Customer Reviews

City of Tranquil Light: A Novel

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"I have learned to do what God places in front of me, whatever that is," Will Kiehn says as he explains to Hsiao Lao, the bandit chief, his commitment to help anybody in need, be that a sick old farmer or an injured thief. Those same words could also sum up Will's life story in "City of Tranquil Light."

In 1909 Will and his wife, Katherine arrived in Kuang P'ing Ch'eng (City of Tranquil Light), in the North China Plain to establish a new Mennonite church. Little did they know then that they would stay there for nearly 25 years and would come to think of China as their home. Author Bo Caldwell, tells their story through Will, a widower now, in his eighties, and living in a retirement home in California, as he vividly remembers the trials and tribulations of becoming a pastor and of earning the trust of the inhabitants of Kuang P'ing Ch'eng. Caldwell cleverly intersperses Katherine's diary entries with Will's narration thus bringing up her in-the-moment feelings to his remembrance of the events they lived through together. And they lived through a lot: personal losses, bandits, famine, earthquakes and civil war.

Caldwell was inspired by her grandparents' missionary experiences for this book and even gave their last name to her protagonists. Her portrait of missionaries in China is one of individuals who answered God's call and strove to serve Him --despite many sacrifices and hardships-- with passion. In Kuang P'ing C'heng, Will preaches the Word of God while Katherine provides medical care in her clinic. Rather than trying to impose their beliefs, Will and Katherine work selflessly in the hopes that through their words and actions others will come to accept God. Their mission is clear (as Katherine was reminded in her early days in China): "We are here to offer the gift of faith, not remake their way of life, even when the change seems necessary and right."

Although a historical novel, thankfully, Caldwell only includes enough facts to place her characters within the context of China's historical events. Her focus on the characters, their triumphs and sorrows, their faith and their doubts is what makes this novel a satisfying book. Caldwell wrote this story in part because of the bad rap missionaries get in fiction. With this book, she dispels the exploitative image and succeeds in reminding the readers that there were a few who sincerely reached out to others in kindness and compassion, in other words, those who stayed true to God's call.

The City of Tranquil Light tells the story of two American missionaries who fall in love with each other and their paths in life while working in early 20th century China. The book is narrated primarily by Will, with intermittent diary entries from his wife, Katherine. Both Will and Katherine are characterized primarily by their Christian faith, and as the bulk of the plot revolves around their missionary work, quite a lot of space is devoted to contemplation of God and accounts of proselytizing. There are non-Christian viewpoints expressed by minor characters, but they are few and far between. Still, the book itself is not a propaganda piece, and the Christian element is not overwhelming to readers who do not follow the faith.

The author does a good job of creating the character of Will, but Katherine isn't as fleshed out and isn't nearly as compelling or relatable. The turbulence of pre-revolutionary China and the desperation of war and famine move the book along and add tension and suspense. While the novel isn't amazing, it was interesting to read from a historical perspective. I'd recommend it to people interested in China's history.

Those words were spoken by Will Kiehn, one of the protagonists in City of Tranquil Light: A Novel. He and his wife, Katharine, went to China as missionaries in the early twentieth century. He relates his story as an old man, retired in southern California. He is also a widower and perhaps his most prized possession is, in his words, "my wife's diary, a thin volume I never read while she was alive but whose pages I now know by heart." He adds, "I was her husband for over thirty-seven years....She taught me the self-discipline I lacked, believed I was capable of far more than I did, and loved me as a young man as well as an old one. She was the one and only love of my live."

As the story of their years in China unfolds, Will's narrative is seasoned with her diary entries, and the result is a poignant testament to a couple working for the Lord in a country where Christians made converts very laboriously, often being spat upon or threatened. Will's preaching was not really as effective as his wife's nursing of the poor villagers in the City of Tranquil Light; Katharine's healing medicines and techniques earned the friendship and trust of the people around them. For the two American Mennonites, who met on the trip over to China, the years they spent there were filled with the hardships of rudimentary living conditions, the dangers of bandits and civil wars, and their own personal tragedy. Yet, they loved the country they had journeyed to and stayed for decades, braving the threat of execution more than once. All the while, they both, by their actions, sought to bring their Chinese neighbors to Christ. One of the conversions takes place over years and through a number of sometimes frightening encounters, but the fact that it is so hard-won makes it all the sweeter.

CITY OF TRANQUIL LIGHT is based on the experiences of author Bo Caldwell's own grandparents in China, Peter and Anna Schmidt Kiehn. She take some basic facts and then fleshes out a moving story. Although in hindsight, many would argue whether missionaries in China were more helpful or more disruptive, at the time, that Christian work was a very honored calling. This novel offers gentle insights into Will and Katharine's sacrifices for their beliefs, and their abiding love for each other and the Chinese who became their dearest friends. It reminds the reader how vulnerable people can be when they venture into a foreign land where they really have no rights and where uncertainty is a greater element of life than it would be at home in America. And it demonstrates how very different people can bridge those differences and become as family. That is a victory for certain.

Will got the first word in this review. Now, let's give him the last too: "I think of myself as extraordinarily blessed, rich beyond measure, the unlikely recipient of the great honor of serving my Lord in a faraway land, and I am amazed at my great good fortune."

One of the things that impressed me the most about this story of an American husband and wife who were missionaries in China was their amazing patience, trust in God and their love for each other. The saga begins in the early 1900's, beginning with Will Kiehn who is a young farmer on his dad's land in Oklahoma and his meeting a missionary who is on his way back to China. Will finds him fascinating and is drawn to the idea of living in China as a missionary. He leaves soon after and meets his wife-to-be, Katherine, in Seattle just prior to boarding the ship that will take them to China.

Will becomes a preacher and Katherine a nurse, treating simple maladies as well as increasingly difficult ones. There is such a shortage of supplies in inland China where they live and any kind of medical doctor, that people ending up coming from miles around to be treated. Walking seems to be the primary way of moving between villages. Will asks Katherine to marry him at Christmas a little over a year after they arrive in China.

Will and Katherine ended up spending 27 years in China, and it became the country that they identified with, learning to speak Chinese and living among the people with very few supplies and no real luxuries. I was amazed at their patience with the conditions and their faith in God that seemed to keep them going. They were gentle souls in most ways but fierce in their determination to make things better.

Bo Caldwell did an excellent job of bringing their experiences, based on those of her grandfather and several other missionaries, to life. She tells the story in both Will's words and in Katherine's diary entries over the years. I had the feeling that I was there among them and could feel their love for each other. It was also a wake-up call that we all need now and then to make us realize how well we live and how much we have compared to many people in other parts of the word.

I enjoyed this book more than I expected. City of Tranquil Light is about a young missionary couple in revolutionary China in the early years of the twentieth century. The main character, Will Kiehn, narrates the story from his 80s while living in Los Angeles. He uses his wife's diary to fill gaps and provide a different perspective on the same experience. This is an incredible story of faith, hope, life's lessons and what truly matters in the end. There were even a few moments that touched me and almost choked me up - a sign of a good author. Beyond the service and love that comprises Mennonite missionary work, this novel also provides interesting insight into China 100 years ago, a scene and lifestyle now lost since the Cultural Revolution and China's rapid growth the past few decades. This is a short, but touching story and I highly recommend it.

As a missionary in Korea for the past 46 years I was greatly moved and humbled by this story (based on lives of real people, one of whose descendants I was privileged to know). The story rings true to me, in view of some of my own experiences, and will continue to inspire me as I teach seminary students here today about the depths of commitment, patience and love for others such as were embodied in the "heroes" in this book. The metaphors of "light" and "tranquility" help the reader gain an understanding of the source of the tremendous strength that overcame unimaginable hardships suffered by one missionary family who gave of themselves to their Chinese friends. To be truly at home and even bury one's baby in a "foreign" land shows their genuine identification with people, not as objects for conversion but as friends with whom one suffers together. I will definitely recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn more about "real" Christians, both missionaries and their national colleagues. Thank you, Bo Caldwell, for the smiles and the tears.

Will Kiehn was a young Mennonite man struggling with his faith, eventually relinquishing his life and will to God after hearing Edward Geisler, missionary to China, speak at his church. Receiving his father's blessing, he followed the call of God to China in 1906.

Also recruited was Katherine Friesen, Edward's sister-in-law, who had schooling in nursing, along with two more recruits who felt the call of God to work in China.

This is a novel based on the true life of the author's maternal grandparents, Peter and Anna Schmidt Kiehn, and her grandmother's older sister, Nellie, and her husband, Henry Bartel.

