2023 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist - Religion Fiction
"Author Bruce J. Berger has woven an intricate family saga among the pages of history, and this latest novel takes the dynamics, connections, and values of both sides of the story and offers a rich tapestry for readers from all walks of life." -Readers' Favorite (5 Star Review)
"To See God is a moving spiritual novel in which a nun navigates the complications of a possible divine mystery." -Clarion Reviews
"A thoughtful and satisfying concluding volume of a trilogy." -Kirkus Reviews
"In To See God, Bruce J. Berger enlightens the reader on the journey of spirituality, understanding God, and following religion." -LiteraryTitan.com
"To See God walks us through the narrative of what we think we know, how we can accept each other's differences, and how we can show up for each other." -Independent Book Review
"In To See God, Bruce J. Berger writes convincingly with impressive depth and feeling about a group of characters whose complex stories become intertwined." -Bookpleasures.com
"To See God peers boldly through a dark glass at a mysterious human striving. A well-conceived, absorbing, and unpredictable sequel to The Flight of the Veil." -Cheryl Anne Tuggle, author of Lights on the Mountain
"Bruce J. Berger writes about belief like no other writer. To See God asks profound questions about how to live in and accept the world as it is, not as we see it in our dreams." -Stephanie Grant, author of The Passion of Alice
"Readers of Bruce J. Berger's two previous novels will be rewarded with this closing volume of a trilogy: . . . the story of Jewish siblings separated by time, continents, and religious traditions but joined by complex histories." -Roberta Rubenstein, author of Literary Half-Lives: Doris Lessing, Clancy Sigal, and Roman à Clef
"'Are we not living proof of God's story?' To See God certainly is. It is highly recommended for spiritual readers-especially those who familiar with the prior books in the trilogy, who will find this concluding volume thought-provoking, essential reading." -Midwest Book Review
2023-03-22
Berger’s sequel novel offers an examination of how generational trauma is passed in the continuing story of a psychiatrist and his family members.
Dr. Nicky Covo, a widower, lives in New York City with his partner, Helen Blanco. A Jewish Holocaust survivor, Nicky was separated from his sister as a child after the war was over. His daughter, Kayla, has schizophrenia and lives with her brother, Max, and son, Jackie. Across the Atlantic, Nicky’s sister—a nun named Sister Theodora—lives in a monastery under the guidance of Abbess Fevronia. Sister Theodora dreams and has visions that her grandnephew, Jackie, is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Jackie, meanwhile, is recovering from trauma he experienced when his mother stopped taking her medication and harmed him. Nicky, in an attempt to help the musically inclined boy, takes him to the New Orleans Jazz Fest; however, a chance encounter with Jackie’s father there puts a custody case in motion. Meanwhile, Sister Theodora and Abbess Fevronia leave Greece and head to the United States to try to put the nun’s assumptions about Jackie to rest: “Theodora felt that she had an important role to play in God’s plan. God would not have given her the vision of Jackie as Jesus had He not wanted her to act.” This series entry, following The Flight of the Veil(2020) and The Music Stalker(2021), ably explores convergences and divergences between Judaism and Christianity; the story of biracial Jackie also touches on topics related to race, and the author’s treatment of these subjects is confident and never heavy-handed. The chapters masterfully handle three separate storylines and multiple points of view, which dovetail naturally over the course of the story. The novel’s overarching theme of how trauma is passed down from parents to children is particularly well handled, and it makes this story work well as a stand-alone work as well as part of a series.
A thoughtful and satisfying concluding volume of a trilogy.
