“I want to believe that brokenness is not the entire story, not even the end of the story.”
Arthur’s earliest memory was of shattered glass. His father threw a potted plant at his mother, and she ducked as the plant crashed through a window of the family home. His mother cleaned up the shards that day, but later in life, the author would find himself picking up metaphorical pieces as well, in order to make sense of what happened in his childhood. Boers writes well and there are a number of things I appreciated about this memoir. Memoir should always speak to something beyond the telling of a life story and he achieves that. There is pain in this story but also great beauty and joy.
For me, reading this book was a nostalgic journey which I thoroughly enjoyed. I also grew up in a Dutch immigrant family. There were many differences in our family situations, but also much of it was hugely similar and relatable and Boers tells his story well. I’ve read other Dutch immigrant memoirs, but this one was a cut above–I couldn’t put it down. I did wonder whether other readers who are immigrants to Canada would rate it as highly, but I think his hopeful sensitive perspective and the reflective way he shares his story would be helpful to other Third Culture Kids as well. The religious and vocational journeys he describes struck a poignant and current tone in light of recent developments in the Christian Reformed Church. The writing is unsentimental which is something I appreciate as a reader when hard topics are involved. And it’s not all hardship and toil, there are many moments of humour as well. Themes of useful glass, broken glass, and later, the smooth beauty of sea glass, are artfully developed.
Grappling with ancestral baggage is universal, unnerving, and complicated but also hugely interesting and enlightening. Our roots do matter. Boers is honest about the trauma he experienced, but treats his parents with kindness and honour. I respect that. When a glass breaks in my kitchen it’s not the loss of the glass that saddens or frustrates me, it’s the time it takes to clean up all the shards and make sure everyone is safe again. Life and love and family and faith are messy. But the way is made by walking.
Joanne's Reading Blog 
What a beautifully written review, Joanne.