Evidence of Angels

by Suza Scalora

Francesca Lia Block (Secondary Author)

After the death of her beloved, Gustav, a woman is plagued by questions. She wonders, do angels exist? Or are we alone? What happens after we die, and leave this earth? She had once photographed fairies, witches and wizards: now these magical creatures would not appear to her, no matter how hard she looked for them. But the love of Gustav and her memory of him gives her the strength and inspiration to overcome her sorrow and continue her work and exploration. As she begins photographing her city again, she begins to uncover evidence of angels. She learns that they come in many forms, that they are compassion and love, trust and peace, hope and courage, wisdom and charity, that they are everywhere.

• ISBN10: 0061243434
• ISBN13: 9780061243431
• Publish Date: 15 November 2009
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 3 April 2011
• Publish Country: AU
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 64
• Language: English

Reviews

[Jo]

I don’t normally review non-fiction, but when emailed by Suza Scalora asking if I would like to review Evidence of Angels, I thought I would give it a go. As I have an idea for my own fictional story regarding angels, Evidence of Angels is classed as research.

This review is going to be a little different from my normal reviews, as I feel I need to explain a bit about me for you to understand my views of the book. I was baptised Church of England when I was younger, and I went to a Catholic school, but I lost my faith along the way and I am now an atheist. I am of the opinion that, although I don’t believe, if other people find peace or joy from their faith, that can only be a good thing. I am fascinated by religion and the people’s beliefs, and I’m envious of what people get from their faith.

I was quite interested in reading Evidence of Angels; as I said, I’m fascinated by what people believe, and was looking forward to reading Suza’s story. It’s full of joy, hope, and peace of mind, and I’m sure those with faith will find it a book full of miracles and comfort. It’s a wonderful story, and the idea that there are all these angels that one can call on in times of need is just lovely.

Even those without faith who have no interest in spirituality will still find enjoyment in Evidence of Angels; the striking photos are just amazing! Suza is a professional photographer, all the images in the book are her own, and one could look at Evidence of Angels as an art book as well as a spiritual book. The photos are absolutely magnificent, so bright and colourful, and just so beautiful. Suza was nice enough to include a note to me on a promotional postcard when she sent me the review copy, and it’s just gorgeous! It will definitely be going on show. This is the type of book you would pick up time and again, if just to look at the wonderful photos.

I could be wrong, but my interpretation of the book is that Suza's story isn't supposed to be a story of "this is exactly what happened", but a story of a fictional journey written to explain an internal journey, so it's half fictional half non-fictional; you're not supposed to believe the words written as fact, but as Suza's spiritual truth. To explain what I mean, it's made clear that the photos have been set up, as explained in the extract below, from an interview with Suza which was included with the review copy, where as the story claims the photos were taken of what was actually physically there at the time.

"I use photography as a tool to communicate something, which is very difficult to see with out human eyes. The photography of angels are representations of the angels I have experience in my own life... The reason I titled this book Evidence of Angels is because photographs are evidence. And quite honestly, some of the best examples of 'proof' lie beyond something that we can hold in out hands because it transcends the material world. Rather, it is a deep sense of knowing within your own self that something larger and more beautiful than we can imagine exists in this world."

Evidence of Angels is such a beautiful book with Suza’s photos and certainty in her beliefs and the existence of angels. It’s a great book, and brought a smile to my face.