Bewilderment

 

What a beautiful, special, heartbreaking book.

I knew a few pages in, in fact, that this book would tear me into pieces. I read anyway - hungrily - and I'm so glad I did.

This book is about fathers and sons, and moms and sons, and husbands and wives. It's about the lengths we'll go to protect the ones we love. It's about loss and memory and letting go.

Theo and his son Robin are going alone. Theo's wife/Robin's mom died and the two are left to navigate the world without her. That's hard enough; now add in that Robin is a special boy with challenging behaviors. Smart and thoughtful, yet socially inept. Theo would do just about anything to keep the boy connected to the world and off medication.

That's when they find out about experimental treatment that allows Robin to channel and control his emotions. Eventually, it connects him to his mom in a way that is both life saving and life altering.

The writing is beautiful, the characters are magical and the "what would I do?" moments are plentiful. Let yourself be taken over by this story and you won't regret it, even as it comes to its inevitable conclusion.