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Inspirational Fiction

Birth of a nation: Thoenes focus on Israel’s first days

Review by bookpagedev

The modern-day nation of Israel is 52 years old this year. That may not mean much to those in the pre-50 age set, but it’s astounding when we consider the lapse of time since the previous Jewish state and the constant boil of ethnic and religious fervor in the region.

Jerusalem Vigil by Brock and Bodie Thoene (prononced Tay’nee) opens on May 14, 1948, the day Israel’s statehood was declared. The novel covers a period of only five days, exploring those first difficult days from the angle of each different ethnic group involved. Jerusalem Vigil initiates the Zion Legacy series, projected to be six titles, each of which will delineate another few days or weeks in this dramatic birth-of-a-nation story. This follows two earlier series, Zion Chronicles and Zion Covenant, begun in 1986 and now numbering 32 titles and 6.5 million books in print. The Thoenes’ fiction has garnered seven Gold Medallion Awards from the Christian Booksellers Association over the years.

How did the Thoenes get started on this epic writing venture? The two grew up together in Bakersfield, California, married when they were sophomores in college, and after graduation, went to work in Hollywood as researchers and screenwriters for John Wayne’s Batjac Productions. Their first book together, Gates of Zion, originated as a screenplay to be produced with the makers of the movie Chariots of Fire while they were working at Batjac. In fact, it was John Wayne who encouraged them to create the Zion Chronicles series and who called the birth of the state of Israel the Jewish Alamo. When I talked with the husband-and-wife writing team, I asked why they had chosen the word Zion to title all their series. Also, I wondered, how can they create another good story about the same tensions in the same setting? Brock explained that Zion best expresses both the biblical and prophetic aspects of the city of Jerusalem. In Old Testament times, Zion was the name of the fortress conquered by King David prior to the first establishment of Jerusalem. The name connotes an incredible continuity. No other state has gone out of existence and come back centuries later. The Pope has called the establishment of Israel the most significant event of the 20th century, Brock reminded me.

In Jerusalem Vigil the Thoenes present the concentrated chaos of the first five days following the British evacuation mandated by the United Nations to establish a Jewish homeland. Even as the British were on the road to Tel Aviv, Jews and Arabs were positioning and arming themselves for the great land grab in the Old City. The book definitely has a cinematic flavor as scenes shift among the various characters, including Moshe Sachar, commander of forces defending the Jewish sector, and his wife, Rachel, survivor of German prison camps; Ahkmed al-Malik, Arab demolitions expert; and the Mother Superior of the Notre Dame Hospice just outside the city walls.

How did the Thoenes capture the detail that make the scenes so real? The two have gone to Israel time and again to talk with participants in the conflict, many of whom were young teens in 1948. They have researched customs, buildings, and language. Both Hebrew and Arabic are frequently used in dialogue.

We wanted readers to know what happened on an hour-by-hour basis. Although we have created some characters, everything in the book actually happened, Bodie said. In Jerusalem Vigil they provide three maps to help locate the action of the many scenes.

In describing how they write as a team, Brock noted that he is the chief researcher (he has degrees in history and education). You never really get to the end of research. No circumstance is wasted. He develops the outline of events for the novel; then Bodie, the journalist, develops characters and dialogue. When she has finished, Brock reads the scenes back to her since she is dyslexic. At this point she becomes more editor than author.

Now the Thoenes’ three children are involved in all their writing projects. Sons John and Luke have written nine books of their own and collaborate to produce audio versions of their parents’ books (read by the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Company). The Thoenes’ daughter, Rachel, abridges the text for the audios. Four grandchildren, one born the day of our conversation, are a bit young yet, but no doubt there will be stories for them to research and share as well.

Meanwhile, Jerusalem Vigil promises meticulously researched, dramatic reading for today’s historical fiction fans.

Etta Wilson is an agent and reviewer.

