Reviews

One Night Two Souls Went Walking by Ellen Cooney

rkeefer1011's review

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

cook_memorial_public_library's review

5.0

A 2020 staff favorite recommended by Andrea and Ellen. Read Andrea's review on the Cook Memorial Public Library blog, Shelf Life: https://shelflife.cooklib.org/2020/12/15/andreas-pick-of-the-week-one-night-two-souls-went-walking-by-ellen-cooney/

Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sone%20night%20two%20souls%20went%20walking__Orightresult__U?lang=eng

wwilson56's review

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

vavocado's review

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

alhogan10's review

Couldn’t get in to it and returned early. Will try again another time.

knkoch's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A beautiful contemplation of souls that’s set within the night shift of an interfaith chaplain in a medical center. I cherished this. I’ve found there is a often peaceful awareness of and acceptance of life and death in stories from the perspective of hospital and hospice staff, and combined with a look at a job few understand or celebrate, I was very grateful for this story. It’s beautiful, rich, deep, and quite whole. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

This is a story of a chaplain in a hospital, and her role is to attend to people as they lay dying.

annasg's review

reflective fast-paced

3.75

brenbrown's review

funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

mohawkm's review

3.0

A story in the format of Mrs. Dalloway (but not of the same caliber), this is a peaceful read if not particularly insightful or interesting. A set of thoughts of the inner mind of a chaplain over a night shift at a hospital. I did find it intriguing that the publisher is a public arts funded project via the state of Minnesota, which I have not heard of before.

opal360's review

3.0

The structure of the book is episodic, so this is more like reading a short story collection where the stories all link together in some way. I was interested to read about different aspects of the chaplain's work but the pace felt very slow to me.