Repost of an earlier review accidentally deleted:

Difficult review to start writing. I wanted to like this book, for a couple of reasons: One, it was a freebie, an Early Reviewers copy through Librarything, and when i'm given something my tendency & desire is to like it....

One of my problems, to be perfectly fair, was of my own making. It has taken me several months ~ at least four ~ to finish the book, and that is because i lost it twice: “Tidied” and put away, i had no idea where to find it, and nor did anyone else apparently. That makes it a bit more difficult to keep focussed on a book,....

A second problem i found was a lack of focus in Mahlou: She uses one story in the first part, that of a Siberian boy she takes under her wing to bring to America for healing, as a framework for the whole of her life up until she left atheism, but it is, in some ways, an unfortunate choice, as too much has to be told outside the frame, and the effort to reënter it is rather more than i could easily manage. I felt as though i was being pulled and pushed to fit her narrative desire, and being bullied is almost never a good position to be a reader in. It was almost as though, once she had decided to use Shura's story, she was unwilling to let it go, even when it was not helping the narrative, hindered it, even....

The second part is much more convincing and, to be completely honest, far more interesting; it's hard to see, really, why she gave it comparatively so little space in the book. In this section, Mahlou has a total, ongoing, and intimate experience of the presence of a personal God. This is the heart of the book; this is what is compelling about her story; this is what ought to have been the majority of the book, perhaps with her previous lifestory abbreviated to set the scene. All in all, then, i'm afraid that i found this an unsatisfying book.

Complete review at http://rhydypennau.blogspot.com/2009/08/nother-early-review.html

This was a really hard book for me to get into, maybe it is because I've always had strong feelings on my Christian faith even as a little girl. Maybe others could read it just fine but for me I just could not grasp this book. ( )

Mahlou has had an eventful and remarkable life. She survived her abusive childhood and remained strong and resourceful with her own children's disabilities. However, I felt the book skipped around too much and needed to be more in a chronological order. She talked about being an atheist in the beginning, but the way the book was written talked more in the present and how she found God.

I found the book hard to read, but I found her life to be very fascinating and inspiring. ( )

This is the story of Elizabeth Mahlou's life. It is harrowing and encouraging. She is honest, realistic and humble. The book begins with Beth telling us about how she spoke at a Russian Orthodox church about her role as a Good Samaritan in helping Shura, a boy in Siberia with Spina Bifida. The book is full of how she meets people, how she connects and copes in different countries and how her contacts and friends enable her to help many people. She has multiple degrees, can talk a range of languages and has many fascinating stories, such as how she was one of the only American's allowed in Russia during the Cold War. Yet she does not brag and is not big headed. She is honest and humbled by her truely amazing experiences. She sees all of them as a chance to help others. She talks about her family and the abuse all her siblings suffered from different family members but how they supported each other and looked out for each other, and ultimately survived.

The second part of her book examines how she changed from an atheist to a practising Christian. She talks about how God has always rescued her, had a plan and loved her. How all the "coincidences" in her life were likely to be from God. She relays miracles she has seen, the faith of others and how ultimately her life was changed.

This is an amazing read. Even if you aren't interesting in God or religion this book is inspiring and beautiful. Many lives have been changed through Mahlou's work, and I think maybe will be changed by this book. This is a must read.

9/10 ( )

Blest Athiest follows the life of Elizabeth Mahlou, from her severely abusive childhood to her quest to care for a Russian child with a disabling disease that one of her children have. Mahlou has turned from Christianity as she was raised in a Christian home full of physical abuse. In her teens, she decided to become an athiest because of this. However, during her life, she continues to see blessings coming her way and ways in which she has blessed others. It appears to make Mahlou question her status as an athiest.
Mahlou's writing was very good, but tended to drag on at times. Some parts of the book I was simply enthralled, but with some other parts, I couldn't wait to get to the next chapter. All in all a good read. ( )