***This book was reviewed for Reader’s Favourite

Kuar’s A Journey to Yonder is raw, visceral. It is a pouring out of the soul in purifying honesty. Written as part prose, part poetry, Yonder tells the story of a life, as seen through different lenses. We follow Kuar through different aspects of her life, from childhood to mature woman.

This book feels to me as if English is not the author’s first language. It flows as if different linguistics guide the thoughts behind it. I always find it fascinating, when I come across cases like this, because it offers a glimpse into how a different culture thinks if you understand how to decode it. I always wonder what it would sound like to hear and understand it in the language the writer favours. The measure and flow, culture guided.

This was an eye opening read. Kuar comes from a culture that practises arranged marriage. Callan’s family practically forbade her to speak with her birth family after marriage. She also suffered abuse at his hands. It’s a culture that sees women as lesser, and many women suffer various degrees of molestation once they begin to mature. My heart ached to read this.

There are so many beautiful descriptions throughout. Several places compare lovemaking to poetry writing. Later, there is a quote that just hit me. I flagged it, and am going to copy it out as a reminder for myself.

      “But I loved my body, for this is the place my soul wished to reside and fulfill its purpose.”

I have low self-worth, and am often at odds with myself. This was an enchanting reminder of my spiritual beliefs, that we are so much more than our physical bodies, and that our soul did, for whatever reason, choose this form and our minds are not our souls.

There is a theme of flowers/gardens through the sections. In many spiritual traditions, the innerscape is likened to a garden, and our thoughts the seeds that grow. The garden is our link to our soul. Choked with weeds, our access to our soulself is shuttered. Blooming with flowers, our access is wide-open.

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