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The Pale Surface of Things

Janey Bennett
Hopeace Press (2007)
ISBN 9780973400724
Reviewed by LuAnn Morgan for RebeccasReads (4/08)

Douglas Watkins’ youth was changed drastically by the death of his father. Rumor had it the man had committed suicide, yet his mother held to the story that his father was plagued with a weak heart.

His mother went to work to support her son, who escaped into a quiet world of his own. He found release through running and became a star on the school track team. In the eighth grade, he met Denise Hanson and her father took a liking to him and started coming to his track meets.

When Douglas’ mother died, Mr. Hanson offered their home and began grooming him to work in the family business and paid for his continuing education.  However, there was a price for this generosity – he was to marry Denise. But first, he wanted to pursue his dream of discovering a grand archeological find rumored to exist in Crete.

Dimitrios Papadakis had one goal in his life. Ever since he was a little boy, he dreamed of becoming a priest like his grandfather. Although his parents weren’t particularly fond of the idea, they did support his decision.

His grandfather told him stories of the old country and before he died, asked him to return to Vraho in Crete to uncover the mural that had been painted over when the German army invaded the village. It was located in the church there, the same church where his grandfather was a priest.  Dimitrios finally convinced the church to assign him to Vraho and he began the painstaking task of revealing the art that had been hidden for decades.

Two different men from two different worlds, yet their paths were destined to cross. Indeed, as they begin to help each other, they become close friends and learn some important lessons of life from one another.

“The Pale Surface of Things” is Janey Bennett’s first novel. To write it, she embarked on a study of classical Greek, Byzantine icon painting, archaeology and Minoan culture and art. Her obvious grasp of these subjects and others helps makes this book come alive for the reader.

It’s not often that I find a book that I would consider reading a second time. “The Pale Surface of Things” is one such book. Bennett’s soft-spoken language in the book is nearly poetic and her command of the subject demonstrates a richness that few authors are able to achieve.  The people both main characters meet along the way only add to the charm Bennett brings to the written pages of this monumental story.

“The Pale Surface of Things” is a superb novel by a truly gifted author.

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