Review
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Title: Missing Pieces
Author: Jeni Grossman
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Genre: Fiction
Year Published: 2009
Number of Pages: 306
Binding: Trade Paperback
ISBN10: 1-59811-643-6
ISBN13: 978-1-59811-643-4
Price: $16.95
Reviewed by Jeffrey Needle
From time to time, as I sit back and ponder how fortunate I am to have so many good people submitting reviews for the AML review archive, I take an interest in a book already reviewed and sit down to read it myself. Inasmuch as the daughter of a close friend has chosen Turkish studies as an emphasis for her history major at a local university, my interest was piqued with this title.
As a reminder, the main character is Dulcey Moore, an LDS mother of two foster children, and a lead reporter for CNN. When an archaeological dig is announced in Turkey, wherein an ancient idol/goddess is about to be unearthed and recovered, the archaeologist in charge specifically requests Dulcey to lead the CNN team covering the event. We learn later that this archaeologist is, in fact, Dulcey’s father, a man she’s never met.
The situation here is perfect for a cheesy Mormon moment. Had the author chosen the easy way out, the story would have gone as follows: Dulcey meets the man, tries to get him to allow the missionaries to come and introduce the Gospel to him. At the last possible moment, he reveals that he’s her father, and voila!, families can be forever! To my immense surprise, Grossman avoids all of this. In fact, her handling of this situation is done with such skill and such wisdom -- what a refreshing change, what a skilled writer! The fact that he’s Dulcey’s father is revealed early on, Dulcey learns this rather early on, too. And this informs, but does not direct, their relationship from that point forward.
The book is filled with exciting adventures and sometimes graphic violence. The characters are vividly drawn, but, for the most part, carefully avoid being stereotyped. There is enough texture, especially with regard to the Turkish characters, that the reader cannot but help be drawn to them. This is a goal to which all writers should aspire.
While the focus of the story is on the goddess to be recovered and placed on display in a museum, there are all kinds of things happening around this center that often supplant the goddess in the mind of the reader. Of course, we come back to the idol again and again, but she finally must take second place to the very real human dramas taking place all around her.
Let me explain a bit more why I was so taken with this book:
1. Unlike so much of what comes from Mormon presses these days, “Missing Pieces” made me think, and never let up in challenging me to reconsider my own biases and preconceived notions about other religions and societies. Reading this book was a little like reading a primer in Islamic law and the beliefs and practices of the indigenous Turkish populations. It seemed that every chapter had just a little bit of writing that aimed to inform and broaden me and, in a strange way, connect me with the Turkish people.
2. This book not only made me think, but it made me care. Grossman gives us a reason to see the people of Turkey and, by extension, people of all races and creeds, in a sympathetic light. While not minimizing the evil that exists in the minds of many who grow up in militant cultures, she nonetheless insists that most of the people are peace-loving and sincere individuals trying to make the best of their lives. And these lives are sometimes brutally affected by the culture that surrounds them. In particular, women are treated as second-class citizens. Grossman has an ongoing theme of the oppression of women in Islamic societies. At times, it’s absolutely horrifying.
3. The author refuses to take the easy way out when it comes to difficult plot twists. She is simply not a predictable writer, and this makes for a more rewarding reading experience. Where you think she’ll simply insert a stock scene -- and you know how LDS authors are fond of this kind of writing -- she instead turns the tables and adds an element of writing that is jolting and surprising. I found myself trying to second-guess her. I succeeded only a few times.
4. This is perhaps the least Mormon LDS novel I’ve ever read. The Church is mentioned only a few times, and these always seem beside the point. Remove the explicit LDS references, and you have the same book. This, in my experience, is highly unusual, and difficult to pull off. There is another sense in which this isn’t even an explicitly religious novel. Yes, there are themes that concern religion -- family ties, honesty, courage -- but they are presented here as human values, shared across cultures, common to all of humanity.
5. Grossman is not afraid to take chances with her characters. In one stunning exchange toward the end of the book, a young lady who up to this point has been a positive influence and a generally moderate player explodes in anger against Dulcey as she is finally fed up with Dulcey’s preoccupation with her own family, her own tribe. The anti-Americanism, the visceral hatred of all things Western, the rejoicing over the events of 9/11 -- all come as a real slap in the face. The reader is left breathless, as is Dulcey. There is an eventual reconciliation, but no recrimination against the young lady for holding these views.
I have to tell you, this was one terrific read. I don’t know that everyone will react the same way I did. I had only mediocre expectations. Instead, I was thrilled and amazed at the writing, the skill shown by this extraordinary writer. I now have to go back and read more of her books -- she has published several before this title.
Covenant Communications is to be congratulated for bring this volume to print. I believe it deserves wide readership, and even wider discussion.
Jeff Needle
Association for Mormon Letters
jeff.needle@gmail.comwww.aml-online.orgwww.LDSBookLovers.com/Needle.html
