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Resurrection in May
A strange and wonderous friendship ignites the fire of love in May Seymour's life.
Lovely and winsome May Seymour graduated from college with the world at her feet...and no idea what to do with it. A spontaneous mission trip to Africa brought great surprise--love--and a strong sense of purpose. But in loving others there, she encountered a severe tragedy that left her deeply wounded.
She comes to heal at the farm of Claudius Borne--a sweet, kind old man who understands plants and animals far better than people. And his farm becomes May's home.
There on the farm, May renews a friendship with an old college flame named Eli whose path has taken unexpected turns too. As May tries to convince Eli to grab hold of life once again, he begins to pull May from her sheltered existence. Like old Claudius's farm in Spring, May begins to blossom back into life. But no resurrection ever comes without sacrifice--and this sacrifice will forever transform May.
Lovely and winsome May Seymour graduated from college with the world at her feet...and no idea what to do with it. A spontaneous mission trip to Africa brought great surprise--love--and a strong sense of purpose. But in loving others there, she encountered a severe tragedy that left her deeply wounded.
She comes to heal at the farm of Claudius Borne--a sweet, kind old man who understands plants and animals far better than people. And his farm becomes May's home.
There on the farm, May renews a friendship with an old college flame named Eli whose path has taken unexpected turns too. As May tries to convince Eli to grab hold of life once again, he begins to pull May from her sheltered existence. Like old Claudius's farm in Spring, May begins to blossom back into life. But no resurrection ever comes without sacrifice--and this sacrifice will forever transform May.
323 pages, Paperback
First published August 3, 2010
15 people are currently reading
314 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Samson
63 books192 followersThe Christy-award winning author of nineteen books including the Women of Faith Novel of the Year Quaker Summer, Lisa Samson has been hailed by Publishers Weekly as "a talented novelist who isn't afraid to take risks." She lives in Kentucky with her husband and three kids.
Also, published under the name L.L. Samson
Also, published under the name L.L. Samson
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
August 18, 2010
One statement in the book, Resurrection in May, struck a chord with me. Lisa Sampson wrote " Your life lives you. You don't live it." This simple statement during a discussion between two of the characters summarizes the choices everyone makes during their lifetime.
Resurrection in May by Lisa Sampson examines the life of May. May goes from a lost college graduate to a survivor of the genocide in Rwanda. Her journey from sheltered young adult to post traumatic stress syndrome patient is one questioning and struggle. At times she see divine inspiration in the simplest of life's pleasures but often questions the goodness in the people around her.
Throughout the novel, May questions why she was allowed to survive the tragedies in Rwanda when everyone else in the village perished. Her recovery on a small farm with the help of caring and supportive friends is long journey. What May discovers over time is that she must go with the opportunities that life presents her. Whether she strives to do more or is willing to wallow in self doubt, life lives her.
May exemplifies the struggles many of us have in our lives. We may question what path is better or worth, but in the end all options can lead to self-fulfillment and grace.
Disclosure: I received this book from Book Sneeze. I was not compensated in any form for this review. All opinions are 100% mine and are not influence by anyone or any entity. For my complete disclosure policy, please click here.
Resurrection in May by Lisa Sampson examines the life of May. May goes from a lost college graduate to a survivor of the genocide in Rwanda. Her journey from sheltered young adult to post traumatic stress syndrome patient is one questioning and struggle. At times she see divine inspiration in the simplest of life's pleasures but often questions the goodness in the people around her.
Throughout the novel, May questions why she was allowed to survive the tragedies in Rwanda when everyone else in the village perished. Her recovery on a small farm with the help of caring and supportive friends is long journey. What May discovers over time is that she must go with the opportunities that life presents her. Whether she strives to do more or is willing to wallow in self doubt, life lives her.
May exemplifies the struggles many of us have in our lives. We may question what path is better or worth, but in the end all options can lead to self-fulfillment and grace.
Disclosure: I received this book from Book Sneeze. I was not compensated in any form for this review. All opinions are 100% mine and are not influence by anyone or any entity. For my complete disclosure policy, please click here.
May 31, 2020
This book was incredible! It was heart wrenching and thought provoking! It made me want to keep turning the pages as quick as I could!
September 1, 2017
Lovely
Sweet story of a woman's transformation through the love of strangers who became friends. We watch May grow from a selfish college student into a selfless friend herself with surprises along the way.
Sweet story of a woman's transformation through the love of strangers who became friends. We watch May grow from a selfish college student into a selfless friend herself with surprises along the way.
