Christine Nolfi’s The Passing Storm pulled at our heartstrings from the beginning and held them for long after its emotional conclusion. It is a profoundly moving story that will soften the hardest of hearts and warm the most frigid. Nolfi’s maturely developed characters will linger in our minds for many months to come, and they are welcome to stay there for however long they wish. Although storms always pass, you will not want to pass on this novel.
Plot
Nolfi introduces us to Rae Langdon, the daughter and mother of the deceased. Rae’s mom passed away when she was still young, during a blizzard that would change her life forever. As the family struggles to return to some semblance of normal, she ends up bringing a daughter into the world. Rae chooses to raise the child without the baby’s dad, with Rae’s father, Connor, helping her. The family struggles with the grief of losing the matriarch, but it appears that they overcome this challenge with this newly added member.
All of that changes when Rae’s daughter passes away due to a freak accident. The family is struck by grief once more. This story outlines the aftermath of a series of tragic events. Quinn Galecki, a best friend to Rae’s daughter, is found lurking on the Langdon family farm. Rae finds herself sympathizing with the boy who was raised by neglectful and abusive parents. She agrees to take him in after finding him there. Secrets begin to fester and reveal themselves, opening wounds that can only be healed by time and acceptance.
Christine Nolfi has created a captivating, touching and deeply sad narrative. It is a beautiful exploration into the human condition, grief, and reconciliation. It acts as a testament to the interconnectedness of people, and as we lose our words attempting to describe this pleasant tale, we can only think to say that it is profoundly human.
Character Development
The characters introduced in The Passing Storm are all integral to the story. That is to say, Nolfi did not conflate the story with superfluous and meaningless characters. Instead, she gets to the very core of the story as it is interwoven among the entire cast. There are very few secondary characters. Most interesting is the dynamic between Rae and her old love interest, Griffin. The story is narrated over Rae’s shoulder in some chapters, and in others, it follows Griffin as he adopts a crucial role midway through the novel. Rae’s debut in the story is the epitome of a woman broken by many hardships in her life. In the opening chapters, many phrases foreshadow the secrets she holds. She starts as a woman on a mission to get Quinn to end his stalking and ends with compassion toward the child, accepting him as one of her own.
Quinn is displayed as a kind-hearted teen who is different from the rest of his generation. He takes great pride in hard work and believes in paying back what he owes. This does not change throughout the book, although he turns out to be a character also burdened by secrets and lies.
All the characters focused on in The Passing Storm are genuinely believable. The intricacies of each person’s secrets and the lengths that they would go to protect them are innately realistic. The compassion shared among the featured crew demonstrates the kindness within us all, a kindness that is far greater than any evil that happens to also be within everyone. This is exemplified by the penultimate flurry of acceptance and forgiveness.
Themes / Symbolism
The overarching themes in Christine Nolfi’s book appear to be damaging secrets, grief, and healing from trauma.
Secretes permeate the entirety of The Passing Storm, leaving us wondering what terrible things would surface as we read on. It appears that everyone has their own baggage, which further surrounds the characters with an aura of believability. Secrets can be damaging, however, and it is only in the revelation of each, as they come to light, that they were able to be reconciled.
Grief plays a crucial role and is the center stage in many behaviours we witness throughout the novel. You cannot be human and not experience grief; it comes in many shapes and sizes. Rae grieves for her lost mother and daughter, while Quinn grieves over his best friend and a childhood devoid of any healthy traits. How we handle this grief will contribute to defining us as individuals. Quinn’s parents were likely also grieving, but they became the villains of the story simply because of the way they reacted to it, getting drunk and abusive.
Which plays into the final central theme of healing. Time heals all wounds, but the infection will set in when a gash is left unattended. The author appears to be telling a story about confronting those wounds and moving past them through acceptance and forgiveness.
Entertainment
This was an enjoyable book that we found difficult to put down. There is something ineffable about stories that serve to move you. The best way we can describe a heartwarming story like this one is that it heals the soul. All too often, we get into slumps where emotions are scarce, but this novel made us feel in a way that reminds us that we are alive. It was a rollercoaster ride from beginning to end, with just as many lifts as there were downs. We don’t believe it will be for everyone, but for people that like a nice soft story to reheat their souls, this one is sure to fan the flames.
Conclusion
Despite trying our best to hate it, there is no way around loving The Passing Storm. It will punch you in the gut in one instant and caress your head, whispering that everything will be alright in the next. We fought back the tears in some of the more emotional moments but felt the most pain when it was over, knowing that we would never hear more from these multidimensional and interesting characters. While this was our first dance with Christine Nolfi’s work, it led us perfectly and never stepped on our two left feet. We will be reading more from this author, and that we can say with absolute certainty. We’re giving The Passing Storm an astounding 5/5 stars.
Beginning to End Table Books 