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If I had to tell you my opinions of Robert Whitlow’s Life Support in the way of a movie critic or a Roman emperor, it would be as two thumbs way up. As anyone who has read my reviews can attest to, I’m a big fan of the real-life characters who exist in this world, not a rosy picture of it. So I really, really appreciated that this novel presented the hard choices of life that are universal, not the ones the just strike Christians. Indeed, through the first chunk of the book, I actually wondered how any Christian aspect was going to be thrown in, since all of our characters were as closed-off to faith as they could be. And when it did enter, it was gracefully, subtly, and so beautifully that it was really no wonder it caught hold. The Lord moves in many ways, and Life Support gives us a picture of several of them, both the gentle and the sudden. From the back cover of the book, prospective readers know that the narrative winds around Baxter Richardson, who falls off a cliff and very nearly dies. He is kept alive by means of, you guessed it, life support. Obviously, the books deals with the hard decisions we face today when trying to decide when to pull the plug. What the cover doesn’t tell you, and what takes this from a sappy book to one deserving those thumbs up, is that the true concern comes from the corner you wouldn’t expect it from. Alexia Lindale, Alex, is in truth only the lawyer called in by the family to mediate, and later to represent the wife’s desires. Alex is also the only one with a conscience. (No, a lawyer with a conscience is not an oxymoron.) She worries about what it’s right to do for Baxter from more selfless motives than any other character, including the grieving family. Rena Richardson, the wife, is the one that pushed him off the cliff. (This happens in the first chapter, so I promise I’m not ruining anything for you.) Obviously, she wants him to die. Hence, she wants to terminate life support. So one would think the reader would despise this terrible example of humanity at its worst, right? Not so! Well, sure, I didn’t like her. But at the same time, I think I liked her father-in-law even less. So tell me, when there are two sides to an issue and you can’t throw your heart into either one of them, what do you do? You see the dilemma facing our lovely lawyer, Alex. It, along with the other moral issues at stake, manages to send her career into a tailspin. She recovers because she’s just that good, but not without absorbing a few major changes in life. Alex is, in my humble opinion, one of the best heroines I’ve encountered in a while. She’s smart and sensitive and loyal, and the fact that she’s too much of a feminist actually endeared her to me rather than making me roll my eyes, simply because those opinions and the career-orientation they prompted were called into question when she got to know the mysterious music minister, Ted Morgan. (Enter the book’s sole Christian influence. It’s a mighty strong influence.) Ted is another one of the elements that makes me love this book. He’s one of those examples who witnesses by his mere presence, through his piano playing, his silence, and his words when needed. It many ways, he exists in a different world from the one the other rich-and-powerful characters are plowing through. This is why his movement into their world, and his ability to pull their world into his, is so powerful. Through his music, Ted communes with the Lord on a level where words fail us. Through his music, he prays for the dying man he has never met, for the woman who is going to court misguided, if sincere, and for the family whose corruption he cannot fathom. Through his music, he reaches the heart of Alex. To some, these things might be unrealistic. I’ve spent a lot of time studying music and just enjoying music, and I can vouch for its possibility. Another thing I admire about Ted is his dedication in spite of his frustration. He’s employed at a little country church where revival is just a word, where he doesn’t get much food for his soul, but he still perseveres there and manages to commune with God anyway. And what is more, he comes to appreciate what he took for granted thanks to the fresh eyes of Alex. Overall, the characters work together in such a way that the balance of the story is amazing and well-kept. Whitlow captures the realism of life without compromising on the awesomeness of God. I can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel.
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