This is a very readable account of the history of missions. The author seemed to recount history without any favoritism, something that I could not easily do (there were a lot of pathetic missionaries in the past.) The book really showed the amazing sacrifice that many missionaries have made in the past to spread the Gospel.

The only major complaint I would have about this book can be found in the title. Irian Jaya no longer bears that name. The area is now known as West Papua. This shows that the book is fairly old and there has been a lot of exciting missionary activity since the writing of the book (1983).

This is a great book on the history of missions. The author starts with the apostle Paul and works her way all into the 1980's. Ruth Tucker writes in a very easy-to-read style. The book recounts many amazing stories about amazing people who desired to bring the gospel to the 'ends of the earth'. Most of these men and women were faithful, effective missionaries. But others have been faithful but ineffective. As a missionary in training, I found the book helpful as I analyzed all the different situations and encounters that the missionaries found themselves in. I can learn from their successes and their mistakes. I would recommend this book to anyone (should be everyone) involved in missions.

Ruth Tucker clearly tells the stories of many missionaries of the past two centuries. Her summaries are concise, and packed full of useful information to help prospective missionaries avoid mistakes. Am not sure how biased her focus on women is, but the stories are amazing nonetheless. It has been amazing to see what God has done through our brothers and sisters! Remember the persecuted!

Enjoy a well written text book of Christian missions, from the eariliest beginnings to modern history. From the Apostle Paul, to Jim Elliott, each story will help you understand what the mission field is all about. It is so exciting to read about Patrick becoming a missionary to Ireland or Hudson Taylor going to China. It is exciting to read about David Livingston exploring Africa and William Carey in India. The book has exciting sections about Medical Missions, Single Women Missionaries, Twentified Century Martyrs and my favorite Missionary Aviation. Reading this masterpiece, you will learn by about these great men and women of God, how you too, can be an effective missionary. Learn about their trials they had to experience. From the South Seas, the Americas and to the remotest places on earth these missionaries traveled. Some lived long lives and others died for the cause of Christ. Some were even eating by cannibals. You can learn alot from their lives. This is must reading for every Christian in the world!!!

This classical western is a great read. In the book Tucker learns the truth about how to live one's life, the importance of having the right sort of friends, and what it takes to be a man. I love Louis L'Amour novels, but this is the one story that I find myself reading more than any of his others.

To be honest, this is not a great book, but it is a very good book - and the type of book that one can enjoy again and again.

Shell Tucker was just a boy when 3 worthless outlaws killed his father and stole their gold. But after the long coming days ahead as he is traveling through dangerous lands of the Comanche to revenge his father and recover their gold, Shell becomes a MAN!!!!

This was the first western I ever read, and it absolutley captivated me. I do not like TV westerns by any means but this book just seemed to grab my attention. L'Amour brought to vivid life what it is like to hunt someone down and to be literally hunted like a wild animal yourself. The suspense is suffocating. Tucker is hands down my favorite book.

I found this book to be upsetting and depressing. All of her life, it seems the author never accepted the fact that she was deaf and tried "passing" as hearing for her entire life! Although I am not deaf and do not pretend to know what it is like to be deaf, I felt that she made her life so much more of a struggle by shunning the Deaf Community. She refused to sign and tried to live as a hearing person. This book left me with a feeling of overwhelming sadness for all that this woman has missed in her life as a result of not accepting her deafness and at least trying to be a part of both the hearing and the deaf communities.

I ran into this book by accident looking for a book about law. (LOC cataloged it in the Dewey system as 340.092, near books like Legal Realism at Yale.) It's actually the autobiography of Bonnie Poitras Tucker, born (so far as anyone can tell) totally deaf but who eventually became a lawyer and a law school professor. Tucker's strength is in communicating the burden of being deaf even for a gifted lip reader. I must say that I never thought about how terrifying darkness must be for the deaf, how much it would hurt to be thought rude because one couldn't hear everyday sounds or conversation, or even how a moustache might completely frustrate a lip reader. Tucker's reluctance to tell others about her handicap undoubtedly made some periods of her life more difficult than they might have been otherwise, but it takes little imagination for the reader to sympathize with her desire to be "normal." Curiously, although Tucker, is an expert on the law of disabilities, her book does not address legal issues in any rigorous way. For her, it is a self-evident truth that a theater owner should provide a seat for her interpreter at no charge. Likewise, the brief attempt she makes at discussing her religious beliefs (basically none) is more simplistic than one would expect from a law school teacher. Nevertheless, the book is worth reading. As a teacher who has had a number of deaf students over the years, I will certainly think twice before regrowing my moustache.

