'Beneath a Turquoise Sky' Book Review

Today is release day for Kiersti Giron's book Beneath a Turquoise Sky!

Beneath A Turquoise Sky was a book that slowly pulled me in and transported me to a place of western painted skies, Navajo hogans, and a land fraught with struggle. As this was my first book by Kiersti, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, so I dived into it waiting for the warm fuzzies to kick in. . .  

What an underestimate.

The further I read in this story the more the grains of the character’s internal and external struggles took over the page. Suddenly a book I had hoped to ‘enjoy’ became one that taught me more about Navajo history and the sides of mission schools I have yet to unearth myself. Giron’s love of the Navajo history and her desire to tell each character’s personal narrative more than making me grin and giggle became like a lifeline that kept me reading.  

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Here is the blurb below: 

After her life takes an unexpected turn in 1911, Caroline Haynes pursues a long-buried dream westward to teach at a Navajo mission boarding school. However, walls of hurt and cultural misunderstanding threaten to keep her from reaching the children she longs to touch. The handsome Rev. Willis Abernathy seems sure he knows what is best for the Navajo people—and for Caroline—but she finds herself drawn instead to Tse, the young Navajo man in charge of the mission’s livestock, who claims to still follow Christ despite returning to the ways of his people.

Tse Tsosie longs to introduce Jesus to his people in a way they can understand, but now that family need has brought him back to the mission, he battles past wounds and the disapproval of the missionaries. Meanwhile, Caroline’s arrival brings surprises and more turmoil to the school…and to Tse’s heart.

When crisis forces Tse and Caroline to make a choice, will they find a path together…or will the chasm between their peoples be too great to span?

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As I trudged through the first bit with Caroline and Tse, Kiersti was slow to show me her true strength’s as a writer, making one fall for the story first. Caroline’s struggles and questions rise as she arrives at the mission school only to have her bright hopes dashed as the true actuality of the place settles in, and she has to learn how the school does things. Her spiritual questions and longings on life are brought to a head as she learns things her people have condoned and watches the way these 'Christian' principles are taught. She wrestles with how to teach and love these children so unlike herself. 

She - with the help of Tse (our MMC) - begins to love and cherish this culture she is amongst. Through the book her character grew at every turn and truly began to see life where she was in different lights, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Caroline struggled with where she fit in life and how her life needed to look for herself and according to God, which resonated with me and I’m sure other readers. Her journey made one wish to see other people through a more empathetic lens and to enjoy the good and be aware of the bad. 

Tse illustrated to us the balance and struggle of a man whom had attended a Navajo mission school and made the decision to follow Christ. Now, I loved how much thought, care, and research Kiersti put into  his arc and struggle to balance cherishing his culture and becoming the bridge. We often long to understand the beauty of change while thriving where we are at amid the ups and downs of life. Tse tried as his childhood friend betrayed him at every turn, he desired to be with his people and teach them his newfound beliefs, he began to fall for someone so unlike him, and he now is forced to watch his little sister and brother begin the same cycle. 

Other characters lined these pages and stole my heart or made my hands fist. The realness of the characters was plausible and made me feel as if I was there learning about the Navajo and fighting flood waters alongside them. 

Now, this book does have romance but what shines in this is the story, the heart and questions it asks of us and the history it presents us. I can honestly, say I have learned so much and made new observations and questions. It also has made me look inward and try to figure my way amongst my own struggles of identity, history, culture, and the truth we may perceive. The heart is the Navajo history and the struggle within us all to find belonging in a world we are all passing through. With the romance in the passenger seat, this book flew with the passion and a love of individual struggle and analyzing how history and the gospel is taught throughout pieces of history, maybe even now. Most importantly now. 

Pick It Up If You Like: 

-Western American History 

-Historical Fiction with a dash of romance  

-(slight) love triangle 

-Forbidden love 

-slow burn 

-Navajo history 

-a book with depth and life question

-identity quest

-conflict

-dual narrative

-things are not what they seem 

-religious themes 

-FMC out of her element 

-unexpected love 

-side character children that shine 

-historical fiction with well researched history 

-MMC with strong family morals

Quotes: 

“It is not for us to get it right–it is about His strength in our weakness.” 

“I want you to stay.” His voice shook, and his grip tightened still more. “I—love you.”

For a moment the world stood still around her, and she trembled in his arms, her heart winging skyward, then crashing to earth like a cut-winged bird.

“I saw her eyes when she look at you, my son. And the light in yours.” 

She looked up, startled, into his eyes, and saw the sheen of tears there. And she knew–knew with a rush of sweetness followed by pain that racked her–that he cared. That after all these years of waiting, there was a man who loved her as she had longed to be loved. And that he knew, as she did, that it could not be.

“Human mistakes may hinder the light, yes, but they cannot completely block it. God is bigger than that.”