Book Review: Thin Places by Mary DeMuth

I recently got myself a copy of Mary DeMuth’s Thin Places. I stumbled on her site last fall sometime while doing research for my own writings. She has written a book about parenting for people who were not raised as Christians, but want to raise their kids with a godly heritage. I found that topic intriguing. But I was even more fascinated with the idea of reading her memoir. The cover of the book is what caught my attention. A small little girl- maybe 5 or 6 years old- covering her face, wearing well-worn clothes and dirty knees. My heart connected with this little girl for some reason and I needed to know why. 

Within a few paragraphs, I knew that I needed to finish the book as soon as possible. As a reader, I was now a part of her story and I needed/wanted/had to see it end with God getting glory for what had been done to this little child. My heart broke for Mary....but I knew the image I saw of her as an adult on the website and her facebook page....I knew she made it out ok. I just needed/wanted/had to know the how’s-when’s-if’s as fast as possible. 

I quickly absorbed her story and kept thinking the same thoughts throughout....”wow, I bet if ****** could verbalize her story in a succinct way, it might sound like this”.....”I wonder what **** would think of this story, is this what she felt as a child”...”If I could only get my hands on their necks, justice.....”..... “how many other kids-RIGHT NOW, THIS MOMENT- are dealing with this same thing-does God see them? Will he heal them too? Will the kid-hurters receive the judgement their due?” 

I wanted to throw the book across the room and nail the kid-hurters in the eye. I wanted to scream and cry for little Mary- and grown up Mary. 

As far as writing technique- fabulous. When thinking about adding depth to my understanding of the wideness of God’s mercy- done. This book is a keeper for me. I will recommend this story to many, many people. But, with caution. I have a short list in mind of those that I think would benefit from seeing/reading a story of success, but I have encouraged them to set aside a time to read it from cover to cover. The story has the potential to scare, hurt or anger some that are super close to Mary’s because of her vivid portrayal of moments in her life. 

The title- Thin Places- was perfectly chosen for the book. DeMuth sees moments in her life where she knew Jesus was really close as thin places. The veil between the spiritual world and our world gets thinner than normal when one of God’s kids needs Him. 

From my own book rating scale:

*Buying another copy for a friend

*Keeper

*Pass it along to someone else

*Waste of money/shelf space

I give DeMuth’s This Places “Buying another copy for a friend” rating!