Family tragedy

The story is told in considerable detail, movingly and with honesty, and it is clear that Gail and her family’s relationship with Christ shaped their response and enabled them to cope. As she records the years of her son’s illness and death and her perspective on it, she often tells of feelings and impressions which helped her cope with what she was facing; it would be more helpful to readers to have greater explanation of and emphasis on the truth on which her confidence is based. Although the story is told compellingly and honestly, it is the story itself which is central rather than their faith and the reason for it. The subtitle of the book is ‘A little boy dies and a dream is born’ and the foreword speaks of ‘a short life which continues to have a profound and lasting effect on many lives’.

Barbara Sherwood