Daisy Wallace: I didn’t expect to be undone by Chapter 14, but I was. The image of the sparrow so small, so brutal, so symbolic has not left me since. It’s the first time I’ve ever read childhood guilt written as revelation.

Jan Notzon uses this single moment, this single cruel act, to illuminate the entire moral backbone of his novel. That’s genius storytelling building eternity from a single heartbeat. When Jacob realizes he’s capable of harm, we see the beginning of his lifelong search for grace. It’s chilling, painful, necessary.

In our discussion, we all agreed that Jan doesn’t moralize; he humanizes. He trusts readers enough to feel the discomfort of guilt, and then he offers them a mirror instead of a sermon. That’s the mark of a writer with spiritual courage. Mr. Notzon, you’ve written something I’ll never forget a lesson about mercy disguised as a story about a bird.