The novel is set in the American Northwest. The main character is Mackenzie Philips, a father of five, called "Mack" by his family and friends.
Four years prior to the main events of the story, Mack takes his three youngest children on a camping trip to Multnomah Falls and Wallowa Lake near Joseph, Oregon. Two of his children are playing in a canoe when it flips and almost drowns Mack's son. Mack is able to save his son by leaving his youngest daughter Missy alone at their campsite.
After Mack returns, he sees that Missy is missing. The police are called, and the family discovers that Missy has been abducted and murdered by a serial killer known as the "Little Ladykiller". The police find an abandoned shack in the woods where Missy was taken, but her body is never found. Mack's life sinks into what he calls The Great Sadness.
At the beginning of the book, Mack receives a note in his mailbox from "Papa", saying that he would like to meet with Mack on that coming weekend at the shack. Mack is puzzled by the note - he has no relationship with his abusive father, who left when Mack was young. He suspects that the note may be from God, who his wife Nan refers to as "Papa".
Mack leaves his family and goes alone to the shack, unsure of what he will see there. He arrives and finds nothing, but as he is leaving the shack and its surroundings are supernaturally transformed into a lush and inviting scene. He enters the shack and encounters manifestations of the three persons of the Trinity. God the Father takes the form of an African American woman who calls herself Papa, Jesus Christ is a Mideastern carpenter, and the Holy Spirit physically manifests himself as an Asian woman named Sarayu.
The bulk of the book narrates Mack's conversations with Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu as he comes to terms with Missy's death and his relationships with the three of them. Mack also has various experiences with each of them. Mack walks across a lake with Jesus, sees an image of his father in heaven with Sarayu, and has a conversation with Sophia, the personification of wisdom. At the end of his visit, Mack goes on a hike with Papa, who shows him where Missy's body was left in a cave.
After spending the weekend at the shack, Mack leaves and immediately is nearly killed in an automobile accident. After his recovery, he realizes that he did not in fact spend the weekend at the shack, but that his accident occurred on the same day that he arrived at the shack. He also leads the police to the cave which Papa revealed, and they find Missy's body still lying there. With the help of forensic evidence discovered at the scene, the Little Ladykiller is arrested and put on trial.
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After reading this novel, I found myself having so many different emotions! The book opened my eyes and kind of made me think a lot about my own faith!
I know this book addresses a lot of issues and the biggest one for me was how I identify with the Trinity. I mean, God was portrayed as a big friendly and mothering black woman. This made me think, why do I picture God in one way and that way s never changing?
God made the world and can be anything he wants to be and appear in any image!!
Seeing Jesus as a carpenter was actually the way I do see him in my mind. Fixing things all the time.....fixing hearts and people who are broken!
The Holy Spirit physically manifested himself as an Asian woman named Sarayu....this was interesting because I have never been able to picture what the Holy Spirit looks like!! This was amazing for me.....the book just portrayed the Holy Spirit in such a naturing, caring, guiding and loving way. All the things you would expect to be portrayed and it was so easy to gain comfort from how the book made you think of her.
I need to remember not to limit them in all they can do, because they can appear in any image they choose! They can appear in a friend, husband wife, child, father, mother, even a stranger!
As a Christian myself, I found the way the author delivered the view on Faith a little comforting and at the time a little discomforting. Let me explain what I mean:
Comforting - in the way that God can appear to people and be so visual if he chooses to.
Discomforting - in the way that some people can read this book and think their faith obviously isn't strong enough to have such a revelation as Mack did in the book.
Some people may read this book and turn to Jesus for the wrong reasons, thinking that they will find answers to situations in their life........yet they don't go about actually getting to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior!!
On the other hand, some people may read this book and find themselves wanting to know Jesus more. Which is an amazing thing of course!
Personally, and this is completely my own opinion on this book......I LOVED IT!!
I found it so insightful and gripping! I didn't want to put it down the whole time I had it!
I do think it is a little unfair to led people into believing they need to have a certain level of Faith before thy can have the same kind of encounter. Also t kind of led people to believe they could find answers to similar situations if only they would open their eyes to see further than their mind allows them.
I know there has been a lot of controversy over this book since it was published and became a USA Today bestseller, having sold 1 million copies as of June 8, 2008. It has also maintained its status as #1 Paperback trade fiction seller on the New York Times best sellers list since June 2008.
I think this book is one which should be read and then an individual opinion can be gained.
Just remember we are all different and all have different perceptions on how things look, feel or smell......if we were all the the same the world would be a boring place!!
Hope you enjoy the book!
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