Stephanie's Journey

Reviewed by Bernardette Murphy, Author and Book Critic whose work appears in the Los Angeles Times

Set amid the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the early nineties, Brad Thomas’ historical first novel, “Stephanie’s Journey” is an expedition towards faith and hope through the wastelands of loss, poverty and war.  Told with heart, poignancy and mysticism, Thomas’ tale leads us through the rocky emotional terrain, in which the vitally human need to believe asserts itself, even as reason and cynicism conspire to keep our hearts closed.

At the center of the tale is Stephanie Howard, a world-class television journalist who’s used to traveling the globe, entering some of the most horrific scenes on the planet in order to provide her viewers with a glimpse of war and its shocking aftermath. As she’s climbed her way up the journalistic ladder, she’s developed a protective armor over her heart, a way of reporting on atrocities without feeling their pain. Stephanie works with Paul Wilson, her field producer who’s become a good friend.  When the two enter into the brutal ethnic cleansing devastating Sarajevo during the contentious break-up of the former Yugoslavia, the scenes and people they encounter there leave the pair utterly transformed.

In covering that story, Stephanie becomes entranced by an eight-year-old orphan, Jozo, and enters into a relationship with him that begins to unfasten the armor sealing her heart.  As she learns to love this young, innocent boy, she sees again much of the world and its sufferings that she’d successfully blocked.  The pain, at times, is simply too much. So traumatic is the outcome of relationship, coupled with the transformation of her ability to feel empathetically and compassionately, that it threatens to destroy her.  Depression and chest-clenching grief swamp her emotional stability.

Pulling herself out of the morass, Stephanie sets out on a mission to find peace in the world. When assigned to create a news segment on alleged apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to six children in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Stephanie encounters a world of mysticism and belief that initially baffles her. The more she enters this world, though, the more a sense of desired peace and serenity fills her.  She is called, she sees, to follow this path wherever it may lead, even if her executive producer thinks it’s a waste of time.  As she delves deeper into the mystery, she encounters details of the 1917 prophecies of Fatima and wonders about the attraction she feels to this un-verifiable subject matter.  Stephanie is a woman who checks sources and double checks facts.  Why then, this draw to what cannot be easily confirmed?  Where is it leading her?

Told in contemporary terms, Thomas’ novel traces the centuries-old longing of humankind to find peace and faith in a war-torn world.  The novel balances the page-turning plot against the reflective nature of the subject matter, creating a book that is not only a joy to read but that will resonate with readers after the last page has been turned.  Filled with many contemporary Christian themes, the book is careful to not alienate readers with polemics, but rather, pulls readers in by tugging at the strings of desire connected to all our hearts.  This is a book for all who have felt the opposing tug of cynicism and who wish to regain the child-like faith that used to flourish, a narrative to remind us that there’s hope for tomorrow.