Our best 2020 vision: what unites rather than divides
As The Munich Girl’s fifth publication anniversary rolls around this fall, life brings me many opportunities for reflection.
I’m reminded of words from author Norton Juster that I first encountered in grade school when I read The Phantom Tollbooth:
“So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.
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“Expect everything, I always say, and the unexpected never happens.”
My heart’s goal for the novel has always been that it serve as a tool for discussion about some of the vital issues facing us on humanity’s path. These certainly include human equality, and how we build what unites us rather than feed the things that divide us — and demean us.
My hope for this story has always been that it can raise the sort of questions that invite reaching deeper into ourselves for the vision that sees beyond the misperceptions that veil us from the living reality of oneness in which, and for which we’ve been created
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When I heard from author Arlene Bice, who had read and reviewed The Munich Girl very thoughtfully, I was grateful to learn that she’d also decided to have a follow-up discussion about the novel with some book group friends. Then she was generous enough to share a blog post about it afterward so that I could “listen in.”
“We particularly discussed the many relationships in the book,” Arlene noted. “The intricacies of a friendship, even one that is only renewed every four years and holds secrets. … The discussion spread to our political situation today, with many comparisons made about what we, as Americans, are facing today.
“We talked about how the women of today have so much more power and the avenue to use it than in the ’30s and ’40s. Hopefully, more women will go into the political arena and truly change our country for the better.
“We spoke of how the brave women of today will no longer tolerate sexual coercion from powerful men and put shame on the shoulders of those who have taken advantage of their power.”
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As I reviewed Arlene’s words, I realized that back in November of 2015 when this book published, I couldn’t have imagined all that would be current before us in these days, and the parallels readers would draw between that and themes in the book’s story. Certainly, it is set in a very tumultuous time for both Germany and the world, a time I’d venture to say we may not have explored quite deeply enough yet.
So let’s keep talking.
You can find Arlene’s post about the discussion here: https://purplestoneblog.com/2017/11/21/the-munich-girl-by-phyllis-edgerly-ring-revisited/