Read
March 14, 2024Really enjoyed this book. May is a young lady searching for herself - all the wrong ways. Along comes her saving grace and he takes care of her, and himself in the meantime. Such a beautiful story.
August 16, 2010
Lisa Samson's, Resurrection in May is a different type of book than I typically pick up and read. It was a very refreshing read. Lisa has a very captivating voice in her writing that immediately drew me in. I enjoyed the dialogue between Claudius and May and loved their father-daughter relationship that developed. They needed each other. I felt at times, the story dragged a little. I never lost interest in the book, but at times wished it would have progressed a little faster. But on the same hand, it is an average length book, so it is possible the story progresses at a fine rate and it just seemed that way to me.
I highly recommend this book to anyone and already have people in line to borrow my copy. Resurrection in May will definitely not disappoint anyone who picks it up and reads the story of May and Claudius. Buy your copy here. Resurrection in May
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
I highly recommend this book to anyone and already have people in line to borrow my copy. Resurrection in May will definitely not disappoint anyone who picks it up and reads the story of May and Claudius. Buy your copy here. Resurrection in May
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
April 2, 2011
reviewed at : Small Kucing : Resurrection In May By Lisa Samson
This is a thought provoking and emotionally charged. Not for those who likes to read the beginning and skipped to the ending type of person. Every page there is a message.
The book is about faith, forgiveness, second chance and love.
I would recommend this book to those who need a resurrection in their faith and life.
This is a thought provoking and emotionally charged. Not for those who likes to read the beginning and skipped to the ending type of person. Every page there is a message.
The book is about faith, forgiveness, second chance and love.
I would recommend this book to those who need a resurrection in their faith and life.
March 18, 2018
I enjoyed this book from beginning to end, especially because it does challenge the norms of Christian fiction. Throughout this compelling story are threads of racism, genocide, war, classism, social justice and the way the church reaches out to the lowest of the low. Convicting and entertaining all at once. The end did rush through tying up everything in a pretty resolution, but I still enjoyed how things progressed. So sad I did not discover this book sooner.
August 16, 2018
Man, this book was tough. Beautiful, moving, tough. Not everything went as I wanted it to in the denouement, and my heart ached throughout. Samson deals with hard, gut-wrenching topics gracefully, not hiding from the terrible but pointing the reader back to a God who walks with us in the darkness.
A powerful read that will stay with me for a long time to come.
A powerful read that will stay with me for a long time to come.
June 4, 2021
"You understand the importance of a good paradox. I see that all the time here on the farm, death bringing forth life time and time again. A seed is lost in the earth and is found again by the sun and the rain. Maybe you're going to find lost people."
4.5 stars
[Sister Ruthie] was the asparagus of friends, planted deep and coming back year after year.
This beautifully redemptive story had unexpected twists and turns. I mean, these are just a few of the significant characters: a prodigal daughter and rookie missionary who survives the Rwandan genocide; an illegitimate child of mixed race who grows into a spiritually mature and humble man through his suffering and deprivation; a young man on death row who ministers through letters to an agoraphobic lost soul; a supporting cast of truly memorable characters in this little Kentucky town: Sister Ruthie, Claudius, Sister Racine, Pastor Isaac, Pastor John.
He wanted to tell people as they walked by his stall with their kids, the tension twanging, "Your children don't care about those nice clothes you give them. They want times sipping on a cold glass of iced tea or just sitting together in the living room, bored to tears and trying to decide whether or not to play Monopoly for the six thousandth time."
This is a sweet, sad tale of the real weight of suffering in life (suffering we find ourselves through bad choices, and that which literally falls into our laps and leaves lifetime scars) and the slow, steady way in which God heals, builds, comforts, shows up in ways we would not expect.
Michael stuffed his hands into his pockets, a fatherly defeat written all over his face, the words 'I tried' seeming to come from his eyes and the words 'I failed' just on their tail.
She finally collapsed under the weight of her own emotions, into his arms, where she sobbed in the chilly spring wind, helpless.
I appreciated the pace of the story, a reminder that God's healing transformation is long and gradual, often frustrating to ourselves and/or those around us. And I appreciated the integrity and endurance of the characters that peopled this story. If there were more communities like this in our country, what a different sort of nation we would be.
Assembling those memories together like a string of beads made it easier to put them around her neck, and now here she lay, feeling strangled, just trying to breathe.
How could God throw them all together to cook in this stew of incompetence, desperation, and powerlessness?
But mostly, this is a portrait of the transformative power of sacrificial love: of love which places the well-being of others above your own, a love willing and ready to interrupt its own plans and routines for the sake of someone in great need. That slow, steady love that lives day by day with a person who has nothing left to give, who aches and breathes life into that person, who lives with patience and confidence that God is at work, even when you don't see it with your own eyes.
