“Datta Groover's Different is an absorbing, inspirational novel that explores marital conflict, secrets, a family at risk, and the special abilities of a borderline autistic child who doesn't speak.
The MacBrides seem to be a typical Oregon couple with three children. Frank, who works at Lake Oswego Public Works, is known as "the pump whisperer," for his keen ability to sense problems before they occur. He's a conscientious family man but has a tendency to flirt, which annoys his wife Sofia. She’s a former school counselor, who now homeschools their smart, yet silent, youngest special-needs son, Sam. To avoid the problems Sofia witnessed in her own parents' marriage, and to keep their relationship on track, the couple is seeing a therapist.
Unfortunately, things quickly go astray. The family is forced to move due to long-hidden secrets resulting from Frank's deceased father's decades-old nefarious dealings with the Italian government and mob affiliates. In addition to this stress, Frank deals with conflict with his new boss; a Fatal Attraction-style affair, and a growing awareness of son Sam's intuitive gift to help those in need. Sofia's therapeutic journaling woven throughout adds another layer of texture and insight to the characters.
Overall, the story is driven by action and weighty dialogue that keeps readers engaged. Thought-provoking conversations are sparked when Sofia seeks religious counseling, inquiring whether Sam's condition might be the work of the devil; the priest views Sam as the opposite of evil and feels God has a wonderful plan for him. Meanwhile, Sofia’s psychic "hippie friend" sees Sam as an old soul with the aura of a healer, and a silent spiritual monk connects with Sam during the family's vacation in Nepal.
In all, the narrative delivers an emotionally engaging drama. While the book's final wrap-up may seem a little too convenient, and Sam's nighttime wanderings to help others seem implausible, readers will appreciate this story—one that that recognizes the power of love, family commitment, and healing. Datta Groover's Different is an absorbing, inspirational novel that explores marital conflict, secrets, a family at risk, and the special abilities of a borderline autistic child who doesn't speak.”
Different is an entertaining novel about a family growing closer through understanding and spirituality.
In Datta Groover’s spiritual novel Different, a family grapples with extraordinary truths about reincarnation.
The novel tells the complex story of a family becoming truer versions of themselves by opening their minds and hearts to the miracles around them. Frank and Sofia sincerely love each other and their three children, but their life is far from perfect. Frank is a shameless flirt with a troubling past, Sofia is anxious and plagued with painful memories, and both are concerned for their son, Sam. The young boy was diagnosed with autism, and though he doesn’t speak, he is acutely aware of the inner lives of those around him and has some life-changing secrets of his own.
At the story’s core is a unique view of Catholicism that praises empathy, forgiveness, and acceptance but also embraces ideas like reincarnation and healing as introduced through Sam. Interesting allusions to historical texts within the narrative assert that reincarnation was an early tenet of Christianity. The book illustrates its religious ideas well, and Sofia and Frank’s embrace of these ideas is a moving and satisfying resolution to the novel.
Much about Sofia and Frank’s enigmatic past is hinted at during their couple’s therapy sessions. Through tense dialogue, they struggle to keep up the lies they have told one another. It becomes clear that each is hiding dark secrets—for Sofia, about her father’s brutality and prejudices; for Frank, about how his own dangerous past has followed him. Sofia’s mysteries propel the plot, and flashbacks of her childhood in Barcelona give a specific texture and historical context that is immersive and emotional.
The novel falters in its depiction of Frank as an action hero as he confronts the violent people from his childhood who continue to haunt him. The resolution of Frank’s past and a strange encounter with a person from his childhood is too brief to feel complete.
The narration shifts with skill between Sofia and Frank’s perspectives, sprinkled with diary entries, emails, and texts. Frank’s texts and emails with his boss’s wife build tension as he goes from flirting with her to urging her to stop communicating with him.
In its present, the novel is set in the Pacific Northwest, and the drizzly backdrop helps set a moody tone. But much more of the book’s characterization, conflict, and world building is accomplished through conversations and dialogue, which meld separate story lines together. The storytelling is diverse and propulsive, and both Sophia and Frank’s motivations come through in an organic way. Communication as a whole is what drives the novel, down to body language.
