To Be Steadfast

Twenty-five years ago, in 2001, Peace Like A River became a publishing phenomenon -- a book that came ‘out of nowhere’ -- as a debut novel from a 40-year-old author. At least that’s what ‘the press’ had to say about this novel by Leif Enger. I didn’t know that history when a friend recommended it to me. Let’s start with the title, which comes from the opening stanza of an old hymn, It Is Well With My Soul:

When peace like a river attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
"It is well, it is well with my soul."

Enger’s story certainly runs the gamut between moments of peace and billowing sorrows. Our protagonist, one Reuben Land, is an eleven-year-old boy with asthma. That piqued my interest. I have a little history with asthma. For those without that experience, asthma shrinks lung capacity to the size of a tennis ball, with about as much elasticity. Each breath is a struggle. Reuben’s dad, Jeremiah, is a good man, his mother has disappeared. I know something about a disappearing parent. Likewise, I have been in church where people speak like this under Divine influence (a direct quote from the book): “Therianus-dequayas-remorey-gungunnas”. I recognized Reuben’s boyhood. I kept reading. Reuben is caught between his younger sister Swede, who is a poetical prodigy, and his older brother Davy, fast approaching the manhood that Reuben feels he will never reach.

Jeremiah, however, is more than just a good man. He is a man marked by the miraculous, rooted in his abiding faith. These handful of rare events often only young Reuben witnesses, starting with Reuben’s own existence when given up for dead at birth. 

Trouble starts as Davy takes action to protect the Land family from a pair of hoodlums when it seems neither the local law enforcement nor their father are doing enough. After his arrest, Davy breaks out of jail and disappears. The rest of his family is launched across the prairie of Minnesota to the badlands of South Dakota, where they have winter. Real winter. I spent a few years next door in Wyoming. Winter is one reason I moved back to California as soon as I could. The Land family is not pursuing Davy, because they have no idea where he went. In the middle of South Dakota, with their car breaking down, they meet Roxanna Cawley, who unexpectedly blesses the Land family in many ways.

The story moves with endearing and heartbreaking twists. There are few authors who can illuminate the goodness in people while being scrupuously forthright about the flawed containers that goodness is wrapped up in. It is easier to have good guys and bad guys. Reuben discovers the painful dilemma of deciding what to do when his brother has done something bad, and those trying to find Davy are actually serving a just cause. Reuben learns that witholding the truth is as much a betrayal as telling a lie, that trying to protect one member of his family can break trust with the rest. Through his struggles, Reuben sees the steadfast goodness in others, especially his dad and later in others. The goodness of others keeps him going.

Peace Like A River is sprinkled with literary references, including a hat tip to Riders of the Purple Sage, as well as a succinct and humorous evaluation of the Book of Job! Enger’s prose is laced with compact wisdom about people in their beauty and frailty:

Anyone could hear her voice was worn to the contours of apology.

You can embark on new and steeper versions of your old sins, you know, and cry tears while doing it that are genuine as any.

Roxanna reached and took his hand. I didn’t hear what she said, but can see their hands touching — not a passionate clasp but an easy timeless transaction as old as scripture.

Someday, you know, we’re going to be shown the great ledger of our recorded decisions – a dread concept you nonetheless know in your deepest soul is true.

Could you reach deep in yourself to locate that organ containing delusions about your general size in the world—could you lay hold of this and dredge it from your chest and look it over in daylight—well, it’s no wonder people would rather not.

Enger took me on a journey. One with hope and loss and redemption. One where what I wanted out of the story did not always happen and rightly so. Otherwise, why read the story if it proceeds according to my whims? The last two chapters were astounding in scope and surprise. Reuben Land just tells his story. What happens to Jeremiah and Davy and Reuben and Swede and Roxanna (and the rest)? Read Peace Like A River and find out.

Until next time…