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Book: "Myracle Creek"

Author: Angie Kim

Genre: contemporary fiction/mystery

Rating (1 to 6): 6

It's been a long time since I've really read something so compelling, as a story, as something that moved and touched me. Closing the last page of this book, my mind was not getting answers, but quite the opposite. I begin to think, to search for them. "Myracle Creek" is a truly complex novel. An explosion of emotions collected between the pages. Lies that bring more of them in their wake. A novel that defies boundaries. Angie Kim makes an exceptionally strong debut with this book - hints of mystery, a legal thriller, characters who are not what they seem, nothing is what it seems. I'm definitely looking forward to her next work.

About the plot:

The story takes place in a small town in Virginia. A group of strangers gather at a special treatment center where they enter the Miracle Submarine, an experimental oxygen chamber that can treat a range of conditions from infertility to autism. Going inside something happens, the chamber explodes and unfortunately two people die as a result. This is where the story gets tangled. Who is to blame for this? The patient's mother who is exhausted from the care? The owners, who might get insurance and be able to pay for their daughter's education? A protester who has been trying to prove for a long time that treatment at this clinic is unsafe? What follows is a murder trial that uncovers secrets and lies. Interestingly, the author draws on his own experience. A former trial lawyer, a Korean-American immigrant, and the mother of an actual "submarine" patient - Miracle Creek reflects a tense courtroom atmosphere and how complicated family life can be.

A terribly moving story, about parenthood, motherhood and what they are capable of for their children. As a reader, I was very riveted by the pace at which the story unfolded, the structure with which it was built. A series of twists and turns. The book brings with it family drama, a trial that comes off as convoluted, a culture war drama. The themes are endless and the search for the perpetrator is not the focus of the story at all. There are deep feelings and themes here, immigration, infertility and alternative therapy, "different" people and their lives. The novel is so complex once you turn the pages. It has nothing to do with what's on the surface. The theatricality of the courtroom, combined with the parenting of children with special needs and the psychology of immigrants, make "Myracle Creek" a dynamic novel in which to turn page after page. I can't call what I read a thriller. It's something very different. And if one is willing to endure what lies behind the blue covers, I recommend they do so. Kim has written a brave debut novel about science and immigration, the hopes and fears each engenders - unforgettable and real. Each keeps its secrets. I can safely call this book - a puzzle. It's hard to put the pieces together when everything you hear is a lie, when emotion is stronger than reason. I'm trying to convey to you the half-measures of what I read, but there's just no way. All I can say is that there are no answers in the book, you ask the questions after the book and look within yourself, within your mind, for a solution. Even when we do something right, we always face a bunch of emotions and the question: what if? We never know what could have happened or what will happen. What we have prevented by our actions or what we will cause.

The book is an emotion, and I won't repeat myself to talk about what it can make you, what it can evoke in the reader. All I ask is that you read this book so that there are more people to talk to about it.