Why a Booktrail?
2000s: A story set at the heart of a Mormon family in England and the search for faith amidst the most troubling of times
A Song for Issy Bradley
What you need to know before your trail
Meet the Bradleys – a family like any other. A family who believe miracles are possible and that family is the most important thing on earth.
Ian Bradley is a husband, father, maths teacher, and Mormon bishop and his wife Clare.
They have four children: sixteen-year-old Zippy, fourteen-year-old Al and seven-year-old Jacob and Issy.
Grief tears the family apart and the question is whether faith can put them back together again, Little Jacob certainly wants to try.
Travel Guide
The Mormon religion and the idea of faith is the real setting here for this story is an exploration of a mormon family and how their faith sees them through and tears them apart.
Ian Bradley who was brought up in a Mormon family and has risen up in the Mormon ranks so to speak to become a highly respected Bishop in their local Mormon community. His wife Claire converted when they met but she doesn’t have the strength of faith that he does. She thinks that the faith comes before the family and this causes resentment between th two of them.
Carys Bray is the perfect author to write such a book about faith and the Mormon belief system since she herself was raised a devout Mormon but left the faith due to her personal beliefs. Also a mother, she can see from both sides how a family deals with grief. Sadly this is something that Carys herself also sadly suffered.
What role does faith play in your life and how can faith help and hinder? Clare struggles to link faith to her life and her reality. Seven year old Jacob with the innocence that only a child can bring puts it another way –
He “knows that his faith is bigger than a mustard seed; it’s as least as big as a toffee bonbon, maybe bigger.”
He doesn’t understand faith or Mormonism really. He just wants to make his family happy again.
The Mormon faith is perhaps most well known for having its headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah and there is a good website to start exploring the landmarks and historical museums there if you want to know more about the Mormon faith.
Many of Salt Lake City’s attractions and points of interest relating to Mormon history are located on Temple Square and this is a good starting point.
utah.com/mormon/salt_lake
Where Next?
