SONG CATCHER by Graham McDonald

 SONG CATCHER by Graham McDonald

Grace Howard, a Lakota woman from the Pine Ridge reservation, once reached the brink of stardom as a rock singer until the pressures of it drove her to drugs and oblivion. The catalyst to get clean, however, came with the birth of her physically deformed son, Jamie. Twelve years later, she is singing in a North Dakota bar to help pay for his ongoing medical treatment when a power surge through her microphone one night triggers a mystical experience. She has a vision and during it hears some unique music that will change her life forever. Jamie, a budding poet, has a strange dream at precisely the moment of Grace’s vision and begins to produce lyrics of a standard well beyond his years. Their supernatural experiences ignite a special songwriting partnership and they begin to craft an album that melds the Lakota songs of an ancestor and other cultural music with modern rock—a combination that will eventually rocket to the top of the charts. Estranged from her people for many years, as the music gains popularity it compels Grace to make peace with her past. She returns to Pine Ridge and learns of the desecration of her musician-ancestor’s spiritual resting place by the construction of a golf course. Enraged, she decides to use the music’s massive popularity to try and stop the development. It sets in motion a series of events that will test the strength of her soul and put the lives of everyone she holds dear on the line. A heartfelt exploration of the resurrection of cultural and personal spirit, Graham McDonald’s second installment of his spiritual trilogy examines the clash between European and indigenous cultures with bracing honesty. A haunting, compelling story full of the synchronicities of life and powers we can neither see nor touch, Song Catcher is as heartbreaking as it is transformative.

REVIEW:
This book written by Graham McDonald is so true of so many people.  They reach their goals, their dreams and then they fall.  Sometimes they resort to drugs to get through the days.  They just need to forget.  But this Lakota woman saw the light when she gave birth to her son who was deformed.  She was headed for the bottom rung of the ladder until he was born. She made the choice after seeing the light that she needed to get clean.  That is never an easy choice.The author brings to us a super natural experience where Grace's vision and Jaimie's lyrics unite.They start an album combining ancestry songs with modern day rock. As the album gains fame, Grace decides to make peace with her family whom she hadn't had contact in sometime. Her soul is then tested to the limits as she goes on a mission to save her ancestor's resting ground. The book is a heartbreaking as well as heart warming read.  Sometimes we need to step back and look upon what is important, really important.   Read this book and you may shed some tears , smile a little and wish for more.  The author did a marvelous job of letting us into the life of a woman meant for stardom, not just in her music, but in her past.  Please read this.  It will give your brain something else to look at instead of our own selfishness, which we all possess.  Keep up the good work Mr.McDonald.  Mr. McDonald is donating all his proceeds to ONE Spirit. The site is listed below.

I would give this book 4.5 stars.  The cover was beautiful.  It makes you feel of Grace peeking out from the past.

Thanks for the great book.

I was given a complimentary copy of  this book from the author for this unbiased review.

www.amazon.com/Song-Catcher-ebook/dp/B009U27SMM - 

http://nativeprogress.org/index.php/en/news-os/new-novel

www.goodreads.com/author/.../248008.GRAHAM_MCDONA..