Susie Finkbeiner’s All Manner of Things

When Annie Jacobson’s brother Mike enlists as a medic in the Army in 1967, he hands her a piece of paper with the address of their long-estranged father. If anything should happen to him in Vietnam, Mike says, Annie must let their father know.

In Mike’s absence, their father returns to face tragedy at home, adding an extra measure of complication to an already tense time. As they work toward healing and pray fervently for Mike’s safety overseas, letter by letter the Jacobsons must find a way to pull together as a family, regardless of past hurts. In the tumult of this time, Annie and her family grapple with the tension of holding both hope and grief in the same hand, even as they learn to turn to the One who binds the wounds of the brokenhearted.

Author Susie Finkbeiner invites you into the Jacobson family’s home and hearts during a time in which the chaos of the outside world touched their small community in ways they never imagined.

Review

I’ve never read this author before but I love “war time” fiction novels…especially coming of age war time fiction novels and it was coupled with family dynamics? Yes, please. My thoughts:

What I liked

The characters. Each one was rich and layered and felt like they could step right off the page at any moment. There was obviously Annie, the main character, who is kind and considerate, forgiving and loving. She’s also growing up in turbulent times with a somewhat turbulent family and learning how to deal with it all. But then you have her mom, who has such a dynamic personality, her brothers who are sweet, funny, and caring, her grandparents who go through grandparent-like things, her friend who supports her and who she supports, and her father who is still dealing with the after-effects of the Korean War. Each character almost had their own story to tell. I didn’t feel like the author had any caricatures here. And you know characters are developed well when you find yourself almost praying for them.

Family dynamics. This isn’t a plot driven book. It’s more or less how Annie is dealing with different changes in her life: her brother leaving for Vietnam and the return of a father who was, and kind of is, MIA. I thought that the author did a great job of showing the reality of both. Annie loves her brother and so it isn’t easy to watch him go to war. Especially when said brother has stepped into almost a father-figure role. Then, there is her dad himself. He really was one of the most fascinating characters in the whole book. I loved that the author really took her time to develop him in both the book and in Annie’s life.

The style. There’s a part of this book that is epistolary. I actually really liked the letter writing that went back and forth between various characters. It was a nice way to learn more about certain ones.

Spiritually, the novel deals with prayer and trusting God in the difficult times. And also how faith can sustain you in those difficult time.

What I didn’t like

It was a bit predictable. I grew up reading war time fiction as a child. There’s a bit of a formula for these books. As soon as I read the first three chapters, I leaned over and told my dad how this book was going to end. I was rather disappointed to be right. Further, there was a lot of heavy handed foreshadowing for various facets of the book…so much so I thought the author was going to go in a different direction…

The romance, but not in the way you think. This book didn’t necessarily need romance and I liked how the author played with the fact that the main character could end up with this guy or that guy or no guy. The problem I had was this: one of the possible romances was really complex if you considered all the details and the author tried to make it simple. But, by making it simple, she cheapened the experience of one of the characters. Also, Vietnam.

Romantic scale: 5

Honestly, this book was so compelling I pretty much read it in one sitting. Yes, there were things I didn’t love about it, but overall, it was just a knockout for me.

**I received a copy from Revell. My opinion was not affected in anyway.**