Tears pricked. Why so much sorrow? Didn't those men with machetes realize their actions didn't stop on that day, with those people? Didn't they realize that those acts were stones in the river of space, thrown, and broadcasting, ring upon ring for years, until, never ending, they passed stars, galaxies?
The beauty of the farm, of the language, of the Christ-honoring relationships that transformed May's life.... ALL of these elements make this story unusually beautiful and well worth reading.
May felt herself grow younger with each step, as if all the years collected between her shoulder blades and rolled down her spine one by one.
Highly recommended.
The stars looked down upon her, and when they flashed she knew that all the people she'd loved who had come and gone were still with her, living on, not just in the faith they knit in her heart, the rosebushes they planted, the barns they built, or the children they sired, but they went on and on, like the universe God held in the palms of his hands.
4.5 stars
[Sister Ruthie] was the asparagus of friends, planted deep and coming back year after year.
This beautifully redemptive story had unexpected twists and turns. I mean, these are just a few of the significant characters: a prodigal daughter and rookie missionary who survives the Rwandan genocide; an illegitimate child of mixed race who grows into a spiritually mature and humble man through his suffering and deprivation; a young man on death row who ministers through letters to an agoraphobic lost soul; a supporting cast of truly memorable characters in this little Kentucky town: Sister Ruthie, Claudius, Sister Racine, Pastor Isaac, Pastor John.
He wanted to tell people as they walked by his stall with their kids, the tension twanging, "Your children don't care about those nice clothes you give them. They want times sipping on a cold glass of iced tea or just sitting together in the living room, bored to tears and trying to decide whether or not to play Monopoly for the six thousandth time."
This is a sweet, sad tale of the real weight of suffering in life (suffering we find ourselves through bad choices, and that which literally falls into our laps and leaves lifetime scars) and the slow, steady way in which God heals, builds, comforts, shows up in ways we would not expect.
Michael stuffed his hands into his pockets, a fatherly defeat written all over his face, the words 'I tried' seeming to come from his eyes and the words 'I failed' just on their tail.
She finally collapsed under the weight of her own emotions, into his arms, where she sobbed in the chilly spring wind, helpless.
I appreciated the pace of the story, a reminder that God's healing transformation is long and gradual, often frustrating to ourselves and/or those around us. And I appreciated the integrity and endurance of the characters that peopled this story. If there were more communities like this in our country, what a different sort of nation we would be.
Assembling those memories together like a string of beads made it easier to put them around her neck, and now here she lay, feeling strangled, just trying to breathe.
How could God throw them all together to cook in this stew of incompetence, desperation, and powerlessness?
But mostly, this is a portrait of the transformative power of sacrificial love: of love which places the well-being of others above your own, a love willing and ready to interrupt its own plans and routines for the sake of someone in great need. That slow, steady love that lives day by day with a person who has nothing left to give, who aches and breathes life into that person, who lives with patience and confidence that God is at work, even when you don't see it with your own eyes.
Tears pricked. Why so much sorrow? Didn't those men with machetes realize their actions didn't stop on that day, with those people? Didn't they realize that those acts were stones in the river of space, thrown, and broadcasting, ring upon ring for years, until, never ending, they passed stars, galaxies?
The beauty of the farm, of the language, of the Christ-honoring relationships that transformed May's life.... ALL of these elements make this story unusually beautiful and well worth reading.
May felt herself grow younger with each step, as if all the years collected between her shoulder blades and rolled down her spine one by one.
Highly recommended.
The stars looked down upon her, and when they flashed she knew that all the people she'd loved who had come and gone were still with her, living on, not just in the faith they knit in her heart, the rosebushes they planted, the barns they built, or the children they sired, but they went on and on, like the universe God held in the palms of his hands.
August 24, 2022
I read this book as part of a summer challenge to read a book more than 10 years old. Prior to that, I had never read anything by Lisa Samson. I’m not sure how I missed such a gut wrenching, heartbreaking book before this, but I’m forever enriched by this story. Partly taking place during the genocide in Rwanda, which I vividly remember from high school, I now see those events from a completely new perspective. Warning though—it’s not pretty, or sugar coated, and it realistically reflects the events as they may have occurred. Sensitive readers may have a difficult time reading parts of this book—truthfully, average humans with a modicum of emotional maturity will have a difficult time reading parts. But persevere, because the Resurrection is coming! The beautiful relationship forged between May and Claudius, the menagerie of farm animals (I especially got a kick out of his chicken Parma-Jean), the letters between May and Eli, and so much more of this book simply left me awestruck. It was in turns unsettling, heartwarming, and spectacularly unforgettable. Just read it.