I would have never heard of this book if not for a dear friend's recommendation - whose 15-year old daughter has been deaf since birth. And I am as profoundly grateful to my friend Anna Marie, as I am to Bonnie Tucker, the author - for a lesson in gratitude. compassion and frustration . . .

All of us, the hearing - will learn of gratitude for the "given" of the sense of hearing. We will add to our repertoire of our feelings a very special variation of compassion - for one like Bonnie - full of zest and energy in her approach to life - who definitely does not want pity.

We will learn of the aspects of frustration which our hearing world may not conceive of. Why not learn of this? Why not absorb some of the unique feelings which none of us ever thought of, in the situations none of us ever has found himself/herself?

You, the psychologists, might add to your lists of therapeutic data - this very intelligent woman's pointers and leads - how and when to help the deaf . . .

As the deaf are not really deaf - witness Beethoven and his most significant output as a composer in the late years of life, when, after becoming deaf, his hearing switched inward, into the inner world of sound - after all we all have an inner ear.

So does Bonnie Tucker and she has proven it with her astounding life and career as a mom and an attorney. Hurrah to the victor!

For lovers of great photography, one of the real gaps for a long time has been a monograph on this master of Euorpean street photography, whose images of Paris in the 30's in particular are among the greatest of their kind. Since the unfortuante deletion of the magnificent mid-80's reissue of PARIS BY NIGHT there has literally been nothing available except an over-priced paperback from Germany (I beleive) that has made its way to US museum bookshops and the like. What great news it was that Abrams, who are one of the best houses for this sort of thing, was publishing a major catalogue to accompany the travelling exhibit now at the National Gallery in Washington. The book was delayed several times earlier this year (no doubt to the chagrin of the museums the exhibit has already passed through) and has finally arrived in time for Christmas.

It is sad indeed to report that the book is a total disappointment- at least so far as the images themselves are concerned:

One: The source material and printing of the picutres are truly second-rate - without richness, luster, or dimension. Many look like photocopies from magazines or other books. They are oddly glossy but flat. Compare these to the incredible matte reproductions in PARIS BY NIGHT and the contrast between what can be done with with what is here is nearly heartbreaking.

Second: What is with the recent tendency to print photographs in an oversized, right-to-the-edges format with no sense of border or space to let the composition breathe and no sense of frame lines. The bleed-over simply kills the impact of many of these photogrpahs. It's a ruinous way to present great imagery. (It afflicts Abrams' new Bill Brandt book as well but to a lesser extent because the printing of that book is so much better.)

Third: There is very little that is new here. For such a major undertaking it comes across as a routine collection of well-known images, a greatest hits, that ends up delivering little emotional punch or insight into this great artist. Compare this to Abrams' own exhaustive works like Walker Evans: The Hungry Eye and you'll see what I mean.

With so many great photographers receiving deluxe treatment in the past few years from Abrams' W. Eugene Smith book last year to Bulfinch's Lartigue mongraph, it is a real shame that someone as seminal but poorly represented in print as Brassai should receive such a well-intentioned but unsatisfactory tribute. PLEASE BRING BACK PARIS BY NIGHT!

I am surprised that this book has gotten such mixed reviews here -- it is the definitive book on the subject. The essays are full of new information and elegantly presented. The design of the book, bleeds and all, remind me of the particular way Brassai made his books (which is why we care about Brassai today). The reproductions look like the original prints! The book is smart and real.

I saw this exhibition at the National Gallery of Art and bought the book. The exhibition blew me away and so did the book! It is the best exhibition book on photography I have seen. The print quality of the photographs is superb and the text is excellent. This book is a lesson in photography, political science, and sociology.

As the instructor of "Practical Object-Oriented Programming" (a 5-week course that uses Dylan that teaches object/functional application in the software domain), I chose _Dylan Programming_ as the text book. It is well-suited to the methodology of teaching programming: the chapters can be comprehended by people with no programming background (I had two such students), yet the material is stimulating so that even experienced programmers find it useful. Married with the Functional Developer (a Dylan IDE), _Dylan Programming_ makes teaching, or learning, Dylan quick and easy.

