 |
Author Craddock has composed a reality-based tale of a young black woman with a mind open to spiritual and practical ideas. Melanie is a bright student, and her father often reads to her and her brother Malcolm from dictionaries and other works to increase their knowledge. Losing him in her teens is the first of many traumas she must undergo. Her mother, though grief-stricken, encourages Melanie's strong Christian faith. In college, Melanie meets Meyer. He is Jewish yet, like her, intellectually open to new spiritual viewpoints. With him, she attends synagogue, and he attends her church, experiencing a genuine conversion. But when Malcolm discovers that his sister has befriended Meyer, he must end the relationship since Meyer's religion makes him an enemy of the black community. So ensues a lengthy stand-off in a synagogue, hostages held at gunpoint, and two deaths. Melanie will start life over using the lessons of her deep losses to build inspiring cohesion among male criminal offenders, the police, and the religious groups in her community.
Craddock delivers Melanie's perspective as though it might be her own, so vividly expressed are her heroine's deep feelings of fear, anger, grief, and spiritual uplift. The project Melanie initiates, called Operation Recovery, stems directly from circumstances that could have stymied a less courageous person. Yet the young woman is always shown as certain of the direction she must take, leading the reader through a Jewish celebration, several church-based ceremonies such as baptism and funerals, and meetings with tough, seemingly irredeemable lawbreakers about whom she reveals a touching, vulnerable side. Following Melanie in her quest, the reader will want to know more about her projects, perhaps calling for a sequel. Craddock's book would make an excellent starting point for others wishing to build community cohesion and religious understanding.