"I'll be damned to hell before she enjoys my hard-earned money. That bitch destroyed my soul life. I want her dead, or crazy, or both! Torture her ass until she cries out for death, but let her live so she can destroy herself. Yes, that is what I want, self-destruction as I watch." An excerpt from page 17.
Patricia Richardson's Where Is God When Satan Is Knocking On My Door? Is a fantastic book that held me captive until I finished indulging my relatable emotions in it. It's astoundingly spiritual, evocative, reminiscent, and thoroughly a fantastic novel. Just like the title sounds ominous and evocative, this book detailed the life of Aretha whose life had faced countless struggles, spiritual attacks, and many other saddening occurrences. Aretha's problem wasn't only about herself, there are times that her enemies torments the life of her daughter, Kimberly, just to cause her some pains.
Aretha was a successful woman and her problem began when some members of her family began to develop jealousy over her progress. Her mother-in-law, Tizzy and her sister, Jamie has vowed with their own life to trouble her till she craves for death, they'd sold their soul to the devil to torment and frustrate Aretha's life. They had visited a black magic practitioner in New York, whose specialty was the dark side of voodoo, they'd made a curse on the altar of the voodoo man to destroy Aretha completely.
It all began with a heated phone conversation that Jamie had with Aretha, Aretha had spoken vilely to Jamie about how she does not have a child. This doesn't only hurt Jamie, it infuriated her that she had to join a cult to take her revenge on Aretha. Aretha's life began to suffer setbacks, she was occasionally attacked, beaten by black snakes in her dream, she would feel the presence of some strange object crawling on her body, and whenever she goes to look it up in the mirror, she wouldn't see anything. She was aware that she was under the influence of some satanic oppression. This continued for months of saddening moments, and regrets. Sometimes she thought about committing suicide, she was tired of living, however amidst this horrendous experiences, Aretha remained faithful, she would pray countless times, she would fight her fears through ceaseless night tears, and this keep repeating itself.
It got to a point of realization and Aretha knew that it was her mother-in-law and her aunt that had worked evil against her, they'd once tried to kill her daughter, Kimberly when she was a child but the power of God superseded theirs. Aretha would visit some spiritual healers, and some priests to conduct exorcism in her home and to heal her of her unseen and numerous demons. Sometimes, she would use the holy water, the oil, and other materials administered to her, but they all helped at nothing in eradicating her ordeal.
Aretha's life was turned upside down, she felt like dying, her life was reminiscent of the biblical Job and Jabez, the hardship she had was terrific, she lost her sight at some point, as much as her enemies keeps using charms and incantation to torment and terminate her life, she never knows peace. It got to a point that, Aretha finally told her daughters that it was their aunt, Jamie who is behind her predicament, on hearing this, her daughters were enraged and went straight to Jamie's house to boldly confront her. Janie was surprised at their confrontation and she became terrified.
The story of Aretha oscillates between clinical despondency and spiritual attacks, she fights for freedom and it delays, she, however, keep trusting in God for her deliverance, though, there were times that she utters strange words to questioned God as to why he has chosen to watch her die without help. She could feel the presence of demons in her room, in her body, and her house, at some point, she lost her two sights and she could no longer go to work. However, I would love to leave the reader of this review to find out for themselves how Aretha survived it, and how she was able to sail through the countless trouble that attempt to claim her life. Did her enemies overcome her? Did she die miserably or was eventually helped?
The storytelling technique is distinctive, it's written in the third-person omnipresent point of view, and the narrating style adds a great feature to the book. At some point, I couldn't believe that I was reading a fiction novel, it is exceptionally written, and the story feel so raw. However, I'd love to say that this book is reminiscent of African spirituality, and it can be likened to the many troubles that lots of people are passing through. There are lots to learn from it apart from the sense of reading for pleasure, some of the facts expounded in this book, are, in my opinion, based on grounded facts and certain deep-rooted realities.
As a lover of spirituality, I found every aspect of this novel enthralling, this is my first encounter with spiritual thrillers and I could sense that I've developed a likeness for this genre. It aims to communicate moral, and spiritual awareness to many that are supposedly asleep. I'd recommend this book to lovers of fiction and literature at large.
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