Rita J. Beron Ordre des livres

The fi rst part of the book contains a brief history of China and what brought on the revolution and the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is important to read it to understand what followed. Directly after the history, we begin the story of two girls who have just graduated from nursing colleges in Minnesota. For one girl it was a life long dream to work in China. Both were recruited by a Chinese Doctor who wanted nurses for a mission hospital in Chung King. This is the story of the adventures they have at the hospital in Chung King during the year 1938 to the summer of 1939 when the Japanese were making inroads in the north, gradually taking over many areas of China. As the Japanese grew stronger, there was all out war, with bombings becoming continuous. It is the story of understanding another culture, falling in love, getting married and fi nal decision to try and go home before their luck runs out, and the dangers they face in an effort to leave the country.

Born of a Catholic mother and Moslem father, Patti is never sure what religion to follow, or any at all for that matter. In her youth and early twenties, she explores numerous religions, but none speak to her soul. She can't accept the idea that one group has the whole truth and everyone else is wrong, or confused, or infidels, or a cult, or going to burn in hell for all time. To limit her thinking for religious purposes is like living in a cubicle and not being allowed to look over the wall and see what is going on outside. She wants to think for herself, to study, to analyze and to practice without inhibitions. Why would God only accept the practices and prayers of one particular group and not others? An omniscient God can't be that petty, can he or she? She finally concludes that she just doesn't know and flounders in a spiritual void for a time. But when she is diagnosed with a serious illness and haunted by inner demons of her past, she cracks and falls apart. Deep, buried emotions erupt to the surface, shaking her to her core. Propelled to seek answers and find inner peace, she cries out to the heavens for help. Consequently, she tumbles into a spiritual adventure that explodes her concepts of reality and opens her to a brave new world where souls talk, trees emit energy fields, rocks have life, and God is everywhere.