My Review of Kinnara, by Kevin Ansbro

Kinnara, by Kevin Ansbro grabs your imagination from the first page and then pulls you in deeper. This is story-telling at its apogee, with all the enduring, classical elements expected from a modern-day fairy tale. Emotional highs and lows and, yes, a ‘moral of the story’. A really good one. Much to ponder about our shared humanity, as told through the fates of Calum, a young Englishman, Sawat, his upbeat, self-less friend in Thailand, and Klahan Kinnara, a mythical half-human, half-bird creature banished thousands of years ago to a solitary existence beneath the sea for his transgression. In Klahan resides the universal human character. Can’t we all relate to feeling sunk under our own past mistakes? We all make them and beat ourselves up over them, isolating ourselves, and long for human touch to make everything all right. Just as Calum will long for Hannah, the love of his life. In Thailand, Calum learns about the existence of Klahan from his friend Sawat, and says, “Sawat, I want to go into the water…”

Life lesson: be careful what you wish for! Or be willing to pay the price. Calum dives into the sea, sees Klahan, but does not reach out to the lonely Kinnara, who, in the misery of his banishment, “pleaded with the human to remain … thunderbolts of desperation started to shoot through his chest.” …. “Oh, please, human, acknowledge me! Know me, help me!” The universal human cry!! And when Calum turns his back, Klahan is left in “soul-crushing anguish”. How distinctly human! The primary human drive, after all, is our need to connect. But very often, our own actions damage the connections we crave, those bonds that hold us together. (When our focus is solely on … I want….??) How to mend the damage? How are severed connections repaired? Like a severed spine, it takes a miracle, but fortunately we have the miracle of forgiveness, which rests on taking responsibility and self-sacrifice, which Calum intimately learns. I love Kevin Ansbro’s style of writing - effortless to read, but so incredibly descriptive, in both setting and character. This book is a joy to read. And a knock-your-socks-off, surprise ending!! Fabulously done! Highly recommended.