This is one of the most powerful, beautifully written books I’ve had the pleasure to read, an exploration of grief and guilt and how it becomes a part of ourselves. It’s gonna be tough to write a coherent review without putting in any spoilers but here goes!

The first things that attracted me to this book was the epic title and the eye catching cover, it really is a brilliant piece of artwork. I had no book info to know what I was getting myself into, but I could tell from the cover it was gonna be good. We follow the life of a family, Snowden expertly uses the voice of a young lad called Jim as he is playing in the garden with his brothers when they find a dead Magpie which they peg on the washing line to make it look like it has come back to life. What follows is an unbearable tragedy, a family struggling to hold it all together and a gradual revealing of past guilt. Jim is a wonderful character, you feel for him, sharing in his grief and his letters to Father Christmas will break your heart. There is one more character that needs a mention, Jenny, absolutely loved her, a real guardian angel. The book also gets bonus points for mentioning Basingstoke…woooooo!

This is a special book, the grief is so palpable, a lot of readers will be in tears. I think it does an excellent job of handling the subject matter, Snowden has used a great deal of care which comes across big time in this stunning release.

Blog Review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2020/12/13/captain-jesus-by-colette-snowden/