I am back from holiday – hence the gap in posting. While away, I’ve had time to read several inspiring books, not least of which is The Shack by William P Young, a self-published novel that is bestselling in the USA and is generating much excitement here as well.

The book centres on Mack, a grieving father after his young daughter’s abduction and murder, who is invited by a typewritten note to meet God at an old wilderness shack that was the scene of the crime. Repulsed and yet inrigued, Mack makes the journey. Most of the remainder of the book describes his encounter when he arrives.

The story is not so much a straight novel as a series of conversations that explore life, faith, loss, the Trinity and so much more. The result is a fascinating mix of challenged perceptions coupled with a pervasive message that God’s love for Mack (and hence for us) is deeper, more earthy and more redemptive than most of us have ever considered. I found it stimulating and moving, and I couldn’t shake it off for days after finishing it. Some of it was a little cheesy, but all in all I’d recommend it to anyone, especially someone wrestling with the effects of tragic loss.

The Shack is published by Windblown Media and available from the usual places 🙂