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Author Chavarría has created an epic journey for her central characters—from birth to lives on earth to death and beyond. The central focus is Belinda, whose emergence from the restrictions of the womb to “quiet, cooing voices” forms the first chapter. Raised strictly by her grandmother, intelligent Belinda proves too shy, sometimes too outspoken. She experiences genuine regret and guilt about a rowdy incident in her early college years. Seeking normalcy and structure, she marries a self-seeking entrepreneur and, after a miscarriage, has a daughter, Gloria, whose name belies the child’s deep-seated mental and physical disabilities.
Later divorced, Belinda begins to explore the truths and attractions of major religions, both Christian and Eastern, including a trip to the Holy Land. Her life story does not end with her death but leads to an emergence into a light-filled realm called heaven. There, with loving guidance, she meets those who passed before her, including her lost children and estranged mother, participates with others as a guardian angel in a project for planetary improvement, encounters those whose afterlives began in hell, and gradually ascends to her soul’s ultimate goal: seventh heaven.
Chavarría, who has pursued a career in human services and is active in the Baha'i Faith, is sure to enchant readers with this imaginative tale. Great religions are discussed among the book’s characters, contrasted with earthly sorrows and sufferings, both personal and far-reaching. The descriptions of human births are graphic and gripping, and the imagined afterlife is depicted as both etheric and logical, a place where even the worst of sinners may eventually “see the light” and where the ultimate goal of all is to merge with the greatest soul of all. Chavarría’s latest, diligently designed vision has the potential to evoke discussion among spiritual groups across a wide pantheon of beliefs.
A 2024 Eric Hoffer Book Award Fiction Spiritual category honorable mention.