Strong Heart

The Strong Heart Series, Book 1

By: Charlie Sheldon

Narrated by: Laurel Anne White

Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Adventure, scientific inquiry, a tinge of mystery, and a hint of the unexplainable infuse this meticulously imagined tale. In a story matching the breathtaking scope of its Pacific Northwest and North Pacific setting, Sheldon's tale startles, yet challenges us to think.

One stormy May night, just as Tom Olsen is about to leave with his Native American friends to visit his grandfather's grave deep in Washington State's Olympic Peninsula wilderness, he answers a knock at his door to find an abandoned 13-year-old girl.

The girl announces her name is Sarah Cooley and that Tom is her grandfather. She tells Tom he lives at the end of the Earth. All she sees is dripping forest, tall trees, rain, and wind. Astonished, all Tom sees is trouble. He knows he should cancel the trip and deal with Sarah, but when his friends suggest bringing Sarah along, Tom reluctantly agrees, hoping a backpacking trip might teach Sarah some sorely needed lessons about character, responsibility, and grit.

All too soon, Tom and his friends have reason to wonder - are they taking Sarah Cooley on this journey, or is she taking them?

©2017 Charlie Sheldon (P)2018 Stories Made Us Human

Strong Heart Review written in South African - UK English

History, heritage and culture storytelling mirrored through the coming of age experience of a teenager / grand daughter, Sarah who is an unknown place of compassion much like the story of Strong Heart. The possibilities of a reconstructed history and heritage is presented in Strong Heart by author Charlie Sheldon

The visualisation and context of the book is well informed through the maps. While, you may not necessarily know what the author intends to do initially, his use of maps and sound personifies bringing us immediately into an experience that feels real for the reader. He introduces culture, some history and heritage and ideas of red indian spirituality influenced through fiction realism. Whether or not the elements introduced in the manner that it is introduced, is true, it knocks on the dirt to our senses from the very beginning: Knocking, winds and the maps with water surrounding locations sets the physical location and atmosphere well and in turn influences the mood, pace and consequently the experience of the readers. Carl Jung, T S Elliot helps to date and makes us aware that, the writer is aware of the mental state of the reader. He knows the pleasure found in curling up with a blanket on a rainy day and feeling safe and secure from the strangely inviting, calming and yet threatening winds on wintry days along the coast as he imagines travel in land and water and through the thickets of the forests.

This is both unnerving and inviting because as a reader, you feel uneasily known by a complete stranger and yet comforted by the fact that someone is able to relate as strongly to the immediate sentiments of the heart. You either want to take the journey with the writer as his audience, reader or to close the book and leave it for some other person willing to have Walleye keep them company on the journey. Walleye alluding to an eye in the wall or a fly in the wall who spies on you and sees it all. He becomes a lot more approachable as we journey together.

Good pace. Immediate emotional connection although Tom is disconnected to the passing of Becky, the news of her death, the incorrect information about her being childless and the sudden appearance of his grandchild, Sarah Cooley dripping with blood as she stands before him, staring, starving and disgusted by his pot of elk stew brewing on the stove top.

Excited at this point, Sarah is an opportunity to redeem his relationship with his daughter or so it appears. He is Dumbstruck because she is the spitting image of Becky.

The cat (Ruth) drags in a fish.
Charles Sheldon goes fishing and doesn’t go home empty handed as he casts a net on family, the buoyant theme of providence and timeless epic theme of parenthood throughout the ages. Tom however, never for a moment thought that he would be bringing home Sarah. Ruth does that presenting a an interesting catalyst for family relations. The connectivity to water, fishing, vessels of change and providence, fishing communities is established and a theme well kept throughout the tale.

There is nothing more moving than water as a central presence in Life and health and preservation.

Charlie Sheldon knows this and moves us from the beginning with his vivid imagery inviting us to keep our distance while drawing nearer to the themes and sub themes introduced to us, the readers: family, providence, support, spirituality, belief and believability, culture, dark, light, nature, hot, cold...revealed through cathartic experiences as the characters develop abs share their lives reflecting and stepping together towards the future.

The story is rich with a variety of elements of nature, emotions and cultural aspects. Imagining what Life may have been like abs what is it is for the reader, is both challenging, interesting and culturally fascinating.


Performance
I have partially read the book and then had to switch over to audible for no other reason than pressure from daily activities and these emails requesting an update. I prefer reading and in my imagination, hearing the various voices of all the characters. Audible has one person doing it all. I appreciated the performance; however, I kept on wondering why there wasn’t a male narrator. Strong Heart would perform well as a Radio Drama with each character represented by a characterised voice. After listening to the afterword and interview, Charlie Sheldon could perform one of the voices himself and do so successfully fir who knows the character te as better than the writer - author.

In my imagination, I visualised the detail of the forest, The mountains and the magnitude of the natural features, storm and bear. It made survival, all that more rewarding. The performance of Strong Heart as a drama performed by a number of characters will enhance this experience of the book: its cultural aspects personifying the aforementioned features.


One quote suggests that we need to travel into a realisation of self, other and experiences, only to journey full circle returning to where it all began. The characters journey full circle and do physically return to where it all began, however, there is a depth to the experience and change for the reader, Tom like the reader and everyone else, now have a grandchild and a Strong Heart through Sarah and friends in the characters, a watchful wall eye and someone who appreciates land and water and raises a voice of social justice in the author. When we read and support social justice initiatives, storytelling, we reflect more than just a literary ability to use words, we in our silence, reading and reflecting begin the inner revolution and in sharing raise a voice of social justice for all.

It is for this reason that I have given Strong Heart a rating of four stars.

In his interview, Charlie Sheldon laughingly states that he had nothing better to do with his time...if only we could all have spent our time this well. Well done. Thank you for sharing Strong Heart with us.

Captivating

The book is very interesting and captivating. I really love it. I didn't have a hard time reading it.

great storytelling

remarkable combination of folklore, geology, anthropology, human nature and Native American history bound together in a creative style