The Perfect Summertime Traveling Book

The perfect summertime traveling book or even the perfect anytime traveling book is a tall order to fill and this book fills that order. A traveling book does not have to be about traveling but this one is. However, it does not follow the format of a travel book. If you are looking for a book to help you plan a trip, this is not for you. Although, after the trip is planned and you begin traveling, then this is the book to read. Peace Like a River is a traveling book.

A traveling book is best read when you are traveling or when you are dreaming of traveling? A traveling book has a captivating story, a touch of mystery, and of course, some traveling. Peace Like a River has all of those elements and the author, Lief Enger puts them together in a magical manner. I do have a confession to make with the subjects which make up those elements.

First, I consider myself a spiritual person. I am a Christian who does not deny the Bible. Second, I travel towing one of those sliver tube shaped iconic Airstream travel trailers. I am passionate about my Airstream trailer and anything which have to do with Airstreams. Lastly, I love the American Midwest. Peace Like a River takes place in the Midwest, the family travels in an Airstream trailer, and there are miracles sprinkled throughout the story.

Peace Like a River combines a murderer, a sage, a storyteller, a helpless romantic, and an Airstream. The story takes place in the early 50's and is told by the asthmatic son of Helen and Jeremiah Lang. Reuben, the son is the quintessential storyteller, an inquisitive but somewhat an understated spokesperson for the Lang family. He approaches his father's unexplainable behaviors with humor, admiration and awe. Swede is the sister and you will fall in love with her as she spins her own tales. The murderer? That's Davy, the older brother. The helpless romantic? You will need to discover that character for yourself.

The reader follows this family across Minnesota and North Dakota in the dead of winter pulling a brand-new Airstream trailer with their worn out old car. They are searching for Davy who is running from the police but he is never quite able to shake them.

The miracles are sprinkled throughout. As Swede says in the beginning: "No miracle happens without a witness." You need to make of them as you will. I cannot say that miracles do not happen. One person's fiction is another's fact. This is a book of fiction, a story which did not take place but has there ever been a Jeremiah Lang? Have the events in this book happened somewhere at sometime before? Have you ever witnessed a miracle? I have.