4 Stars - Insightful, quiet and caring

"North" by Brad Kessler connects the lives of three very different people with a monastery in Vermont at the center: Sahro, a refugee from Somalia whose escape to a better life in the USA turns out to be a very different experience from what people were dreaming of back home. Instead of being welcomed she is put into detention (after a grueling travel from South America to the US border no less) and now tries to get into Canada. Then there is abbot Christopher of the monastery who gives Sahro temporary sanctuary and the third main character is Teddy, a veteran now working at the monastery.

The plot itself is rather simple, it is just the story of Sahro on her way North with the help of kind strangers, but there is so much more to it. The writing pulls us in with beautiful, yet straightforward prose and many, many poignant reflections on the situations our protagonists find themselves in. The connecting theme throughout the book is "sanctuary" in all of its nuances. It is not only the meaning of finding sanctuary in a time of dire need but also the connection this can create between people and, lastly also the price of sanctuary.

The main focus of the story does lie on Sahro, just a normal girl who continuously finds herself in unimaginable situations and who has to find a place of resilience within herself to be able to continue in spite of it all. However, we do get a very strong understanding of just how exhausting such a life must be and how meaningful it can be to find support and help. I also enjoyed abbot Christopher whenever he was on the page, with his calm and quiet energy and wise insights into human nature.

Teddy however, kind of remains a bit on the side lines and I never learned all that much about him.

I very much enjoyed the balanced depiction of the different religions of the protagonists and how they can be a source of strength and meaning, but also how they can connect people. I did have the strong impression that Brad Kessler tried very hard to create a truthful depiction of Somalia and its culture, the story feels well researched and truthful in its many details and nuances.

If you enjoy literary fiction and are interested in learning more about what it means to become refugee this one is for you. I think it is a very important story that deserves to be widely read.

I have received an advance review copy via NetGalley and voluntarily provide my honest opinion. Thank you very much.

A priest, a Somalian refugee and a war veteran find themselves thrown together in this intriguing novel. The plight of refugees is presented well in this book, showing how human kindness and understanding can break many barriers.

An engrossing story of migration and refuge that will both tear at your heart and fill you with hope.

I am disappointed that the intriguing set of circumstances presented didn’t mesh in quite the way I expected.

An Abrams Overlook Press ARC via NetGalley

There are struggles amidst a quietness at this monastery in Vermont. The inner struggle of a monk, the Abbott, who questions his contemplative life, after the loss of a friend and mentor. A disabled veteran who is the caretaker struggles with his past in Afghanistan and his present hermit like life. Their quiet lives disrupted by the undocumented Somali refugee seeking asylum , whose reflections on her past are tumultuous with violence and death and running. What isn’t a struggle is doing the right thing.

A well researched, well written, multi layered story of one refugee’s experience by a caring writer who donates all royalties from this book to the Vermont Office of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants in Colchester, Vermont . I was moved, so even though I had an advanced copy, I bought one .

I received a copy of this book from The Overlook Press through NetGalley .

I'm sure you're looking at three stars as opposed to the fours and fives around it. It was my friend Sarah-Hope's <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4286699455">five-star warble of delight</a> that brought into focus my dissatisfaction with this well-written read.

A book about the refugee experience is, of necessity, a book in motion, a book of change and danger. There is a lot of literary precedent for this structure, from the original picaresque [book:Don Quixote|3836] to the eternal shame-making [book:Twelve Years a Slave|18478222], on through [book:West with the Night|1624]'s risky but voluntary peregrinations, [book:In Patagonia|79909]'s curiosity-propelled diggings. But the issue with <I>North</i> is that this structure crashes into the wildly different voyages of Father Christopher (the Catholic saint patron of travelers) to the contemplation's deepest coves and Sahro's fear- and death-driven flight.

While I'm in the greatest possible sympathy with this novel's aims, I am not convinced that Author Kessler handled this crash with a convincing direction for these two characters to meet as opposed to collide. The core relationship of these people wasn't made into a meeting of like minds, but a compassionate man offering charity to a desperate woman in terrifying danger that she need not have suffered in a properly ordered US.

So while I read the book without pain (Author Kessler does craft a handsome image...Father Christopher "...reached the rise, his shoulders relaxed. In the warmth of the morning he saw the slopes white with blossoms. The apples carpeted in blooms," after a tense and fearful bout of worry about a freeze), I was left feeling that the travels inwards and outwards weren't brought to the same place at the same pitch of emotion. It meant I felt that I was led, steered, pushed, nudged; I wanted to feel that, after all the movement, I was somewhere I hadn't been before...but there was only more travel ahead.

All US royalties are to be donated to a refugee-aiding charity. Please factor that into your Holiday purchasing plans.

Brad Kessler's North is one of those books that sneaks up on you. Worlds collide in this book, but the pacing is strangely gentle. Much of the action takes place at a Vermont monastery, which may explain the pace. This world is quiet, not free of responsibly, but structured and predictable with a mix of companionship and solitude. Brother Christopher, elected abbot relatively recently, is uneasily adjusting to his new responsibilities.

Another of the colliding worlds is Mogadishu, Somalia, which Sahro leaves after the killing of yet another family member in the ongoing conflict. Her cousin had dreamed of making the long journey to Europe. Sahro decides she will make the journey instead, but her family decides Sahro will be better off seeking asylum in the U.S. They pool their resources to send Sahro and another cousin to South America whence they undertake the long journey, mostly on foot, to the U.S.'s southern border. When Sahro steps across the U.S. border, telling the first customs agent she encounters that she is seeking asylum, she is whisked away to a New Jersey detention center. (This is made clear early in the novel, so it's not a spoiler.)

