Third of four.
Hole in the World by Amanda Held Opelt
Searching for the right word…
– I really *loved* this book. Hmm. Loved. Not sure. Wish it didn’t belong in this season so do I actually love it? Maybe!
– I really *appreciated* this book. Hmm. Too dry and polite.
– I really *cherished* reading this book. Hmm. Just because I somehow want to hug it – is that what I’m trying to express by the word cherish?
– I have deeply valued this book? I do but it still seems to not say all the things.
Singular words are too few for some things. And I truly do have a sense of wanting to hug it.
So.
That’s how I feel about it.
Written after lost babies in utero and then the death of her sister (Rachel Held Evans) and as an aid worker who has witnessed devastating suffering and loss… her writing is…
– big
– infused with knowing
– naked
– kind
I originally bought it for a friend and thought I’d read a few pages. In the space of those few I knew I wanted to mark it and dog-ear it and keep it as another kind of friend. Gratefully I had put it on my Christmas list (forgot that) and since Koorong was out of stock when I went back for a second copy – was delighted to receive it at Christmas 
She extracts meaning from surprising places and a frequent I experience I had throughout was that sense of “ohhhh!” when something you didn’t know you didn’t know suddenly slid into the right spot. This book generated so many moments of brain relief and rest… like being understood by the kind of friend who sees so fully into you that you don’t need to speak.
Maybe that’s why I want to hug it.
