Monsieur Linh and his Child by Philippe Claudel

" He watches her, and he observes much more than the face of a very young child. He sees landscapes, bright mornings, the slow and peaceful plod of the buffalo in the paddy fields, the bowed shadow of the giant banyan trees at the entrance to his village, the blue mist that comes down from the mountains towards evening, like a shawl that falls softly over one's shoulders."

Traumatized by memories of his war-ravaged country, his son and daughter-in-law dead, Monsieur Linh travels to a foreign land to bring the child in his arms to safety. To begin with he is too afraid to leave the refugee centre, but the first time he braves the freezing cold to walk the streets of this strange, fast-moving town, he encounters Monsieur Bark, a widower whose dignified sorrow mirrors his own. Though they have no shared language, an instinctive friendship is forged.

Once in a while there comes a book that is so special it leaves me reeling and completely lost for words.

Monsieur Linh and his Child is one of them.

130 pages of clear, direct prose that is pure magic.

So beautiful......so deeply moving.......so heartbreaking!

Read it........please!