Book Review: Proof Of Heaven: A Novel by Mary Curran Hackett

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . October 28, 2011 . 3:40PM

Being a mother, the mother-child bond is something that I hold sacred, so when I saw that I could review a book about a single mother who finds out that her only child, a son, has a life-threatening illness, I was both excited and worried about the task. Frankly, I wasn’t sure that I could handle the subject matter. My son and I are very close, as are the mother and son in this novel, and I wasn’t sure that it wouldn’t rip out my heart to read this novel. I’m really glad I chose to read it anyway.

In Proof of Heaven, Colm is a little boy who has always known that there was something special about him. Since he was an infant, Colm has experienced seizures that end in him on the ground, unbreathing and with his heart stopped. There is little warning other than a feeling of falling for Colm and he feels as if he loses a bit of himself each time it happens. Even worse, Colm worries that there is no heaven, the heaven his mother so desperately believes in and prays for, because when Colm seizes there is nothing but blackness. More than the fear of dying, for Colm, is the fear that he will shatter his mother’s belief system. It’s a lot of pressure for such a little kid.

Cathleen has spent her young adulthood struggling to keep her son alive. Every time he dies and is brought back to life through the power of medicine she fights to keep her head above water. Her own life and dreams are on hold until whatever is wrong with Colm can be treated and cured. She spends her days working tirelessly at a job that doesn’t challenge her just to pay the bills and her evenings praying and trying to save her alcoholic brother and her son. When Cathleen discovers that Colm has a terminal illness, she endeavors to take them on a journey that will end with Colm’s cure regardless of the cost to all of them.

Proof of Heaven is a journey of family, a discovery of the life that lies just beyond us if we will reach for it and the life beyond this that may be out there. Faith is both a huge part of this novel and such a small piece of it that the reader will wonder exactly what happened at the end of this book. The twists and turns in Cat and Colm’s story are worth the read and kept me involved. There were times I wondered how Cat could be so devoted and yet so negligent; how Colm could be so strong and yet so young. It was a delightful read with frustrating and lovable characters.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in order to review it. Thank you for allowing me to share my opinions on this novel.