When I picked up Rob’s book, I knew virtually nothing about tamarisk trees. OK, I’m exaggerating. Absolutely nothing. Helpfully, Rob explained how they worked in the introduction and the penny dropped. The tamarisk tree has a deep tap root, small leaves and is able to thrive and flourish even in the most arid of conditions. It survives being pruned hard back and in springtime blossoms majestically with pink and white blooms, providing shade in the heat of the day.
It's a nice way to ease us into the story of Dismas, the penitent thief, a man who has lived a life disastrously short of nurture and shade. I’m a huge fan of stories retold, of characters about whom we know little being encouraged out of the shadows and into the light.
The penitent thief, you may recall, was one of the criminals who was executed alongside Jesus on Good Friday. All we’re really told is that he was sorry for his crimes and that Jesus promised that he would be beside him in paradise. This novel begins at the moment that promise is fulfilled.
I love the way Rob writes. I’ve read plenty of descriptions of heaven, where Dismas finds himself, but this was one of the few that genuinely painted a picture of somewhere I could actually visualise. Beautiful colours, scents, sounds and an exhausted, confused, hurting man lying on the ground unsure of where he is or what is happening. In the Bible, we only ever hear him described as a thief, but of course no-one is born a criminal and so it proves with Dismas. His back story is tragic, a tale of anger, pain, neglect and abuse. When he finally runs away from the cruel treatment meted out at his aunt and uncle’s house, it’s no surprise. The rest of his short life is lived in the shadows, permanently on the run, hungry, cold and unloved. It makes for very sad reading, but Rob’s writing is so clever that he continues to drive the narrative along, through both sadness and more uplifting parts.
As a freelance writer, I often have the privilege of interviewing people who were just like Dismas, but who have seen their lives transformed through faith. Reading through the book and seeing how he is lovingly and gently healed of all the pain he was never able to talk about in life is extremely moving and well-written.
Given a new name (Habib) and filled with transformative love, he is starting to become the person he was always intended to be.
“Jesus beckoned Habib to sit down next to him. No-one had ever taken any interest in Habib before. He sat down beside them, feeling like royalty sat on a throne.”
Rob takes us back through the boy’s life. His mother died giving birth to him, causing his father to reject him. His bedfellows are shame and guilt from the cradle and life can only get worse.
Living on the streets, hiding away from people, reduced to stealing to stay alive, his child’s heart hardens and he starts to simply become a thief, rather than a fully-rounded human being.
“During those first few weeks on the streets, Dismas learned that allowing any feelings was a dangerous luxury he could rarely afford. Anything that reminded him of his humanity could make him want to cry. Crying would make him feel weak and he would force himself to rapidly blink away the impending tears. He must not cry. He had to be strong to survive.”
Reading the story of an abandoned child starving on the streets and doing anything to survive is deeply painful. For a while, Dismas has a friend, a girl named Riha, but my heart sank as I suspected that something would happen to end their relationship, the first experience of love the boy had ever had. Sure enough, she dies of fever, ending the brief happiness and friendship which Dismas has known.
Burying his feelings of anguish deeply, the boy carries on living on the streets, his heart harder than ever and any sense of hope completely extinguished. He must be no more than a teenager when the temple guards pick him and his friend up and sentence them to death.
And so the story comes full circle, as the two thieves hang on either side of Jesus, one still full of rage, the other resigned to his fate and able to see the love and kindness in the eyes of the man next to him.
The author is able to weave a truly compelling and moving narrative, moving from the past to the present without ever losing the clarity. Habib’s healing, his understanding of what his life was really about and what it will be like in heaven is beautifully written.
I read this book in two sittings and I was sorry when I finished it. The author has a lovely, lucid style and weaves history and storytelling together in a skilful fashion. I’ll be reading it again, more slowly this time. It’s a wonderful book, whatever you believe.
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You can follow Rob on:
Instagram: @rob_seabrook | Facebook: authorrobseabrook | Twitter: @SeabrookRob
The book can be bought directly via his website: www.robseabrook.com, online at Eden and Amazon and from all good Christian bookshops.
I was given a copy of the book by the author in exchange for an honest review.