With entertaining historical context and fascinating characters, Different is a tale of a family growing closer through understanding and spirituality.
From the very first paragraph, Frank MacBride’s disquiet about his family and their safety is clear. Awaking from a bad dream, the comfort and reassurance of his wife is not enough: he has to see his children are comfortable in their own beds; not suffering.
Frank’s marriage to Sofia isn’t perfect. In fact, while they’re generally happy, sometimes eruptions seem to lie just below the surface, and slowly they rise through the shallows. The couple are in counselling, their revealing sessions laid bare in the text, and their children present unique challenges. Young Sam doesn’t speak, and, aside from a possible link between his silence and his autism, no one is quite sure why.
While his tale is loaded with meaning, author Datta Groover’s characters are flawed, and as a result, largely feel very real. They make mistakes, disregard each other’s feelings and become frustrated and emotionally volatile when things aren’t going their way. Their family journey is not just ‘different’ but difficult: everyday in some senses, but with some odd subplots pushing it along. The message, as is typical of the genre, is a little zen in its delivery: DIFFERENT is surprisingly fast paced and easy reading, written in straightforward but evocative prose, and does a good job of delivering its more profound lessons – we won’t spoil them here – through forcing a little self examination in the reader. There are plenty of positive intentions not quite working out; plenty of slightly crossed-wires, the kind of slight miscommunications that might grate in a long-term relationship. Dramas bring those connections to a head.
The family at the heart of the story are recognizable enough to be easy to relate to, but odd and colorful enough in their quirks to be memorable and punchy in the messages carried in their individual, sometimes almost subliminal plotlines. Their message is delivered in part through Sofia’s Journal, Frank’s first-person narrative and the strange world near-silent Sam seems to occupy.
For all its strengths, there are some oddly weak moments DIFFERENT, too. In particular, the narrative between husband and wife is often used as a device to catch the reader up, and it can involve conversations that seem quite stilted and unrealistically unfamiliar for what’s otherwise portrayed as quite a close marriage. It’s noticeable, but only a minor flaw, and serves its purpose.
The tale takes off when Frank’s mother dies in mysterious circumstances, and Sam, with no way of knowing, suddenly becomes inconsolable in his grief. Then, a dark figure glanced after a routine change at Frank’s work start to unravel his past. The odd, almost supernatural connections flow through Groover’s text, but it’s the base of familial reality that makes DIFFERENT a book worth not just exploring, but really considering, too.
A family-themed novel with some dark tinges rippling just below the surface, DIFFERENT explores perspectives, personal bias and understanding, and dabbles lightly in the philosophical concept of an examined life. It’s simply-penned yet subtle, clever in its challenges and angles, and lightly provocative. A sharp, intelligent read.
~James Hendicott for IndieReader
Different by Datta Groover is, well…different. It is a great story on a lot of levels that clicked with me. The writing is so good that you don’t notice it at all and that’s rare for me. I am a writer myself, so I’m always making notes on style, mistakes, omissions, things that I would do better etc. But to my surprise and delight, that never happened with Different. I found myself immersed from the first word and, again, I want to let you know that this is delightful and that I felt thankful to the writer for this experience before I had even finished three chapters. Different is the kind of story that I feel is very much needed by modern man. A tale that is firmly planted in the reality of modern life and shows the characters persevering, coping, and loving their way through it successfully. I hope Datta Groover writes a lot of books. I hope this because the world needs stories like this. I need stories like this.
As you might guess from the preceding paragraph, the writing was perfect in my humble opinion. It has been a while since I could so completely immerse myself into a story so seamlessly. And what a story it is. I want to tell you about it so much. But on the other hand, I don’t want to spoil it in any way for you. This is a journey of discovery that you will want to make without any expectations except that it will be a wonderful experience, and trust me, it will be. The characters are great. They are real people, here in our real world, facing real problems, and they are lovable and likable. The plot fits the scenario perfectly. Datta Groover is a master of weaving all the elements of a story into a modern masterpiece.
