Review: The Story Unfolded Like a Flower in Bloom (Deserves 4 1/2 Stars Because I REALLY Liked It)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 28, 2014
I believe in Angels and would love to sit down with one and play a game or two of Scrabble. I never learned to play chess, which is a shame. Especially if you believe what Florence reveals about the game during the telling of this story. “Angels play chess because they want to know what it is to be human.”Written as diary entries, The Girl Who Played Chess With An Angel tells the story of Florence and her journey to determine if God is real. Though she’s already met an angel, she isn’t sure about God. Until she knows for sure she can’t bring herself to give his name a capital letter because, “Capitals are only given to things we know are true. Fact. Actual things that exist. People. Places….I’m not sure I can use a capital.”It’s also about the relationship between mother and daughter and how secrets place wedges between people. It’s about anger and its side effects. It’s about love and betrayal. It’s about the difference between religion and God. It’s about mistakes and forgiveness.I truly enjoyed this story. I loved how it unfolded like a flower blooming, each piece of information opening to the light one petal at a time. Florence is a superb narrator and her voice added heart to the story. Maybe I’m slow, but one of the revelations at the end surprised me. In hindsight, the clues were there which made me love the story even more.This is a quick read and I recommend it to anyone, though those who struggle with faith will benefit more than others.