The Rev. Arthur Boers, an honorary assistant at St. Paul L’Amoreaux in Toronto, has written a memoir about coming of age in a Dutch immigrant family scarred by violence.
In Shattered, Mr. Boers illuminates the generational trauma of the Nazi occupation of Holland, refracted in vignettes of his boyhood in postwar Canada. His hard-working, Calvinist family is endearing but ultimately unable to address the cycle of abuse that passed father to son.
Mr. Boers reflects candidly on his tumultuous relationship with his father. Intertwined with this narrative is his emerging vocation to ministry, more mystical and expressive than the Reformed tradition in which he was raised.
Mr. Boers extends a hand in solidarity to readers who have been wounded by those who were meant to protect them the most. With Shattered, he charts a path toward healing through faith.
Shattered is published by Eerdmans Publishing Co. and sells for $22.99.
