Scattered Blossoms Paperback – March 1, 2024

Scattered Blossoms captured my imagination and engaged me emotionally from the first page! John Wood’s descriptive talents vividly painted each locale and his dialog connected me to the characters. One of the magical components of this book is the author’s ability to bridge time and take the reader back and forth over decades while keeping the story fresh. His layered plot line kept me avidly devouring pages to a wonderful ending which in resolving the story’s twists also completes the Christian narrative of love and comprehension as two of God’s most precious gifts to heal a fractured world. So totally engrossing and uplifting, Scattered Blossoms is a wonderfully engaging way to spend a day!

This book’s protagonist is an aging B-29 bomber pilot who was raised in Japan, developing close ties to a Japanese Christian family who became his family. Haunted by his role in bombing runs over Japan, he returns to try to find them 40 years later. The story jumps between the actual bombings and his adoptive family and the “present”, his attempt to learn of their respective fates. The dates at the start of each chapter keep things clear.The reader is left hanging until the very end, making this a compelling read. The steadfast Christian love evidenced by the bombed Japanese is humbling and helps heal the cynical pilot. A very enjoyable book with deeper significance in the opinion of this history buff whose father was a B-29 pilot.

Good story and very well written. A real joy to read.