August 1, 2022
The main character, May, is at a cross roads in life when she heads to work in Rwanda. The book takes place just before, during and after the genocide in Rwanda and follows the aftermath of being caught up in a traumatic event on May's life and her growing friendship with an old farmer when she returns back home. It draws you in and challenges your understanding of what community and faith actually are as well as follows May as she trys to live after the tragedy. A book that needs space to reflect on as well as one to read again in future.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2019
This book was hard to put down. I did not love it though. Parts of it were beautiful. I loved Claudius and hated that he died so soon in the story. (Although I guess that made me feel May's grief more.) I also thought some of the dialogue was forced or unbelievable. Also the Rwanda events were difficult to read but of course that is to be expected.
Good themes though. I'll probably try other books by the author.
Good themes though. I'll probably try other books by the author.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2017
3.5 Stars
This is one of the better Christian Fiction books I've read. The question of how can one live after surviving tragedy and horror and where is God in the midst of all this pain is dealt within the story of May and her slow progress towards healing. It is very thought provoking but not preachy. I had to knock it down a 1/2 star because I felt that the story dragged a little in some places. The ending is two fold, filled with emotion but also a happy ending. It did seem to wrap up a little too nicely but overall the book was enjoyable and I would recommend it.
This is one of the better Christian Fiction books I've read. The question of how can one live after surviving tragedy and horror and where is God in the midst of all this pain is dealt within the story of May and her slow progress towards healing. It is very thought provoking but not preachy. I had to knock it down a 1/2 star because I felt that the story dragged a little in some places. The ending is two fold, filled with emotion but also a happy ending. It did seem to wrap up a little too nicely but overall the book was enjoyable and I would recommend it.
June 8, 2019
Occasionally I feel trapped in an audiobook, it’s so stupid, yet I checked it out, so I need to finish it. This book was so stupid, I just wanted (needed) to be done with it. I never connected with the characters nor the storyline. I’m actually confused why this book had a high star rating. Oh well, moving on.
April 9, 2019
I absolutely loved this book. Lisa Samson is one of my favorite authors. This book took me to unexpected places that I never anticipated. It made me care about situations that seem distant from me. It ended in a way that was totally unexpected, yet was satisfying. Read it!
December 15, 2019
Although readers may consider Samson to be too preachy, I love her books. Her realistic characters are gritty people, surviving in a tough world. In this book, May, a college graduate and fun girl survives a huge tragedy. She's cared for by some unlikely characters, and slowly she begins to heal.
February 4, 2020
This was a random pick from the Free Book trolley at the library and it was a surprise. To give any details might be giving spoilers, but the cover does not reflect the content inside. The least spoilery thing I can say is that it gives a look into PTSD
July 17, 2020
Wow! This book drew me in right away as it partially takes place in Rwanda during the genocide. I have never read another fiction book that did the same. The best part, however, is the emotional and spiritual journey that May takes once she returns home. This book was extraordinarily powerful.
December 30, 2021
So good! I enjoy Lisa Samson's writing and this did not disappoint. It's a very original and different premise and I love how she parses out all the different characters and their actions. Excellent book.
February 6, 2022
I’m not even sure where to start….
I loved this book! There were times it was hard to read, even a little depressing. Even in those moments it was still a beautiful story.
I laughed, cried and I hoped.
I loved this book! There were times it was hard to read, even a little depressing. Even in those moments it was still a beautiful story.
I laughed, cried and I hoped.
February 17, 2022
I listened to this book. It had some great parts to it and ended well. I felt that the part of her depression was long and since I am more sensitive, it was harder for me. Not my favorite book but still a good book.
November 18, 2017
Loved this book.
November 22, 2018
This is an easy read, but rife with insights, warmth and wisdom. I'd recommend it to anyone.
January 24, 2019
This book bordered on silly in the beginning, then startling, then sad-so sad, then riveting, then redemptive. If you decide to read, don't give up too soon, it's worth sticking with.
May 13, 2020
How healing from a trauma can look and how we need our friends and relationships to do so
Want to read
July 20, 2020Hoopla Audio
January 7, 2021
I have read this book probably 50 times since I first bought it. It speaks to my soul everytime.
September 5, 2021
really good. and even the Christians grow and change in good ways.
October 14, 2021
Well written and full of love, hope and goodness of mankind.
June 1, 2022
So very very good.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews