Although I've always been a Lisa Samson fan, I have to admit I balked at reading this book! The story of a disfigured girl who travels with a freak show as "Lizard Girl"? It sounded just a little too weird to me.
Well, I should have known that Lisa Samson could take a premise even that strange and spin it into an immensely readable tale of forgiveness, redemption, and even joy.
The story really focuses on two people: former pastor Drew Parrish, and the girl with the disfigured face, Valentine--whose best friend is her fellow "freak," a beautiful girl without arms and legs named Lella. (Samson admits in a note at the end of the book that there are so many options now for disabled people, you wouldn't be finding them in a traveling sideshow--but she says she bent reality somewhat to make the book's point.)
The friendship between Valentine and Lella is so sweet and tender, and their lives are so full of small happinesses and infused with such gentle humor and quiet grace, you somehow fail to get really depressed about their plight.
While Valentine and Lella are taking a break from the road in a town called Mount Oak, another story unfolds that actually takes place several years earlier--that of the wildly successful preacher, Drew Parrish, who somehow finds himself completely down and out. How Drew rises to prosperity and then loses it all is a fascinating tale.
And how Drew's story intersects with that of Valentine makes for extremely compelling reading. In fact, despite my initial skepticism, I ended up reading the entire book in one evening, completely unable to put it down. While drawing me in with very special and utterly believable characters, it opened my eyes to so many lessons about Christ and about the things that are really, truly important.
