Three Books that Made Me Feel the Spirit of Elijah

When I was going to school to earn my degree in marriage and family relations, one of the topics we studied was family secrets - how they affect families, how common they are, etc. It was a pretty fascinating thing to study... and something I've since lost. I just remember watching a few therapy sessions with families confronting secrets and finding it all very interesting. 

Family secrets seem to be a common plot thread in novels. There are a plethora of book blurbs that say things like, "Maria's dad passes away and then she finds out she has inherited a house from him that she's never heard of, and it's in another country, and she has to learn all the secrets of her family's past."

(Yeah... don't ever hire me to write book synopses).

This year, I've read a few books of that nature. They frustrate me to some extent because I think, "Why do ya'll have to be so secretive?" but then there wouldn't be a story if these fictional people weren't hinting at their secrets on their death beds, would there? How many books and movies would fail to exist if the characters would just have healthy conversations? 

My annoyance aside, there are three books I've really enjoyed this year that play the family secrets game, and they sparked the Spirit of Elijah in me. My church is very big on family history and the importance of learning our families' pasts and seeking out our ancestors. Elder David A. Bednar described the Spirit of Elijah as, "a distinctive, influence of the Holy Ghost (that) draws people to identify, document, and cherish their ancestors and family members - both past and present." 

These three books, though fictional, all made me feel the importance of connecting to our ancestors and our family stories of the past. 

The first book was The Woman in the White Kimono by Ana Johns. 

I happened to read this book the same week that we studied Doctrine and Covenants section 2, where the second verse talks about turning the hearts of the children to the fathers. President Joseph Fielding Smith said, "The turning of the hearts of the children to the fathers is placing or planting in the hearts of the children that feeling and desire which will inspire them to search out the records of the dead."

This book jumps back and forth between two time periods. In one, it is 1957, and Naoko has fallen in love with an American sailor and finds herself pregnant with his baby. She must navigate the expectations of her family and the traditions of her culture as she tries to maintain her love and keep her baby. In the present day, Tori finds out her father may have had a baby with a woman in Japan. After his death, she sets out to unearth the truth about her father and her possible sister. 

Tori's discoveries in her family history made me think of how many stories are out there still to be found and how easily those stories can become lost. As I read, I couldn't help but think, "This is why family history is so important!" 

I don't want to oversell the book, but this is probably my favorite book I've read so far this year. Partially because it was a pleasant surprise - I went into it with no expectations, it was a random grab off the bookshelf at the library - and partially because I felt that Spirit of Elijah so strongly while simultaneously reading this book and studying D&C 2. 

The next book is What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon.

This book is a little different in that you need to suspend some reality and be comfortable with time travel. Unfortunately, we don't get to time travel when we explore our family history. At least... not yet... but this book still lends itself well to family history. 

After Anne's grandfather passes away, she somehow finds herself in 1921 Ireland under the care of Dr. Thomas Smith. Lo and behold, Anne's grandfather, Eoin (pronounced “Owen”) is a young child also in the care of the doctor. Eoin’s father has died and his mother has gone missing. The locals believe Anne is his mother, and Anne, not knowing how else to deal with the strange circumstances, takes on that role. Then she finds herself falling in love with Thomas. 

While I was reading this book, I had the following conversation with Scotty:

Scotty: What's that book about?

Me: This lady whose grandpa dies, and then she goes back in time and becomes her grandpa's mom. 

When put that way, the book sounds like a joke. But that's really what it's about! And fortunately, Amy Harmon crafted it far more beautifully than my descriptions allude.

This book was another random pick with no expectations. Sometime last year chose this book as my Amazon first read, and I pulled it up in my Kindle app one night when I didn't have anything in queue to read. I'd never heard of Amy Harmon, and was surprised to learn that she is a Utah author. I've since read a few more of her books. 

In this story, Anne's grandfather knew his history and knew Anne had been a part his childhood, but he had to withhold that information from her while he was alive because she needed to experience it herself. While this story wasn't traditional in the way of family history, it still stirred those feelings of connection with family stories. Learning about our ancestors’ lives fills in many holes and helps us understand some of their choices and experiences. 

The last book is The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer.

This is another story that jumps back and forth between time lines. The first is in Nazi-occupied Poland in in the 1940's. A young girl, Alina, wishes to marry her childhood love, Tomasz. As contentions of the war escalate, Tomasz and Alina find themselves in trying circumstances, and life unfolds differently than they hoped. 

In modern-day, Alice is facing the end of her grandmother's (or babcia's) life, when her grandmother, with limited language, pleads with Alice to "find Tomasz." The problem is, Tomasz, Alice's grandfather, has passed away, and though Alice tries to explain that, Babcia is relentless in her plea for Alice to find Tomasz. Alice ends up taking a trip to Poland to discover her grandmother's past. 

This story is interesting because it deals with some of the realities of war in which records were destroyed and identities were changed. This is a unique part of family history in that sometimes, history is altered, and research has to sort out the truth. 

Unlike the other two books, this one wasn't a random pick. I actually had expectations for this one, and I ended up really enjoying it. I've read a lot of books that take place in WWII, and in some ways, they are starting to all seem the same. I confess, I glazed over a bit during some of Alina's story, but I thought it was a great book all the same. 

All three of these books involved the discovery of family truths. Even though they are works of fiction, they helped turn my heart toward my own ancestors. I've never been a "family history enthusiast," but I've had a lot of great experiences where I have felt the desire to connect to my ancestors. For me, it comes in little spurts rather than a feeling that's there all the time. These three books definitely sparked those desires in my heart and provided me with some great reading, too!