Matt McAvoy Book Review

In recent years it seems there has been the creation of an entire new fiction and non-fiction genre: the Trump genre.  The guy’s name must appear in this book a hundred times or more!  I’ve no love loss for that man, you can be sure, but from the point of view of a literary reviewer, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it becomes a touch tiresome.  That little gripe aside, this is a tremendously good book.  Profoundly cerebral, although fiction, it is a heartfelt, highly intelligent study of migration across the Americas, from the point of view of the migrants as well as other observers.  Maybe unsurprisingly, one or two of the characters do pile on the liberal sentiment, though overall it is not pushed on us to an unbalanced extent; David manages to present the case for migration from a very warm and caring perspective, but also with knowledge, intuition and consideration.  He is either an extremely insightful person or a wonderful researcher – I suspect both.  He gives enormous depth to the characters, and their monologues and dialogues on the subject of love for one’s fellow human, and presents the facts about cross-border migration in a smart and unbiased(-ish) way, anecdotally including tales of migrants, locals for and against, philanthropic enablers and even the traffickers.  The best part is that he does all of this yet resisting sickly-sweet fantasy politics; it all makes sense, without the need to vilify anybody of any position on the spectrum (with the exception, of course, of the aforementioned Trump).

David’s writing is fantastic, though I did feel it was perhaps a touch overly long and wordy.  In fairness, this may have felt more like the case because he chooses to write in parts rather than chapters; as a result, particularly in the first, there are very long periods between scene breaks, making it slightly more laborious to read than it otherwise would be, as you may be waiting for the next.  As far as the narratives themselves go, there are many layers to this book and many character stories (all interlinked), but generally two main storylines – the first about a pastor in a conservative U.S. town who struggles with his faith after his fiancée is tragically killed, and tries to find purpose in helping asylum seekers; the second about another pastor working in Latin America, at the starting point of the refugee journey, learning about the profound issues there.  Whilst you might be forgiven for thinking this is a book about the migrant odyssey (and this very review may have given that impression), it is actually those tests of faith which are the book’s theme – hence its title.

I enjoyed this book a good deal.  Tough to read at times and very wordy, it is otherwise an exceptional, moderately-left-leaning exposé of the complexities of a hugely emotive and misunderstood social issue, which is as old as humankind itself (way before a certain American president came along).  David does an outstanding job of trying his best to help us all understand it a little better.