A Departure (?) by Chaim Potok

I Am the Clay seems on the surface to be something different from Potok, who we know from books such as My Name is Asher Lev and The Chosen. Such books explore Jewish identity in contemporary American life and feature characters with rich internal and spiritual lives. Here, this story of three refugees (an old married couple and an 11 year old wounded boy) fleeing the Korean War after their villages are decimated seems a bit of a departure for Potok. Don't be misled. Although their spiritual beliefs involve natural spirits, the characters spend much of their time considering what it all means. Why was this boy placed in our way and what magic does he possess? Why does my wife become so assertive and even vehement? How do I access the spiritual realm and what do I owe the spirits? All this while war rages around them on their journey south on a route strewn with destruction and death. A dolorous book but a propulsive story. An intensely spiritual book.