Stranger in a Life Boat Review

What if God was one of us? If not as old as time, it’s a question at least as old as Joan Osborne. In Mitch Albom’s latest thought-provoking novel, THE STRANGER IN THE LIFEBOAT, God is one of us. He is a fellow passenger aboard a small lifeboat.

The book is segmented into three sections: Land, Sea and News.

In the chapters labeled Sea, we read the chronicles of nine near-strangers stranded at sea in the aftermath of their ship’s suspicious explosion. Each was either a crew member or a guest upon the sunken vessel, Galaxy, a mega-million-dollar yacht belonging to billionaire Jason Lambert. The boat harbors two chefs, an Olympian, a makeup mogul, a silent girl, a Greek ambassador to the United Nations, a hairdresser, a British media executive, Jason Lambert himself, and a deckhand named Benji who chronicles the events upon the lifeboat.

"Evocative, tragic and beautiful, THE STRANGER IN THE LIFEBOAT is a book with the potential to reach far beyond its own pages."

While this story has all the elements of a “whodunnit,” the real question surfaces when they pull a 10th survivor into the lifeboat --- one claiming to be God himself. But is this bizarre, unkempt man who he claims to be? Is he, in fact, God? The question carries weight, as the man tells his fellow passengers that he will only save them once everyone aboard believes that he is who he says he is.

The passengers must grapple with their faith as they scramble to stay alive in a situation almost entirely devoid of hope. They have called for God, and He has answered. Now they must accept Him; in doing so, they must attempt to make sense of His actions as well as confront their own.

In News, we find all the context we lack within the lifeboat. We are given insight into how the world sees the tragedy. Even more importantly, we come to know who is considered important outside of the lifeboat, which serves as a leveled playing field for its occupants. We receive profiles on the rich and the well-known, those considered “worthy” of being mourned publicly. We are offered a glimpse into how history will remember this tragedy and its victims.

Finally, in the chapters labeled Land, we follow an inspector after making a shocking find: a lifeboat washed up on the shores of Montserrat. Led to the site by a strange man, the inspector searches the wreckage and becomes consumed with a diary preserved in a small plastic bag. As he pours through the log in an effort to solve the mystery of the explosion that sunk Galaxy in the first place, he begins to piece together the shards of his fractured spirit.

Chapters oscillate in perspective between the survivors, the media reporting on the yacht’s explosion, and the investigating detective. The way the book is split into these three angles parallels those from which we approach religion: as historians, skeptics and disciples. While the media offers a historical retelling and the investigator undergoes a personal journey in faith, Benji’s chronicles become a testament of sorts as he witnesses miracles firsthand.

Much like his rendition of God, Albom’s writing works in mysterious ways. He leaves his readers with a gamut of unanswerable questions and a life-affirming message. Evocative, tragic and beautiful, THE STRANGER IN THE LIFEBOAT is a book with the potential to reach far beyond its own pages.

Reposted from Kayla Provencher