I have three points where I find the book wanting: organization, exactness/correctness, and completeness.

I found the book's organization a bit puzzling: especially when it came to control structures. In my teaching sessions, I needed to move forward 11.1-11.5 (skipping parts of 11.3 and all of 11.4) before I covered chapter 4 (classes). Also, interspersing the airport example seemed random at times, particularly in the second half of the book. I chose to skip those chapters (for teaching purposes).

The book was incorrect for several of its page references. This was particularly annoying as it happened that I followed a reference on several occasions, only to be led to the wrong page. For example, page 182 (center) refers one to page 172 for the definition of sum (a function), this function actually appears on page 174. Page 183 (center) refers one to page 147 for the use of curry ... this example is actually at the end of page 148. Page 183 (center), again, refers one to page 181 for the use of the function choose, which is not mentioned until page 182 ... and on, and on, and on. Some references were so obscure that I could not find what these references meant on any page near the page they mentioned. Chasing referred pages, then, became a tiresome venture that often disappointed.

As for completeness, I mentioned in the previous paragraph the function choose, a very useful function. However, if one looks in the index, no mention, anywhere, is made of it. The authors took pains to highlight it in the text, explain it, and provide an example. This exact problem exists also for the function apply, another very useful function. _Dylan Programming_ falls down in the index for generalities as well as specifics, as we've seen: no entry exists for first-, or higher-, order functions. Also, the index entries for protocol and efficiency point to one line definitions in introductory sections, where their explanations occur much later in those chapters.

Even though the index has some faults, the references are off at times (too often, unfortunately), and I disagree with the book's presentation of fundamental topics too late, the book shines overall, and shines primarily that it teaches Dylan well.

First, some of the book's explanations surpass those of the _Dylan Reference Manual_ (DRM). It used illustrations, code examples, and metaphors repeatedly to get the point of the section across. Not only that, but it went in depth on some topics where the DRM chose terseness: for example, _Dylan Programming_ has explained modules as namespaces very well. Accompanying many sections were interactive examples in a Dylan listener so that the reader could try out the topic's techniques as they read.

Second, the book unifies the presentation of the language very well. The DRM is excellent at examining language features piece by piece; _Dylan Programming_ is excellent at putting these pieces together at the chapter level. They even have a bulleted chapter summary of the topics covered.

And, third, the book succeeds in a practical way. All of my students were new to Dylan (some new to programming), yet each completed their final project assignments, due in large part to the help this book gave them. One programming neophyte created a final project that computed the possible blood types of a child from known parents' blood types (a relatively simple task), but then created a blood type inference system that postulated a blood type of a parent based on one parent's and the child's blood type ... a more significant achievement. Another created a mathematical symbolic processor (it found, among other things, the roots of quadratic equations).

Overall, then, this book has some minor shortcomings. As a book to learn Dylan, though, it is without peer, and I strongly recommend it as the first book from which to learn the language.

While primarily aimed at people just learning Dylan, this book has some great info for people who already understand Dylan reasonably well (the chapter on performance is especially valuable.) The book is well written, and the information in the book is very accurate.

The book does not attempt to cover all the standard Dylan functions and classes, and thus it does not intend to replace the Dylan Reference Manual (DRM). I often find myself using this book as a reference for language features though.

I think this is one of the better programming books I've seen, in that it is task-oriented. The authors have a goal of building a program to do airport scheduling; while they are building this program, they are teaching you Dylan. Consequently, you are learning how to do a real-world task (well, at least someone's real world task) rather than just a bunch of example programs that don't correlate well or at all. Along the way, they are teaching you how to build classes and methods effectively, which is sadly lacking in most other programming tomes.

The only thing that I considered a "problem" is that it took them until chapter 11 to start discussing control structures (like the loops and decision statements). My attention was wandering and I had to skip ahead to keep my interest.

It also seems to be oriented towards people who are already familiar with C++ or Java (or some other object-oriented language), which is probably not a bad assumption. I can't imagine someone picking this up as their first language, but it is just a word of warning, just in case.

In summary, very, very good book. Don't make the mistake of getting the Dylan Reference Manual as a way to learn Dylan -- "Dylan Programming" is the book to get for learning the language.