When I think of 2010 missionaries, I think of them flying to their destinations, with access to cell phones, computers, vehicles, etc. City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell is about missionary service in the harshest of times: a poor country with little to no amenities, drought, civil unrest, bandits, personal loss and danger, and outdated transportation that took months instead of hours to arrive.

This is a love story between Will and Katherine Kiehn, Kung P'ei Te and Kung Mei Li in Mandarin Chinese, as well as their years of missionary service in Kuang P'ing Ch'eng, City of Tranquil Light.

Bo does an excellent job of weaving a story of daunting circumstances, with extreme tests of Will and Katherine's faith, their trust in God and their tenacious spirits challenged during some of their most difficult times. Her book is a heart-wrenching, yet love-filled story of the grace of God in time of need, but not always the way they expected.

I love her choice of alternating voices of Will and Katherine, written in journal format. One gets to 'hear the heart' behind the story of both husband and wife through all that they endure.

Bo elaborates on the historical changes in China, which are numerous and calamitous, including their barbaric methods of punishment. Yet through all this, she shows Will and Katherine's ministry of the love of God through their physical and medical assistance and preaching the Word, working for change in the Chinese peoples' lives, both friend and foe alike, willingly and sometimes not so willingly.

I was truly touched by the intimacy of Will and Katherine's lives, friends, love, and devotion. A recommended reading for anyone considering missionary work.

Special thanks to Audra Jennings, Senior Media Specialist, The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy in exchange for my honest review.

City Of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell is a story that after I finished reading, it stuck with me, and my mind kept going back to the story over and over again. It is essentially a love story. A love story between a man and wife, and a love story for the country of China. But the story is not all light and fluffy. It is about a war torn China, the illness of the people, the death of their daughter. I love the history about China in this book. I would have liked a little more back story on the characters. The story reads like a memoir, but is fiction. Caldwell is an exceptional writer and story-teller. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

When Will Kiehn was a young man, his family was visited by Edward Geisler. Edward is part of the China Mennonite Missionary Society. Edward shares about his latest trip in China and the goals of the Society. Will gets inspired by Edward. When it is time for Edward to return back to Kuang P'ing Ch'eng "City of Tranquil Light", China; Will announces that he will be going with Edward.

Edward introduces Will to Katherine Friesen, a nurse and Edward's sister in law. Katherine will be joining them on the trip. As time passes, Will and Katherine become close. They eventually get married. Will and Katherine embrace the culture of China and love what they do. They love it so much that Will and Katherine end up living in China for twenty five years.

City of Tranquil Light does tell a story of love, loss, change and hope. Mrs. Caldwell incorporated facts from her own grand parents' experiences into this book. I really gravitated to Will. He was a great story teller. Everything that Will experienced, I felt like I was experiencing it too, though Will's eyes. Katherine would have been forgotten if it was not for her journal entries. What Will, Katherine, Edward and other missionaries do is wonderful work. I thought that City of Tranquil Light portrayed a nice job of China, the people there and missionaries.

The novel is about a Mennonite man and woman who felt called to serve in remote areas of China. After about 6 months, they married and served in China for 28 years, he as a minister and she as a nurse/healer. The beauty of this book is two fold. One is the story of rural western China from 1906 to about 1932. It tells a story of very poor Chinese living through floods, droughts, famine, earthquakes, bandits chiefs,the civil war of the northern areas against the southern ones, and the development of the communist movement. The book doesn't romanticize these periods because they were hard, sometimes cruel periods. But it shows a certain ability to accept and to endure. The people had thousands of years of history to place things in context. The other story is the faith, strength and hope of this missionary couple, Will and Katherine. Despite the hardships they endured and the loss of their only child, they believed, sometimes questioning, but always a belief that their God was a gracious, loving, and forgiving God. Many of the Chinese became believers and when Will and Katherine left China, they took over the leadership of the local church. Will and Katherine then spent many years in California ministering to the First Chinese Church.

Following the death of her daughter and only child, Katerine wrote, "We often wait for God with hope. But sometimes we must wait for hope. We may feel nothing, but we do not rely on our feelings. When we don't feel hope, we wait for it, and it always comes." A story of hope through a complete belief. I recommend you read this book.