In path of Lucas, Bellefeuille interrogates The Journey He Endured

Publisher ‏: Accessible Publishers Ltd
Author: Susanne Bellefeuille
Language‏: ‎ English
Year: 2017
Paperback‏: ‎ 372 pages
Reviewer: Gregory Austin Nwakunor

It is not every time that you get to read simple, straight forward narrative of a new writer. Based on true events, the book follows one man’s incredible journey through trials and tribulations. Path of Lucas: The Journey He Endured and based on true events in Susanne Bellefeuille’s family, the book tells the story of Lucas Clarkson. It follows him through his movements around the Canadian territory.

Bellefeuille is a sister, mother, grandmother and an inspirational mentor to many people. Graduating from the social service worker programme at St. Lawrence College in Cornwall, Ontario, she spends countless hours offering her professional aid, guidance, and most importantly, her friendship to people with intellectual disabilities.

Now the story. In three words, the book is highly emotional, moving and dramatic. Lucas Clarkson is a simple man, a family man, and a hard working farmer’s son. From a small town in Eastern Ontario, the author, Bellefeuille, brings her readers on Lucas’s journey through the trials and tribulations of his life.

Simple plot: Lucas Clarkson grew up on his father’s farm. He had a good, simple life, loving parents, and a close family. He met the love of his life at age 17, and continued on to be a hard working, strong family man. He had many ups and downs after starting his family, and had to make several hard decisions to keep them together.

Told through his daughter’s eye, this biography is a true story of family, faith, and purpose, set in 1950s Canada up to today. Lucas’ legacy is one the readers can learn from and cherish.

As far as Lucas’s own family, he falls in love with Isabelle, a poor neighbour girl who doesn’t speak English when they meet. Her sister acts as interpreter and they each learn enough of the other’s language to be able to start dating. I found Isabelle’s dedication to her family as inspiring as Lucas’s dedication to his. She didn’t want to marry right away because she had to help support her poor family. When she becomes pregnant, however, they end up marrying sooner than planned.

Her life changed remarkably after the realisation that her desires will require her to complete college and set a better example for her children and grandchildren.

From being a high school dropout and a mother at the young age of 17, Bellefeuille has journeyed a considerable distance to become the successful person she is today. Her journey is not only to write books but also to help people reach their full potential, as she truly believes that everyone deserves the opportunity to shine in life.

Lucas’s path is not as simple as the man he’s portrayed to be. From the days spent working on his dad’s farm to becoming a successful mechanic, with a genuine heart and his incredible strength, Lucas faces many difficult decisions. The choices he makes may be the difference between realising his dreams and keeping his family together.

It is nicely plotted. It has a similar type of story and feel, and takes place in the present, but is told through flashbacks of Lucas’ life, in chronological order. The book tells the story of an older father sharing his life with his adult daughter, who is lying in a hospital bed in a coma after a terrible accident.

Lucas’s path is not as simple as the man he’s portrayed to be, however, the days spent working on his dad’s farm to becoming a successful mechanic, with a genuine heart and his incredible strength, he faced many difficult decisions. The choices he makes may be the difference between realising his dreams and keeping his family together.

Through it all, the story’s message is one of love, sacrifice, determination and the knowledge that you can have a good life even if you have to make compromises.

The story that Lucas tells Lucy is one of navigating family crises, illness, bereavement, and of having to make agonising choices between duty and responsibility or following your dream. Lucas’s commitment to his family is never more effectively communicated than during a particularly troubled period in Isabelle’s life. The reader is certainly given the sense that it is only Lucas’s love and determination that gets the family through.

Although there is tragedy, struggle and sadness, Path of Lucas is also a story of love, devotion, determination and friendship. About the pleasure to be found in simple things like sharing family meals, choosing gifts for loved ones, listening to favourite music or enjoying the natural world around you. But more than anything, it’s about a belief in the importance of family.

A striking glimpse into midcentury farm life near the small town of Alexandria in Ontario Canada, discover that no path is simple. Choices are hard, and Lucas must decide between realising his dreams and fighting to keep his family together.

The story that Lucas tells Lucy is one of navigating family crises, illness, bereavement, and of having to make agonising choices between duty and responsibility or following your dream. Lucas’s commitment to his family is never more effectively communicated than during a particularly troubled period in Isabelle’s life. The reader is certainly given the sense that it is only Lucas’s love and determination that gets the family through.

From a small town in Eastern Ontario, the author, Susanne Bellefeuille, brings her readers on a journey of trials and tribulations of his life.

This is Susanne Bellefeuille’s first novel and it won’t be wrong it is a faction. A genre that is gradually emerging as one that should be taken into consideration.

The main character’s life didn’t follow the expected path with his hard work meaning every dream was realised. Instead readers are offered a more realistic journey that had great highs, moments of love, family and success, but also the heartache of life challenges that demand you let go of a dream as well as challenging health issues that turn the family’s lives upside down.

Lucas is forced to wait, but he doesn’t give up hope. He talks to his daughter, fighting to break through, and what unfolds is his story of love, his dreams, and the struggles he endured keeping his family together.