The Healer's Heart

February 20, 2006
Komp (A Window to Heaven), a physician and Yale medical professor, creates a fictional world around Dr. Luke Tayspill, an infectious disease specialist whose father is dying and whose at-times estranged wife Theo has a mysterious illness she refuses to discuss. In addition, Luke finds a manuscript his beloved grandfather wrote which comes close to predicting his own death. Luke's story covers the world: his childhood home in Ohio; war-torn Sarajevo, where Theo served as a war correspondent; London, where she deals with post-traumatic stress and a troubling diagnosis; a quiet Gullah island off the coast of South Carolina with unexpected family connections; and rebel- and illness-infested Sierra Leone, where Luke goes to try to fulfill the story his grandfather started. Komp also jumps between the present and past as she revisits Luke's childhood, his early married years and various points throughout the centuries-long Tayspill family history. Luke's conversion to Christianity is believable, but readers don't get to see the thought processes behind it. While the characters are compelling, there are so many stories here that none of them get the attention or detail they deserve, slowing the book's progress and leaving readers confused. Komp has great potential as a storyteller, but it's not fully realized here.

February 6, 2006
Komp (A Window to Heaven), a physician and Yale medical professor, creates a fictional world around Dr. Luke Tayspill, an infectious disease specialist whose father is dying and whose at-times estranged wife Theo has a mysterious illness she refuses to discuss. In addition, Luke finds a manuscript his beloved grandfather wrote which comes close to predicting his own death. Luke's story covers the world: his childhood home in Ohio; war-torn Sarajevo, where Theo served as a war correspondent; London, where she deals with post-traumatic stress and a troubling diagnosis; a quiet Gullah island off the coast of South Carolina with unexpected family connections; and rebel- and illness-infested Sierra Leone, where Luke goes to try to fulfill the story his grandfather started. Komp also jumps between the present and past as she revisits Luke's childhood, his early married years and various points throughout the centuries-long Tayspill family history. Luke's conversion to Christianity is believable, but readers don't get to see the thought processes behind it. While the characters are compelling, there are so many stories here that none of them get the attention or detail they deserve, slowing the book's progress and leaving readers confused. Komp has great potential as a storyteller, but it's not fully realized here.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.