In the Company of Angels [Paperback]

This eloquent novel takes on a subject matter that some readers may not have previously reflected on: the examination of the legacy of tortures and other forms of brutalities, psychic and physical, and the struggles that survivors of such cruelties go through in their attempt to restore pieces of their old selves, unbroken before the tragic events that befell them.

The novel's main protagonists are Bernardo Greene and Michela Ibsen.

Bernardo was a teacher in his native Chile before fleeing to Copenhagen after gaining freedom from his captors and torturers. A victim of trumped up charges, he had lost his family, his trust for most human beings, and his sense of self-worth.

Michela is a beautiful 40-ish Danish woman who has also experienced pain: the loss of an only child, and a failed marriage to a man who had physically abused her. Now caring for her hospital-bound parents who are in their sunset years, and dating a much younger man, she finds herself curiously drawn to Bernardo when they first met in a cafe, and Bernardo, clearly smitten with her, had summoned the courage to ask her to dance with him.

That Bernardo was initially hesitant, even fearful, to approach Michela is understandable. He is still fighting demons from his past, and although he has been getting help from Dr. Kristensen, he has not progressed enough in the healing process to risk hurting himself even more, or Michela, who may not find him "man enough" for her.

Michela is similarly conflicted. Does she deserve the love of another man after her failed first marriage? Why is she having these kinds of doubts when she knows she has a lot to offer?

Bernardo's and Michela's fears and doubts are manifestations of some of the impact of the brutalities they have been subjected to. What would come of their budding feelings for each other? Would they try to reach for the next level? For them to do so, they must be able to overcome their fears and doubts; to reach across the chasm that separates not just them from each other, but their current wounded selves from the person they would like to be. Would they succeed? Would they run into unexpected obstacles?

Despite the gravity of the subject matter, readers are never in danger of getting left in the lurch with heavy-heartedness, for the story of Bernardo and Michela is told with measured cadence and just the right mix of subplots that invite loathing for the weaklings inflicting cruelties on them and admiration for their individual strengths and courage. Very moving story!

I really expected to like this novel because of its favorable reviews and its focus upon characters bonding as they facilitate their own healing from unfathomable pain. Indeed, it is well-written and a few of the cathartic scenes are moving. But for me, there is too much anguish, too many suffering and traumatized characters, too many scenes of remembered torture and twisted inhumanity.

There is no laughter or moments of lightness. Intimacy through sex and shared pain are presented as the means to closeness. When I finished reading, I felt as if I had journeyed into the Inferno and only navigated from its center to the doors of Purgatory. I wanted to listen to soul-stirring music or have a warm, healthy dialogue with a friend.

In the Company of Angels is primarily about two characters. Nardo, a victim of long-term torture in Chile, now living in Copenhagen, wonders, "How much of a survivor, in fact, survives?" Nardo survived torture in part due to an experience he had of angels visiting him. But the angel theme is only cursorily mentioned, and remains undeveloped.

Michela, a Danish victim of relationship abuse, whose daughter committed suicide, struggles with "Why do men hit me?" Nardo and Michela are drawn to each other and find some redemption in the sharing of pain.

Unfortunately, however, the novel takes multiple perspectives, also providing the viewpoints of Dr. Kristensen who is attempting to help Nardo, Michela's jealous young lover Voss, and her elderly father who lives in the same nursing home as her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. These characters are only incompletely presented, and in my opinion are uninteresting, distracting and unnecessary.

The author plummets into the depths of human suffering and rage, which he expresses realistically, as if he himself as lived through his characters' pain. Such an accomplishment is not easy, and is, in its own way, a welcome change from the glut of superficial, frothy novels that fill bookstands. But the stor of so many anguished people is difficult to read, and is not fully redeemed by the grace of angels, an evolving friendship/romance, or a therapeutic relationship. Indeed, as a psychotherapist myself, I remain somewhat skeptical that deep trauma can be healed by a few cathartic explosions, even within the context of a trusting relationship - although such release is a start.

Thomas E. Kennedy writes fairly well, but not beautifully, and portrays his characters Nardo and Michela convincingly. But I recommend In the Company of Angels only to readers who wish to experience the depths of suffering and only the beginnings of letting it go and affirming life, with or without angels.

At the exact half-way point in this perfectly-calculated but exquisite novel two people dance a tango outside a bar in a Copenhagen square. "Four steps across and a close, his thigh between hers as their eyes met and her lips parted to draw breath. He trapped her arm, but loosely, behind her as they did another volta, looking away from each other in one direction, in the other, and the woman in black clapped her hands once, crying out 'Bravo, compadre!' [...] 'One more,' she said softly; 'such a passionate dance!' 'No,' he said. 'It is the dance of sorrow. The dance of those who are far away and alone.'"

The man, Bernardo Greene, a former teacher, is indeed far away and alone, having fled his native Chile after his family has disappeared and he himself tortured for daring to teach the work of poets who write the truth. Traumatized by literally unspeakable violence, he has come for healing to Copenhagen's famous Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims, where his doctor tries to break through the wall between him and his emotions. The woman, Michela Ibsen, divorced from an abusive husband, now finds herself once more in a potentially violent relationship, and does not know how to break free. We already know a great deal about Nardo and Michela, and there will be many obstacles to overcome before they can truly help one another. But this unlikely encounter, in a dance from the opposite side of the globe that balances intimacy and solitude, violence and passion, marks a perfect turning-point. Even the setting, in a city square dedicated to the Danish resistance of WW2, is meaningful.

The extremes in this novel are tempered by touches of almost everything in between. Violence, for example, is not confined to those tortures in a Chilean jail (of which we do not hear much but just enough). It is reflected in the strain that threatens to break the doctor's marriage apart when he brings his work home. It is seen in that kind of love-making that uses the bodies of others for what can be taken from them rather than given back. It is seen in the cruel silence of couples that punish each other not by acts committed but by kindnesses withheld. It is seen in the racism of strangers that regard anybody with darker hair or skin as alien, lesser beings.

Love too takes many forms. Most striking, Nardo's vision of two angels in the depths of his ordeal, promising him that he would experience love yet again. Love comes -- the ending of the book slips gently into a transformation so subtle that you hardly notice it until it is a reality -- but it does not come easily. Meanwhile, there are other kinds of love to touch first. The love of the surrounding world: the lakes and paths of the city, people going about their daily lives, the change of the seasons. The caring of friends. The love of husband and wife, striving to find a path through pain. The love of a daughter for a father even when mired in selfishness and rotted away by cancer. The love that, even in bed, finds other forms of expression when the obvious ones fail.

Angels bring messages of hope, but they can also terrify. The greatest miracles in this brilliant and transformative novel occur when love finds a way to harness anger and confront it, facing evil head on, and finding at least some promise of redemption.