Most of us have grappled with the role of religion in our lives and have strived to reconcile our temporal desires with the soul's higher yearnings. Colin Stone, the hero of Cameron Stracher's debut novel, The Laws of Return experiences such a struggle as a third-generation American and secular Jew who lives in a world cast loose from spiritual moorings.
Colin grows up in the wealthy suburbs of New York, where he attends Hebrew school and has a Bar Mitzvah but is never truly touched by his religion. Embarking on a personal journey toward faith, he first finds himself in the Protestant hills of western Massachusetts. Later his search takes him to the hallowed halls of Harvard Law School and finally on an odyssey to the Arctic Circle.
But what Colin seeks turns out to be closer to home. He falls in love with a woman who celebrates the irrational, including doing everything in counts of threes. Ultimately, in a final confrontation with an unrepentant bigot, Colin discovers a truth that the laws of science and society cannot explain.
The Laws of Return brings home the ambivalence and confusion many of us have experienced regarding how religion and spirituality fit into our lives. As Meg Wolitzer puts it, "The author writes wonderfully about faith and identity, and readers will be reminded of Philip Roth's early work, as well as delighted by Cameron Stracher's own fresh and uncompromising vision."
Written with wry wit and humor, Laws of Return marks Cameron Stracher's impressive debut.
Colin grows up in the wealthy suburbs of New York, where he attends Hebrew school and has a Bar Mitzvah but is never truly touched by his religion. Embarking on a personal journey toward faith, he first finds himself in the Protestant hills of western Massachusetts. Later his search takes him to the hallowed halls of Harvard Law School and finally on an odyssey to the Arctic Circle.
But what Colin seeks turns out to be closer to home. He falls in love with a woman who celebrates the irrational, including doing everything in counts of threes. Ultimately, in a final confrontation with an unrepentant bigot, Colin discovers a truth that the laws of science and society cannot explain.
The Laws of Return brings home the ambivalence and confusion many of us have experienced regarding how religion and spirituality fit into our lives. As Meg Wolitzer puts it, "The author writes wonderfully about faith and identity, and readers will be reminded of Philip Roth's early work, as well as delighted by Cameron Stracher's own fresh and uncompromising vision."
Written with wry wit and humor, Laws of Return marks Cameron Stracher's impressive debut.
Used availability for Cameron Stracher's The Laws of Return