Shawn Smucker mesmerized readers with his debut novel The Day the Angels Fell, which won a 2018 Christianity Today Book Award. This July, Smucker publishes his latest spellbinding novel, Light from Distant Stars (Revell), which looks at how trauma affects our lenses on past and present events and the path to rediscovering grace and hope.
When Cohen Marah steps over the body of his father, he has no idea that he will tread into a labyrinth of memory. He recalls the dramatic events that led to his father being asked to leave his pastoral position, the game of baseball that somehow kept them together, and the two children in the forest who became his friends—and enlisted him in a dark and dangerous undertaking. As he confronts his traumatic past and his violent present, he must also ask himself the most frightening question of all—did he kill his father?
As the lines blur between what is real and what is imaginary, Light from Distant Stars relays a tale both eerie and enchanting, one that will have you questioning reality and reaching out for what is true, good, and genuine.
“It’s a dark story at times, but at the heart of it is a man trying to find his father,” Smucker says. “And in the end, he has realizations about himself and his dad that change the way he views the events of his life. I think we are all given this task—to try to bring hope to the things that have happened to us.”