by Christine G.

Created on: April 20, 2009   Last Updated: April 10, 2011

"'The Shack' will leave you craving for the presence of God." (Michael W. Smith, recording artist)

"The journey has been both incredible and unbearable, a desperate grasping after grace and wholeness." (Wm. Paul Young, author of 'The Shack')

Since its publication in 2007, 'The Shack' has enjoyed commercial success rare for Christian fiction. According to the publisher, Windblown Media, it has been the #1 N.Y. Times bestseller for 36 weeks, with six million copies in print. It is available in multiple languages as well as audio format. Eugene Peterson, the translator responsible for The Message version of the Bible, compares it to Paul Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress'. 'The Shack'

website features endorsements, an author blog and tour schedule, as well as an active reader forum.

In his website bio, the author expresses surprise at the excitement his work has created. He has written extensively for friends and family, but never, until 'The Shack', for public consumption. "'The Shack' was a story written for my six children, with no thought or intention to publish. It is as much as surprise to me as to anyone else that I am now 'an author'. . . . I am not connected, or a part, or a member of, or involved inside any organization or movement anywhere. The truth is I doubt that anyone would want me."

What is the fuss all about? The subtitle of the book, 'Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity', provides an important clue. Mr. Young confronts head-on what is perhaps the most agonizing theological question of all time: the paradox of an all-good and all-powerful God who allows evil, suffering, and victimization of the innocent.

The protagonist of the story, Mack Phillips, has his life shattered by the abduction of his youngest daughter Missy. Although her body cannot be found, compelling evidence suggests that she has been brutally murdered by a serial killer.

Four years later, mired in guilt, shame and depression, the grieving father retrieves a typewritten message from his mailbox during an ice storm. "It's been a while. I've missed you. I'll be at the shack next weekend if you want to get together. Papa."

Mack's father is dead. "Papa" is the pet name his wife Nan uses for God. The shack is the place where Missy's bloodstained dress was found. Is this a cruel hoax, a trap set by Missy's killer, or an actual message from God? Mack has to find out. What follows is a transformative adventure that explores the heights and depths of human emotion and spirituality, raising as many questions as it answers.

'The Shack' is a theological treatise in fiction form. The narration plods at times, more like a documentary than a novel. However, the theological conversations sparkle with immediacy and authenticity. They flow naturally from Holy Scripture, without a trace of pedantry. They are the fruit of profound suffering, searching, and confrontation with the Ultimate. The choices Mack is asked to make are real, the same choices every human being must make when life deals unbearable wounds.

To be whole, we must dare to return to the place where we were wounded, to confront both our hidden selves and our God. Mack's process lasts a weekend. For most of us, it lasts a lifetime. Thoughtful and prayerful reading of 'The Shack' can give us new eyes and ears and hearts to help us on our journey.

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