Synopses & Reviews
Imagine that you've just died. An angel appears in front of you, ready to guide you to the next life. You say to him, "I want to go to heaven." His reply, "OK, let's go!"
In this light-hearted tour of the afterlife, based on the writings of Swedish scientist-turned-seer Emanuel Swedenborg, Albrecht H. Gralle takes the reader on a tour of heaven, hell, and the spaces between. What is it like in heaven? What about hell? What happens to people who have suffered horribly in this life? How do we reconcile that suffering with the idea of an all-loving God? What happens to people who simply don't believe in anything beyond this world? What happens to the people who do? Is there sex in heaven? What about tea?
During pauses in the tour, Gralle poses some hard-hitting questions about the nature of belief that speak directly to people who wonder how a modern, rational person can have faith in the absence of proof. The result is at once humorous and thought-provoking.
Synopsis
In this fanciful tour of the afterlife, Albrecht Gralle poses some hard-hitting questions: What if anyone could get into heaven? Would you want to go? Is it really possible for a rational person to believe in a God who can’t been seen or touched, who would permit so much suffering in the world? Grounded in descriptions of heaven and hell from Swedish scientist-turned-theologian Emanuel Swedenborg, this exploration of the worlds of spirit speaks to anyone with doubts about spiritual belief.
About the Author
Albrecht H. Gralle was born in Stuttgart, Germany. After receiving a master’s degree in theology, he worked as a Baptist minister and lecturer in several positions in Germany and Sierra Leone. He started writing and publishing short stories in 1980, and later expanded into novels and children’s books, some of which have been translated into other European languages. In August 1993, Gralle became a full-time freelance writer. He lives with his wife Ingrid in Northeim, near Hanover, Germany. The couple has two daughters and two sons.
Friederike Gralle was born in Hamburg, Germany. As a child, she lived in Sierra Leone, West Africa, then went on to study languages in Leipzig, Germany, and Granada, Spain. She currently lives in Berlin, Germany, where she works as a freelance translator while going to school for screenwriting.
Sally Blakemore is a children’s book author, illustrator, award-winning pop-up book designer, and marimbist who has traveled the world printing her pop-up books and enjoying the amazing cultures of our planet. She has spent the last twenty years in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her husband Rusty and their menagerie of animals.