries you further into the rest off the story not knowing if he is going to be consistent with this decision or will he back out and allow his delusion to overtake him and ultimately destroy not only himself but everything he has on every level?

Adding to this suspense and intrigue is the character of Solomon. Is he just a very spiritual person, very obedient and in tune with God and on a mission from Him to be an instrument in helping Micah realise what he has done and what he needs to do to, or is he otherworldly? Is what he mentions about his upbringing the truth or to camouflage his real identity and purpose? I guess the reader will find out in the next instalment.

If I had to sum up the description of this short with a few words, it would be "Be careful what you wish for!" or in Micah's case, "Be careful what you pray for!". What is unsaid in these two statements is that you will have to be accepting of the outcome. You might not have a choice to back out of it or walk away. I remember the truth of this when in my youth, I prayed to ask God to better use the car He had provided me and withing the hour I had 5 phone calls asking me if I could pick up some of the youth and transport them to the concert we were going to! I went into a panic as I had not driven so many people in one go before, being a newly licenced driver. But I followed through with my prayer and was blessed in so many ways I would not have foreseen if I had not prayed that prayer. Was Micah prepared for God's response when he requested what he did? Was he prepared to follow through and do whatever it took to slay this beast? The reader is left on a cliff hanger waiting to see how far he is willing to go in this and can he handle that God has answered his prayer as it is, literally?

It struck me that we really do need to be prepared for God's answer for whatever we pray. It is easy to accept His answer if it suits what we want or what we feel we need but what if the answer is not in these categories? It comes down to accepting His answer due to Him being Omniscience and knowing what is best for us. His answer might shock us into the knowledge that we sometimes do not know what is best for us and need to accept His answer for our situation regardless of what we wanted as the outcome from our prayer to Him.

I can understand why Micah prayed this prayer. He was desperate and feeling helpless about his wife's condition and could see no way out of it. He was afraid he would lose her and could not bear the reality of this. We have all done things when we are desperate and they may not be the most commonsensical, practical or appropriate responses to have. Desperation, fear, helplessness or the feeling of not being in control, seem to bypass or derail our normal processes when the duration or chronicity and the intensity of the situation bring us to the end of resources and strength.

Pura has made this short speculative without asking the specific speculative "what if" question," What if God made his wife's depression a beast, would Micah be able to defeat it and free his wife of this affliction?" He has done this by Micah requesting this as a prayer and not as a question and Pura continues this with the unfolding of the plot and bringing Micah to the point of making his decision and following through with it. But then Pura has a great ability and knack for this! He will never let you down on this level.

Pura has depicted Solomon giving Micah the spiritual solution to this prayer. Yes, he has to slay the beast. How is what Micah had no idea of. I did not either. I was expecting something like him having a sword or other such weapon with some armour slaying some dragon-like creature. But what Pura depicts is nothing like this. And the weapons are unlike I was expecting. While these weapons are based on Indian (North American) mythology, there are no specific or obvious Biblical spiritual warfare principles at all but God has answered Micah's prayer as it is and he has sent Solomon to prepare and support Micah through it. With the ending of this short leaving the reader on a cliffhanger, I am hoping Pura to be more specific in these Biblical spiritual warfare principles in the final confrontation between Micah and the beast. Pura has not deviated from any Biblical principle so far in my readings of his novellas and shorts.

There is one poignant discourse between Solomon and Micah with the former confronting the latter with the crux of his dilemma and its spiritual solution. It is a brilliantly written piece and to me shines of a carefront manner (Definition and verb: To caringly confront an individual; To approach someone in love and respect and correct them in an honoring manner). This is the pinnacle of this short. Everything up to this point is setting the scene and from this carefrontation, the rest of the plot is more defined and definite, predictable in that the reader knows what Micah must do but not how it is going to pan out. The cliffhanger leaves the reader with Micah about to meet the beast. Pura had better not keep us waiting for this next instalment!

This is one very different novel of Murray Pura's that I have read but that is not a criticism. Pura is one very diverse author and quite a wordsmith.

I highly recommend this series.

If you would like to investigate this short story further, click on the image below:

Readers and reviews are an author’s best asset, so I encourage any reader, to consider reading A Soft Morning and submit a review on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest (or any other social media you subscribe to).

Reviews help promote an author’s novel to potential readers and encourage the author to keep writing. Reviews also help get the author’s message (and God’s message) to the reader, whether Christian or not, who may need encouragement and support in their lives while being entertained by the story.

Please note: As an Amazon Associate, I am required to disclose that book cover images or titles of novels in this post are paid links if they are linked to Amazon and result in a sale.