Book Review: Elisha Barber

Elisha Barber by E.C. Ambrose
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I started listening to this when I was sad about something. Within a few minutes, I thought, "I don't think I should listen to this now." The beginning is dark. Very dark. Sad. Very sad.

Yet I kept listening, even when I saw the character do things he knew he shouldn't -- something that usually makes me want to stop reading, listening, watching -- because the story was so rich, so unusual, that I had to keep listening. Elisha Barber is a barber, in the old sense of the word, back when barbers (or barber surgeons) performed dentistry and surgery. Untrained, but skilled, he is low in social rank, but that is the least of his worries. An honorable, yet stubborn man, he makes choices that complicate and ultimately change his life.

Early on I wanted to scream, "Just tell the truth about your brother!" He doesn't. He won't. It would dishonor his brother if he did. Instead, he suffers consequences, but it is the suffering and the journey from this that changes his life.

Rich, well-written, it is still not an easy book, for his pain is well-conveyed.

Recommended.

I listened to the audiobook, which was very well performed. I recommend that version.

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