BECOMING FOREVER FAMILIES

Callaway’s Christian-themed novel aims to inspire readers to build families that will last for eternity.

Revisiting the characters from his novels Through the Eyes of Asperger’s: A Latter-day Saint Perspective (2021) and Living a Miracle (2022), the author returns to the story of the Wilkinson family. Devout mother Sarah, son Ethan (whose successful struggle against disability allows him to serve as a missionary in Argentina), and Alexis, the dutiful daughter who attends college to hone her natural gifts as a chef, are united in their deep Christian faith. Their strong family bonds bring them strength and spiritual joy while generating enormous compassion for everyone they encounter.  Their stories are designed to express Callaway’s Mormon faith, which holds the family as the primary means through which Christlike love is demonstrated and the crucible in which the spiritual progress of all individuals is made possible. In his view, strong family bonds, sealed in the temple and nurtured in the home, can become eternal as family members are reunited after death with new bodies and even stronger relationships. (“Our family life now is to show us the Lord’s plan for us as we live each day within our families, so that we can understand more of His plan for our families later.”) As a work of literature, the novel is less than compelling; the devotional agenda of the narrative dominates the writing and prevents the author from creating characters with any depth. The dialogue between the family members is quite wooden, with stock phrases used so often that they become predictable to the reader. However, as a devotional work, especially for those in the Latter-day Saints tradition, this book may find a welcome readership. The author is earnest and compassionate, and his deep concern for the spiritual life of families is evident on every page.

A sincere spiritual novel about the eternal bonds of family life that fails to engage as fiction.