A Review of The Shack by Wm. Paul Young

Wm. Paul Young's bestseller The Shack dares to touch on subjects of faith that many would not even approach. The Shack is a story of one man's personal renewal and path back to the true meaning of God, beyond the secular battles of church and earthly dogma, returning to the heart of true faith. The Shack is an uplifting breath delivered by an amazing storyteller.

This surprising story, begins with a personal tragedy that affects not only the central character, Mack but his whole family with a dark and vicious jolt. "The great sadness" as Mack calls the tragedy, envelopes his whole life, colouring every action and every relationship, settling on him like a dark cloak of invisibility. That cloak also covers the same man who has tried to find a connection to God through church and regular teachings his whole life, but can still not find the answers he has been searching for since his own abusive childhood.

When an unexplained note arrives in his post box signed by "Papa", Mack's devout wife's name for God, asking him to return to the shack, he feels compelled to return to the scene of the family tragedy alone, to face whatever may come, good or bad. Unsure of who or what is calling him there and even suspecting the man who caused the tragedy to be the source of the letter, he still makes the trip to face whatever awaits him in the remote and rundown shack.

This surprisingly real story delves into age old questions like why would God lets us suffer and how can he allow the awful things that happen to his own followers, with clarity and depth. This amazing piece of writing delves right into the heart of God.

The Shack is spiritually renewing, creative and powerfully enlightening. It doesn't give easy answers or trite explanations but instead opens a door into a fresh way of seeing past our own distorted visions and viewpoints.This book makes you think. It separates human expectations from the real meaning of God and love.

The Shack will not be a book read and finished, then set on a shelf to gather dust and forgotten. The compelling story is one that will be kept close at hand to be read again and again with dog eared pages marking the most poignant passages that touch each reader. The Shack is a vision of clarity and hope in the jumbled messy gardens inside of each one of us. Wm. Paul Young has created a must read masterpiece with The Shack.