Lark Ascending (by Silas House)
Lark Ascending, by Silas House, immediately struck me as an emotionally intense story. I felt great heaviness of significant loss and inconceivable change within the first few pages. The emotional weight of sadness lifted a bit in the middle of the story, but it was replaced by suspense and worry. I appreciate how Silas ended the story, even though I was again overcome by sadness and grief.
I attended Silas’ first author event at Joseph-Beth Booksellers and his conversation at the Kentucky Book Festival for his latest book, Lark Ascending. (You can read about the first author event here and the book festival here.) I knew the plot was apocalyptic and that Silas intentionally explored grief…I was just unprepared for the emotional heaviness. I don’t mean that in a bad way at all. A story that explores those undesirable emotions is a good thing. Especially when the story illustrates how we are connected through pain. We all live and die after all. I couldn’t help but to think about the depths of my own grief as I followed Lark’s journey from Maine through Ireland.
The main characters are Lark and a beagle he finds in Ireland, named Seamus. The presence of such an amazing animal in this story also demonstrates the healing power of our beloved pets. Needless to say, I definitely wanted my four-legged kid, Nikolette by my side while reading this book. Her being within constant petting distance helped me through the emotionally heavy moments of the story.
Silas House is one of my favorite authors, so I recommend any of his books and I definitely encourage you to read Lark Ascending.
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