Fiction, Stories Of Real Life
Summer is a great time to kick back with a book and escape into a new world. Although self-help books are typically at the top of my ‘things to read’ list—I love fiction in the lazy days of summer.
Fiction is storytelling. As a narrative therapist, my role is to help people tell their stories of struggle, hope, and triumph. Inevitably, there are lessons learned and you emerge a different person because of the experience. Perhaps not better or worse; but different.
Childhood Stories
Do you remember diving into a story and getting lost in the classics as a child? To be perfectly honest, I don’t. I was not that kid.
Reading was a struggle for me as a kid. I could read, but my comprehension did not kick in until many summers after childhood.
Were you a kid who loved to read? Whether you were or not does not determine whether or not you love to read as an adult.
I get that lost in stories now. It takes me out of my current day responsibilities and into the story, skipping time.
I enjoy stories that cover a lifetime. We live our lives one day at a time and don’t often see how the bits fit together. What’s the lesson? How do I escape this difficulty? Being in the middle of the story makes it difficult to understand it altogether because it is still unfolding.
That said, my favourite books have stayed my favourites. Some for over 30 years. Enjoy!
Favourite Stories – Top 5
Five Smooth Stones by Ann Fairbairn
This may have been one of the first (substantial) fiction books I ever read when I was in my early 20s.
It’s the story of David, a black man born during the Depression era in New Orleans, who was coming of age in the 1960s.
“Five smooth stones” is a biblical reference - David carried 5 smooth stones when he went against Goliath. David moved up north to attend university and wrestles with how to fit into something vastly different from where he was born.
It is still my favourite book of all time.
It was re-released about 10 years ago and my sister ordered me a copy for Christmas. When my teenage son had nothing to give me, she put his name on the gift and slipped it under my tree. By far one of my most precious memories now accompanies my favourite book.
The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel
Although this is a series of 7 books, I think the first three are the best. It is not a book I would have thought I’d like. But, the story.
Ayla is only 5 years old when her clan gets swept away in an earthquake. She is rescued by the medicine woman in another tribe referred to as ‘The Others’.
The imagery in the book is on point because the clans have extremely limited language and mostly talk in gestures. They also share a cultural understanding that Ayla does not. Alya is often distraught and alone, even though she is surrounded by people. How she fits into these clans, how she survives for a time on her own, falling in love. It’s captivating.
Five Smooth Stones was the first book that ever made me cry. They were grief tears for the loss of a beloved character in David’s story. The Clan of the Cave Bear was the second time I cried, but these were tears of sadness for Ayla’s struggle.
Both books are coming-of-age stories told from vastly different perspectives. Still, I could somehow relate to their struggle. That is a powerful storyteller.
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
When I read this book, I had limited knowledge of the Old Testament and the stories within it, even though I grew up in the church.
This particular character, Dinah, barely appears in the Genesis story. However, her story is the basis for what it meant to be a woman in the ancient world.
Dinah is loved by the women around her. She becomes a midwife, a calling that almost had me in my young adult life. Although there is no historical evidence that such a tent existed, we can imagine there would have been. Women needed to be set apart (unclean) for a period of time each month so this would be a necessity.
A big part of Dinah’s identity comes from her experiences in the red tent. At the time, all the women in my family were reading this book and connecting on how we are there (or not there) for one another in times of struggle.
It impacted our whole family. We could relate to the need to be in a community with other women.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
I love life, yet this story is narrated by Death. Although we don’t always see it this way, in this story Death is compassionate.
He tells us about Liesel, a girl growing up in Germany during World War II, taken care of by foster parents who protect a Jewish man called Max. Liesel steals books, learns to read, and finds comfort in words. But she also learns a lot about the government and begins to write her own story.
The family is scattered during a bombing and Liesel loses her manuscript only to have Death bring it to her when he comes to collect her soul.
I think about that as a possibility. Does death read our story to us at the end of our life?
By the time this book came out, I had my second son but only after a few years of loss and confusion, which I talk about in my new book, Thriving in Chaos.
So much of life is about struggle. Death is confused about humanity. And as afraid as we may be of death, the last words Death utters both to Liesel and the ready are, “I am haunted by humans.” Brilliant!
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Based on her own story, Cheryl Strayed was only 22 when she thought she had lost everything.
Her mother had died, her family had scattered, and her own marriage was barely holding on. With nothing more to lose, in Forrest Gump style, she starts walking.
It is by far the most impulsive decision of her life because she has no experience yet decides to hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State…alone.
Her struggle, her determination, her sheer will to not let life topple her is remarkable. And funny. She aptly names her backpack, Monster. Although the backpack is real, and big (really BIG), it is also a metaphor for life.
How often do we carry around heavy bags filled with things that are not necessary for our journey?
This is her struggle to figure out how strong she really is, alone. I also use humour to manage through the difficult times, so I could relate to Strayed in so many parts of this book.
Her story is interesting because of how much she learns – about hiking, planning, and the power of the human spirit.
What about you, what books have you been reading this summer?