Book Review: Three Weeks with My Brother by Nicholas Starks with Micah Starks

Three weeks with my Brother a memoir written by Nicholas Starks with his brother Micah is as heart wrenching as it is uplifting. I have never been a fan of Nicholas Starks his books have tended to be too melodramatic coupled with in my opinion fairly heavy Christian themes. With that said he is a bestselling author and a number of his books have been made into films including "A Walk to Remember" and "Message in a Bottle". After reading Three Weeks with my Brother any judgments I had about the fact that Mr. Sparks may live in an ideal and delusional world are shattered. Three Weeks with my Brother is the story of Nicholas and Micah as they embark on an around the world trip for three weeks leaving two wives and seven children home.

It is a story about hope and overcoming hardship and learning to grasp the moments that we have as they are fleeting and all that we know and hope and dream can be taken from us in less then a moment. It is a story about the courage to go on and not only succeed but embrace life when most would have given up or at the very least become bitter and lose faith.

At the beginning of the book you know that Nicholas and Micah both under forty are the only two members left of their childhood family. Within the first few chapters you are introduced to their parents and their younger sister and you know that both of their parents and their sister have died what makes it even more heartbreaking is that both Nicholas and his brother are under forty at the time of their trip and that these combined losses have cemented a bond that has been there since childhood partially due to the fact that no one else they know has lived through what they have survived.

Along with reminiscing about their childhood and the losses suffered as young adults you get to travel with them to some amazing places around the globe and while these are interesting stories the real meat of the book lies in the history and where they find the strength to move forward and embrace life.

I do not want to give away the tragedies that have affected both of these men including one that involves not only a family of origin but the trauma that can be associated and felt when one's child is ill. It is a book that deserves to be read and these are men that deserve to be applauded. Another magnificent lesson in the book is that while one may look like he or she has everything and his or her life is gifted and blessed none of us really know the sorrow that can be carried in one's heart.

I do not expect that I will go out and read Mr. Sparks novels but I know with 100% certainty that every time I hear his name or read about his success I will salute him and his courage and I will feel great joy in his triumph.