Whispers in the Tropics (book review)

Misti, a sweet book club friend of mine, was kind enough recently to connect me with a brand new author, offering me this woman’s debut novel to read and review. This is always exciting, glimpsing not just an author new to me but a brand new author! Haven’t you ever read great stuff by someone and wondered what his or her first book was like? How those first writing teeth were cut? Well, thanks to Misti, I have enjoyed an early look at the work by Glenda Potts, Oklahoma native, poet, and now novelist. Congratulations on your first book, Glenda, and thank you Misti for including me!

Whispers in the Tropics is a relatively short novel, a quick and easily read adventure-love story teeming with spiritual messages. Set primarily in the tropical rain forests of South America, as the title suggests, the story follows the earliest weeks of a young couple’s budding romance as well as some relatable life challenges each of them faces.

This is a book you could feel confident handing to the youngest adult readers, as it is clean, not controversial, and basically uplifting. The love scenes are only vaguely suggestive and mild, modest. The relationships are pretty smooth and easy, too; this is not an emotionally traumatic read like so many modern novels turn out to be. Every spiritual or emotional crossroads the characters face points gently but firmly to trusting God and surrendering your fears, no matter how deeply rooted they are.

Potts writes in steady, thorough parables throughout the book, guiding her characters with tropical applications of age-old wisdom and Biblical principles.

Holding a glass of orange juice with the chill long gone from it, Tiffany stared into space recalling an article she had read several times that compared a soil garden to a soul garden. Of course, she couldn’t remember the details, but the basic premise was that the crusty earth of a soil garden must be loosened, and rocks, sticks, and weeds removed before vegetable or flower seeds can adhere to the soil and take root. And that in a soil garden, rain, sunshine, and proper pruning help produce vegetables and flowers worthy of harvesting for man’s purposes. Similarly, the hardened human heat of a soul garden must be softened, and indifference removed before seeds of faith in God and His love can adhere and germinate.

Anyone who hangs around the Lazy W for very long knows instantly that I was suckered in by this nature-based metaphor. The book is laced with them. My only hang up is that the metaphors are so directly served up to the reader. To be a work of fiction, I had trouble digesting so much at once, so constantly. It was lovely but ended up feeling more like a long sermonette than a novel.

If you are looking for a sweet, mild, palate-cleansing read to kind of reset your senses and remember that there are good, healthy spiritual messages all around you, then this book is for you. I can definitely see a women’s Bible study or church book club enjoying this as a group. Whispers in the Tropics offers plenty to discuss and is set in an exotic locale that most readers have probably never visited.

I do wish the writing had explored some of the characters with more depth. At times the heavy message delivery trumped the natural flow of conversation so much that I lost track of who was speaking. And Potts has sparked some great characters here! So I was disappointed to not get better acquainted with them, you know, really deep in their thoughts and motivations so as to include the disturbing stuff. Of course, I’m a sucker for dark psychological writing. This book just happened to be a lot cleaner than those I’ve been reading this winter my whole life.

Sincerest congratulations to Glenda Potts for striking out and sharing such a worthwhile set of messages in a new setting. Her first book! I hope you enjoy lots of success with this one, and I hope there are many more to come. And big warm thanks to my friend Misti for introducing me to a brand new novelist!

Read new things, friends. Expose yourself to a variety of styles and don’t let yourself grow stagnant. Cross-pollination is the way to go!

XOXOXOXO