"Burnside's Bridge" breaks through the absence of research in this part of the battle of Antietam and attempts to paint a factual picture of what happened in that small area of the battlefield. The author begins by giving a history of the two regiments (20th and 2nd Georgia). After this he gives an in-depth history of the leader of the two regiments, a man by the name of General Toombs. The author stresses the importance of researching the mysterious General Toombs, due to the fact, historians have over looked this man because many considered he was only a small part of the Confederacy. Half way through the book the author begins to talk about the bridge and what happened at the battle of Antietam. Armed with the many facts Mr. Tucker (the author) tells the complete story of what happened when the Federal army charged the bridge five times.

Even though this is a breakthrough book there are some weaknesses that appear within the book. The first weakness is the fact the book is only 154 pages long (154 pages + 43 pages of sources). Within these 154 pages the author does not approach the battle of Antietam until page 67 and than leaves the bridge at page 137, which allows him only 70 pages to deal with the actual events around the bridge. The second weakness is the fact the reader has to have a basic knowledge of the battle of Antietam. In fact, the author never gives an explanation of what was going on in the other parts of the battlefield. This is compounded with the fact the author only shows one map of the battlefield and this map is only dealing with Burnside's bridge. Finally and what I feel to be the weakest part of the book, is the manner in which the author presents the material. Mr. Tucker has researched this topic so much he attempts to push every fact into the story and thus sacrifices the readability of the book. In other words, when the author finally has the reader turning the pages to read more, he slows you down to a snail's pace by bombarding you with items such as a colonel's biography or a solider's letter home.

Even with these weaknesses the book is still a major piece of work for this subject. What this book will do is cause more historians to use it as a stepping stone and thus cause even greater research in the area. After all, every subject has to have a first book written about it. This reviewer only wished the author had expanded the book and attempted to centralize the facts on the everyday soldiers of the two regiments instead of constantly bowing to the immortal General Toombs.

Pros: 1) Groundbreaking research in the area of Burnside's Bridge 2) Very in-depth research by the author

Cons: 1) Lack of Dramatic effect causes poor readability 2) Author only spends 70 pages on what really happened at the bridge 3) Reader has to have knowledge of the battle of Antietam

In the Introduction, the author states "....the full story of this tenacious struggle for possession of Burnside's Bridge has never been told until now. The accomplishments of the Georgia defenders have been overlooked by historians who have, in turn, underestimated the significance of their actions on the outcome of the action that day." For example, Russell Wiegley wrote "At the end of the day, the final Federal charge, across the Antietam near the right of the Confederate position over the Rohrbach Bridge--hereafter Burnside's Bridge--and up the adjacent hills, missed turning Lee's right and cutting his road to the Potomac only because Powell Hill and the Light Division arrived from Harpers Ferry at the last desperate moment." (1) Other historians such as Emory Thomas have written similar comments.(2)

The author provides an excellent background review of the commanders and Georgia soldiers. Several officers had attended military colleges plus had experience in the Mexican and the Indian Wars. Several units, such as the 2nd Georgia, had a nycleus of soldiers from militia units such as the Columbus Guards of Muscogee County.

This well researched work is not a gneral account of the Antietam Battle, but concentrates on the fighting in the Rohrbridge sector; thus the reader is not distracted by the critical events taking place on General Lee's left or center. Union General George McClellan ordered General Burnside's IX Corps to cross Antietam Creek, turn Lee's right flank and attain Lee's rear area. General Toombs' 2nd and 20th Georgians defended Rohrbach's Bridge and by noon this "....relative handful of tough Georgian Rebels" had repelled five bloody attacks and accomplished their mission in holding the army's right flank.

AT 1:30 P.M., with ammunition running low, the battered Georgians had to retreat and by 3:00 P.M. the sixth Federal assault captured the bridge. Now only General Toombs' and Colonel Benning's forces could stop McClellan from sweeping to Sharpsburg and gain the rear of Lee's army. In late afternoon, the surviving Georgians, with the help of General Maxcy Gregg's newly arrived South Carolinians, counterattacked and stopped Burnside's IX Corps. Hill now arrived, joined the fighting and helped drive the IX Corps back to the Antietam Creek; however, the text notes that Colonel Benning wrote concerning the counterattack that "none of [Hill's troops] had any part in first breaking the line."