After nearly two years in detention, Sahro is granted the right to a credible fear hearing, but her case is assigned to a judge known to approve fewer than 2% of asylum cases. Now flight to Canada seems her best option. It's on this journey that she finds herself at Brother Christopher's monastery, where the welcome from the community is uneven. Brother Christopher sees her as a figure similar to the holy family—unwillingly journeying from her home because of the threat of violence. Other monks shy away from the political ramifications of hosting a refugee, an act that may be prosecuted as a crime. The story is a bit more complicated that this, but I'm trying to write a review, not a summary.

Kessler has given readers a small, remarkable cast of characters who search for "home" of one kind or another and who are acutely aware of feeling ill at ease where they find themselves. The inner lives of these characters are fascinating, inspiring, and humbling. Sahro's struggles to sustain herself through times of almost unthinkable deprivation via her practice of Islam. Brother Christopher wrestles with the question of how to serve a world he has deliberately withdrawn from.

Reading North is a contemplative journey, one well worth undertaking. Buy or borrow a copy of this novel and join the flights and pilgrimages of its characters.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

This story focuses on young Somali refugee, Sahro, who has fled her homeland in hopes of finding asylum in the United States, only to find herself trying to escape to Canada.  A snowstorm lands her in the care of Brother Christopher, a monk at a Vermont monastery, and Teddy, a war veteran and the caretaker at the monastery.  The story is beautifully written and brings to light the plight of immigrants.  However, I did feel like it needed a bit more development with Teddy and Brother Christopher.

Really enjoyed this book! It was the first one for me to read by this author and I can't wait to read more! The characters stick with you long after the book is over.

I very much enjoyed North by Brad Kessler. It is reminiscent of The Jaguar’s Children by John Vaillant and American Dirt by Jeanine Cummings only this book explores an entirely different migrant geography, this one originating in Somalia. I was immediately drown into this story of intertwining lives. Brother Christopher a cloistered monk in a Vermont Monastery is questioning the the future of the Monastery, an injured Afghanistan War veteran Teddy Fletcher is trying to make peace with his past and Sahro Abdi Muse is trying to complete her dangerous escape to safety in Canada.

Kessler tells this story with great passion and care interconnecting the three stories, causing the reader to question who was protecting whom. The characters are well developed and consistent creating good building blocks for the progression of the story. The information mapping Sahro’s journey was especially fascinating opening new insight into the territory she needed to navigate, and the losses she experienced.

This book gives the reader much to think about. It would be a great choice for a book club choice.

This was an interesting and enjoyable read, based on some truth of what actually happens. I like the characters and I think the plot line of the story was good.

I'm going to lie, I thought this book sounded so good when I read the description and was so excited to read it. Unfortunately, it didn't captivate my interest. By the 5th chapter; I was dreading reading it and found the plot lines hard to follow.
I kept hoping that I was going to fall in love with it like I had the Alchemist, but I didn't. Although it's very well written, I found it very slow going and hard to find the motivation to pick up.

I studied Theology at university and I find I’m often drawn to books which feature religion, belief, spirituality. When I read the synopsis for Brad Kessler’s North I was really intrigued.

I wanted to love this book. It is clear that Kessler has done his research on the different aspects. The details of monastic life, the depiction of life in Somali and the migrant route are so detailed and compassionately looked at. There is depth to their inclusion and real knowledge and understanding behind them. But it’s almost too much for one book.

Whilst it is evenly structured with a balance between Farther Christopher and Sahro’s stories it felt squashed. Father Christopher finding his calling and the story of his time at the monastery could be a book in itself, as could Sahro’s childhood story of a nomadic life with her paternal grandparents and subsequent journey to North America in her late teens.

The synopsis leads us to believe it is a story of three people but the character of Teddy Fletcher does not hold equal weight. He is presented as complicated; a veteran seeking to avoid the world by working for the monks. However, in much of the book he is pretty one dimensional and plays no greater role than to move the plot on at the beginning and end. He feels like a late addition, and whilst we’re given a history to him, it’s difficult to see the value that brings to the story.

North is a complex and moving story. Through the reflections of the monks on Sahro’s presence at the monastery Kessler is very clear about his position on the treatment of asylum seekers in America and there is a clear position in the book on the change of policy and treatment of these people by ICE under the Trump administration. Kessler is also uses the story to remind people of the ancestry of Jospeh, Mary and Jesus. How many Christians today reflect on Mary being depicted wearing a hijab, how many think of them as middle eastern? When thinking about how refugee and asylum seekers are treated, how many Christians reflect on the holy family seeking refuge in Egypt when their safety in their own country was threatened?

There is great potential in this book and there is a lot to like, but I couldn’t fall in love with it. Whilst detailed in the research there is something superficial in the language, it feels very formulaic and predictable. We are meant to believe there is conflict in the characters. A challenge of doing what is right and what is lawful and yet it is obvious from the very beginning how the story is going to play out. Even though I saw the ending coming it was still quite disappointing.

This book has left me wanting more, more from the plot and more from the characters. Kessler has so much to work with I feel there could be a beautiful collection here. Individual books focusing on the different journey’s and then bringing them together for the journey North.