Billy Coffey is a splendid story-teller, and he writes well too. Sometimes a person who can tell a story is weak in putting it into words, but Coffey isn't that person. His talent is clear.
In When Mockingbirds Sing we meet varied characters including a tortured little girl, Leah, who is painfully shy, has a consistent stutter and who rubs her thumbs to the extreme of making holes in them. Her parents are non-church-goers, not a popular identity in the small town they've just moved to, and have a marital relationship that's rocky as well. The story tells of Leah's newly-acquired talent of creating amazing paintings that are prophetic to the extreme. Her muse is a being she calls The Rainbow Man, visible only to her. The townspeople react in different ways to her gift, causing a wedge between her family and the rest of the town. They're outcasts without even trying.
The main pastor of the town, Reggie Goggins, might be the source of part of my angst in reading the book. He's arrogant and self-righteous, thinking himself the answer to everyone's problems. A pastor with a major chip on his shoulder. I found reading about him so annoying as to make me angry. Maybe he was too realistic. Maybe that's a sign of excellent writing. I don't know about that, but I couldn't stand him, that's certain. And the repetitive nature of Leah's stutter was a frustration. I felt the way about her stutter in the same way I cringe when writers try to mimic Southern accents. And I'm from the South.
Chance are my review will be the lone dissenting one. Again I compliment Coffey on having a true gift. I just wish his talent didn't allow for such maddening characters.
(i received this book free to review from thomas nelson/booksneeze)