On page 150, the author notes that "Despite two improbably successes on the same day, Toombs, Benning and their Georgians would not receive due recognition in the post war years." Defending the Burnside's Bridge all morning and then the late afternoon counterattack by Toombs and Benning all played a very significant role in reversing the tide of battle and ended McClellan's chance to defeat Lee.

Finally on page 153, the author writes "Fewer than 300 Georgia defenders preserved Lee's vulnerable right flank and rear for most of the day, and bought time for Lee to reposition troops from his right to his left and for Hill to arrive."

For those interested in Civil War history, this short work places the fighting on Lee's right flank at Antietam in proper perspective. Had Toombs, Benning and the Georgians not held Lee's right and then not successfully counterattacked, McClellan would have deteated the Army of Northern Virginia before Hill arrived.

(1) Wiegley, Russell; A GREAT CIVIL WAR: A military and Political History 1861-1865; p-153

(2) Thomas, Emory; ROBERT E. LEE; p-262

this book is well researched,documented and fascinating history at its best. It doesn't get any better than this! The personal profiles of the many soldiers involved give you a much clearer picture of the closeness involved of the participants.From the generals colonels and down the chain of command to the lowest ranking private, this is a story well told thru the eyes and ears of the combatants.The holding action of the 2nd and 20th georgia regiments at rohrbach's bridge that day should go down in the annals of history's bloody battles as an equal to the dramatic stuggle of the 101st airborne at bastogne,the fighting withdrawal of the 1st Marine division at the chosen reservoir in Korea and the dramatic battle of the brave defenders at the alamo,as well as the stand at camerone,mexico of the gallant foreign legion.I highly recommend this book to all civil war and military history buffs everywhere.Mr.Tucker cannot be praised enough! Thank God someone has finally stepped forward and carried on the torch to tell the story of these brave men.THANK YOU MR.TUCKER!

An artist's earier work always sheds light on furture endevours. Keith Carter has photograpghed his east Texas homeland with respect and love. The land is rich and full of stories. Who are these people? Where is this place? What is going on here? Why did he make this picture? These are the questions you ask when you move through the Carter landscape. Keith has turned his eye towards simple, beautiful things and people. His compostions are full of air and earth. You can revisit this work over and over, pulling out more thread with each turn. If you like Keith Carter, you should get this book. If you don't know anything about him, get this book because it's an earlier book and his eyes change over time. This is the dense taproot. From here all else blooms.

This is an early book and well seen.You should buy this book because Keith Carter is good for the soul.

Having served in the State Dept. in Shanghai from 1947 thru 1950
and in Taiwan for 15 years and elsewhere in Asia thru 1976 and
knowing most of those providing the oral histories for this book as well as many of the Chinese principals, I am appalled by the poor proofreading and editing which permited many, many factual inaccuracies to slip through. Also, many of the quoted oral statements are surprisingly superficial and fallacious. Therefore, this book makes very dangerous reading for today's Asian and China scholars since it purports to be the real inside
story straight from the horses mouths whereas its errors can only
generate incorrect history.

If the book is read with this caveat, it does provide very useful background insights for this most important part of 20th. Century experience as well as of the complexities nations face in developing and administering foreign policy. The book is well
laid out and gives a great amount of background information but
the reader should retain a healthy skepticism and draw his own
conclusions realizing that he is reading other's opinions, many
of them recollections of events and years long gone by.

This book is a comprehensive review of Sino-American relations from the birth of the PRC to the end of Clinton's first term. From early controversies during the relationship, such as the expulsion of American diplomats in NE China in 1949 and America's involvement in the Chinese Civil War, to more recent crisises such as the 1996 Taiwan Strait missle exercises, this book reviews the dynamics of the Sino-American relationship and how individual diplomats and statesmen made such crucial differences in the conduct of the relationship. Kissenger and then Brzezinski's roles were especially important and the author explores the personal nature of how diplomacy was conducted, include how both men, who were Nationa Security Advisor to their respective presidents, outmanuevered their Secretary of State and the State Department. A very good read and overview of an important topic.

I don't know if this book will have staying power, but in our first week of owning it, my 20-month-old daughter has asked me to read it, on average, I'd say 10 times a day. The illustrations are cute but the text is annoying. Tucker is this undisciplined dog who runs through the house knocking into everyone and everything with a "Wham". At the end the family says he's too lovable to scold. The somewhat dubious message gets redeemed for me when my daughter first points at the last picture of the girl hugging the dog, with Tucker's tail wagging furiously (or "whamming" in this case), and laughs, "Tail", then points at the two of them and says with a note of pure delight in her voice, "Happy."

