"All Rivers to the Sea"

Written by Bodie & Brock Thoene
304 pages
Overall Grade: A+

Well, I've reached the end of it. The last book in this series was in itself a great book, but as endings usually go it is inherently better because there is true closure. All Rivers to the Sea tied up many themes and really made the series a cohesive unit. Not to mention, it was fun to read. I beg your forgiveness in advance; this review will be longer than most. I couldn't discuss many of my thoughts or fully give them attention because the story itself wasn't over yet in books 2 or 3, now however I have 4 books worth of plot to draw upon when giving my thoughts on the themes and ideas brought up in the Galway Chronicles. So, again I apologize for the length.

Maybe the first and most tame idea I got from this series was the attitude of giving and being kind toward those in need. The books take place in west Ireland in the years leading up and during the beginning of the potato famine, so needless to say, poverty is rampant. Yet continually the idea of taking care of those in more desperate need than yourself crops up. The authors used the kindness of the Burke and Donovan families to show what true charity could look like, and they used the British and more wealthy Irish to exemplify the exact opposite. Being set in such difficult times we see starving families living in terrible conditions, and with those stories we see two reactions: to support or destroy. The Burkes gave food and rest to the families they encountered while many British and Irish reviled the poor especially those with children whose bellies were bloated from hunger. But we do the same don't we? We turn the TV channel when World Vision puts the faces of children too weak to swat the flies from their faces. We change the radio when we hear of entire villages dying from sickness that could be prevented if only they had clean drinking water. So the question is, what was the difference between these people, the givers and the ones who looked away? Faith. Faith that God would honor his word. "A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed." (Proverbs 11:25). The “givers” trusted that if they were generous with what God had given them, they too would be blessed even if they didn't know where it would come from. I want faith like that.

Another theme I felt the book bring up for pondering was what it truly means to be a Christian. The English at this time were of the Church of England and fiercely persecuted Catholics, Baptists, and many other sects of Christianity, but all of these sects claimed salvation through Jesus just as the Church of England did. And all the while the Protestants did this they claimed it was for Christ. I understand some anger and confusion at the Pope and Rome, who really did for many years use their power not for the glory of God but to gain power and money for themselves, but no one would look at their actions and call them justified. James 1:27 says "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." Most English (I won't say all because I don't believe that to be true), but most were completely okay with the idea of all the Irish, including young children, dying of starvation and even loved the idea of 'Ireland without the Irish'. Why did they want that? Because Ireland has beautiful, lush land great for grazing and crops. They wanted the land that the Irish had and hated them enough to watch them starve to get it. They did this and still had the audacity to call themselves Christians. Apparently they never read the book of James. Now we are all sinners and everyone 'hates' something, but the only things we are called to hate are the things God hates. God hates sin. Period. He doesn't hate anyone, but he hates what keeps us separate from Him. Many times have I seen that hate displayed by Christians today and I wish I'd had these words spoken in the book by a young girl, "You know not the same Christ we know. He who holds my sister is not your Lord." (I changed the name so as not to spoil anything). True Christianity is being Christ-like, caring about what he cared about and accomplishing his goals. I wish I remembered that more often.

 Something else that stuck out to me very strongly might have only done so because of the political climate I find the United States in. This series is historical fiction and it seems ironic that the most villainous characters were politicians and political activists. There were murderers, robbers, and thugs throughout, but truth be told their crimes were against a few select people and their actions irrefutable, thus they were able to be held accountable.  It was the politicians that committed the truly heinous crimes. Taking disease infested blankets to meetings of their rivals to kill as many people of the opposite ideology as possible. They fought the lowering of food prices so that Irish farmers whose crops had gone bad couldn’t afford food for their families. And when these things were brought to light or argued, they were able to talk their way out of it, claiming it was for the greater good of England. And who is able to argue that without sounding like they don’t love their country? Sound familiar? An interesting note about the politics of that age and area is the fact that the Irish people were not allowed to own firearms. Throughout the book we see the Irish unable to defend themselves from not only common criminals but from a corrupt government and its flunkies. If you haven’t heard the story of the Stanford Prison Experiment I urge you to visit this website Stanford Prison Experiment and read up on it. Anyone with a “badge” is able to abuse the power it gives. Whether it is a correctional officer and an inmate, a policeman and a civilian, or a government employee and the citizens it is meant to serve, the abuse of power is a real threat. Denying that is naiveté to an absurd level. And what was England’s answer (and oddly enough their answer to this day)? Take away the guns from the people they fear the most, the whole populace. Not just the criminals, or the mentally unstable, everyone. Hitler thought like that too.

 While reading book after book of all this evil, I was confronted with the thought of “What can I do”? Do you know what I figured out? Everyone needs to stand up and speak out. Oftentimes we think that it’s for someone else to do. Someone else must be saying what I’m thinking, let their voice be heard. That won’t cut it. A democracy only works when everyone speaks up and the government knows where the people stand. This is especially true when it comes to Christians. God calls us to be His ambassadors, His voice in a government He doesn’t have control over. And it’s not enough to just pray. The walls of Jericho weren’t brought down by prayer alone and the walls of the Enemy won’t be brought down by it alone either. It takes us standing up, getting involved, and getting our hands dirty. God doesn’t promise a shut-out He just promises victory.

I want to end this review with the character of Kate. When we meet her she is a young widow, physically scarred from the fire that took her husband, and seemingly without prospects of love or a future of her own. But what I love about her character the most is her unswerving faith in God and in His promise that He has plans for her, “plans for welfare and not for evil, plans to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). She has faith that God knows what is going to happen and has placed us where we are for a reason. I love her attitude and it’s best described in this quote, “Accept the devil’s doin’ as God’s will? Accept hunger? Christ fed five thousand. Accept sickness? He healed the sick and raised the dead. Accept! That’s the devil’s lie! Pray instead for a clear eye and a firm plan to bring your people relief. Work hard to make this hard life better for as many as you can. Heaven’ll not be on earth till Christ brings it to us. Meanwhile it’s in your hand to show Christ’s mercy. Accept the work God has given us to do. Then do it!” This woman who for many years it seemed would never be anything but her father’s helper in old age, was the woman who was integral in saving 500 hundred lives from starvation and death. She could’ve given up on God and life when things got bad. But she didn’t and it was that faith in God and His ability to get her through that changed the lives of hundreds of people and changed the course of history.  I want that faith!

Well that about wraps up my biggest thoughts on the series, aren’t you glad I didn’t talk about all of them? I am. I have writer’s cramp now! Just kidding. But seriously these are some very good books. Deep without being stuffy and the human element is truly inspiring. This won’t be the last book I read from these authors but I am looking forward to reading something different now. I hope you enjoyed this review. I spent a lot more time thinking and preparing for this one but I think that’s because these books touched me in ways I wasn’t expecting.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments about this review and the others I’ve done. Also if you have any suggestions for future reads I’d love to hear those too! Until next time:

“I’ll not live the past – or in a present that never existed. That’s not the way Kate Donovan accepts the will of God. I live today… now.” –Kate Donovan, All Rivers to the Sea