THE QUESTION OF MIRACLES

Hoping for one particular miracle leads Iris to discover that life may be a series of them.

Iris has moved from California to Oregon, where the change from sun to rain every day mirrors her sorrow after the death of her best friend, Sarah. Only one thing comforts her: She feels Sarah’s ghost in the closet of her family’s new house. Although Iris’ parents want her to make friends, Iris would rather experience a miracle allowing her to talk with Sarah. She sees a vehicle to this miracle in her classmate Boris, who, some say, should have died as a baby but was miraculously healed in utero. Iris’ longing is palpable, and her grief is tenderly portrayed. She toys with contacting Sarah through a physic or, with Boris, through Electronic Voice Phenomena (the principle that the dead are all around but we simply cannot hear them). She also wonders if prayers can provide a miraculous intercession, meets with a therapist and talks with her parents. Supported by a well-developed cast of characters, Iris moves through the process, sharing stories of loss with others, learning her own strengths and developing her friendship with Boris. Iris still misses Sarah but begins to feel hope and see small miracles of life all around her. Just as Iris finally embraces the rain, spinning round and round, readers, too, will recognize the circular patterns of love and loss, joy and grief, life and death.

A quiet, affecting journey rendered with keen insight.