If you've got a dog loving toddler, they'd probably enjoy this book. Helpful read-aloud tip: I found it much less annoying to read when I edited out every third "Wham".

A girl named Thelma called Tucker, her dog, in for breakfast. What happends once the dog is inside will shock you! I like the illustrations that Scott Nash used. If you want to find out what happens you should read this book.
Yaslin C

Oh, Tucker! is a splendid children's story. It is a short read, but anyone who has a puppy or a dog can truly relate to this one! I teach first grade and my children LOVE to hear this story. They LOVE to participate in the WHAMS! throughout the story. The illustrations are WONDERFUL. I have put it on my all-time favorite list for children's books.

The author gives a very good overview from different vantage points about the doubts that affect Christians. In the end I'm not sure how she can hold on to her faith however. It seems she does, as do many Christians, compartamentalize her life into her faith and religions on one hand and everything else on the other hand. The latter a process of thought and reason, the former a process of hope and wishful thinking. I think I would have to develope a multiple personality disorder to do those kinds of mental gymnastics.

Ruth A. Tucker's WALKING AWAY FROM FAITH doesn't pull any punches. Whether we in the church like to admit it or not people do fall away from their faith, and not necessarily due to ignorant reasons. WALKING AWAY FROM FAITH presents their side of the story. It is a personal and sometimes painful read, full of emotion and transparent revelations. Drawing strongly on individual stories, this is a case study on the why's and the how's of the loss of faith. It is not an apologetic work, so when the "why's" are explored a lengthy rebuttal is not given. Rather, WALKING AWAY FROM FAITH focuses on the human side of the equation. It challenges a lot of pre-conceived notions regarding doubt and even presents a surprising picture of life on the other side of the decision to walk away - something that might not want to be heard but in an honest work such as this it is welcome and enlightening. Overall, Tucker does a fine job of exploring the issue from all sides.

The reason this book is so important is that is shines a bright light on an aspect of the Christian life that is too often ignored. Doubt. The reality is that most Christians at one time or another experience doubt of some sort. Usually it will not lead to a loss of faith but even in those instances it can be a very lonely experience. WALKING AWAY FROM FAITH challenges us to be a church that is more honest about these feelings. Tucker repeatedly wonders aloud if the people she interviewed would have chosen differently if the church would've better responded to their doubts and fears. This book will not solve the problems related to loss of faith, but it does graphically demonstrate the need for the church to re-examine its methods when it comes to handling these situations. It should also be a wake up call to Christians on an individual basis, to be more sensitive to instances of doubt in the lives of each other and, more importantly, to be Jesus to the person experiencing those doubts - not to condemn, shun, or spout pat answers. More than likely, at some point in life, we're going to be on the opposite end of that situation. Hopefully when that happens someone will be there for us to walk us through those shadows, and to help us pray, "Lord, I believe. Help me in my unbelief." FOUR 1/2 STARS.

This book is disturbing, because it doesn't take the typical "doubt can be good for you, and if you truly believe you'll come back to the faith" route often taken by works on this subject. By the time you finish, you are humbled, as you realize that despite how strong you feel now, you don't know what the future will bring, or what it could do to you. Tucker takes us through three levels of the subject. The first third of the book compares stories of faith and doubt, focusing on the mystery of faith and the anxiety of facing God's silence and hiddeness. The second third surveys the standard problems people encounter in their trials of belief and how they damage faith. I can see some being disappointed with this section, as it does not challenge the issues to the extent they could be, but then Tucker is clear that she's not writing an apologetic work. The final third attempts to clarify common myths Christians have about the quality of life experienced by those who walk away, and attempts to understand the motives of those who've taken that route. It also gives some examples of those who have returned to the faith, and includes a chapter entitled "Answering Doubt and Unbelief," which is actually about the care needed in dealing with those experiencing doubt, rather than answers to what raises those doubts. Due to Tucker's personal encounters with her own doubt and unbelief, she is very sensitive to the mental state and emotions of those going through hard times. Unfortunately, it is this same sesitiveness that will likely leave some readers feeling the work ends on an uncertain tone, caught between the vagueness of faith and doubt, but I think that, for pastoral reasons, that is exactly what she wants the reader to appreciate.