The modern-day nation of Israel is 52 years old this year. That may not mean much to those in the pre-50 age set, but it’s astounding when we consider the lapse of time since the previous Jewish state and the constant boil of ethnic and religious fervor in the region. Jerusalem Vigil by Brock and […]
Inspirational Fiction

Review

Review by bookpagedev

oming Home to Harmony Jan Karon hit the motherlode of publishing when she tapped into a deeply felt yearning for small-town community and character. Since then, other writers have trod the path to small-town America, helping millions recapture (or reinvent) their memories of a simpler life that holds its own sweet rewards.

One of the latest and most successful to walk this road is Philip Gulley, a Quaker minister and best-selling author of three nonfiction books that have delighted and inspired hundreds of thousands of readers. The first of these, Front Porch Tales, grew out of essays Gulley wrote for his church newsletter. Gulley’s stories were so inspiring and hilarious that some of his church members suggested he write a book. Front Porch Tales has since sold more than a quarter-million copies and spawned two sequels with more brief essays on the delights and challenges of small-town living: Home Town Tales and For Everything a Season.

Now Gulley is trying his hand at fiction, with this month’s release of Home to Harmony (audio), in which the fictional town of Harmony, Indiana, hosts the biggest collection of crusty, lovable characters since James Herriott settled in Yorkshire.

“I wanted to write not only about the good that people do, but also about the funny messes we get ourselves into, Gulley says, “and about how, even in those moments, wonderful things can still happen. One of Gulley’s favorite characters in Home to Harmony is Miriam Hodge, head elder of the town’s Quaker meeting, and a woman of uncommon wisdom and grace. “It’s hard for me to think of Miriam as a fictional character, Gulley admits. “I keep expecting to meet her any day now. Despite winning the author’s affection, Miriam manages to get herself into some embarrassing scrapes. In one episode, the ladies of the Quaker meeting decide to make a quilt as a fund-raising project. When they hang the quilt in the meeting house and the sun hits it, the face of Jesus appears on the surface of the quilt. Mobs of people begin lining up to see the holy quilt, forcing Miriam to make a private confession to her minister: she had spilled coffee on the quilt, leaving a stain that resembled the face of Jesus. “That’s not the Lord we’ve been seeing, Miriam admits, “that’s Maxwell House. Miriam’s minister is Sam Gardner, the book’s narrator who, like Gulley himself, returns to live in his hometown after attending college and seminary. Gardner is offered a job when the town’s Quaker pastor dies in an accident. (“Both his parents had died of heart problems, which he feared would happen to him, so he’d begun to jog and was hit by a truck. ) In an interview, the author displays the same wry humor and love of people that enliven his books. Appropriately enough, Gulley would fit right in as a resident of Mayberry, RFD, since he looks like a cross between Sheriff Andy Griffith and his deputy, Barney Fife. Gulley has Barney’s wiry build, combined with Andy’s wide grin and reassuring manner.

After a few minutes of conversation with the minister, you can see why his speeches and sermons have drawn many admirers. Gulley is charming, self-deprecating, and utterly sincere as he holds forth on the joys of living in Danville, Indiana a place where most of the 4,000 residents know one another. As a writer, he aims to capture this sense of intimacy and belonging in his books.

“I just wanted to tell the world about these wonderful people I know, Gulley says, “people I grew up with; people who taught me things. I really believe in people. I’m one of those rare and lucky individuals who has never been too disappointed by people. In that sense, I’m truly blessed. Home to Harmony is intended to be the first in a series, with the next entry, Searching for Harmony following the same characters through a series of crises and challenges. Through it all, Gulley says, his aim is “to gladden people’s hearts. I’ve met so many people who’ve done that for me. Home to Harmony and the other books I write become the way I pay back what was given to me.

oming Home to Harmony Jan Karon hit the motherlode of publishing when she tapped into a deeply felt yearning for small-town community and character. Since then, other writers have trod the path to small-town America, helping millions recapture (or reinvent) their memories of a simpler life that holds its own sweet rewards. One of the […]
FictionInspirational Fiction

5 reasons why we still love Jane Austen

Behind the Book by Katherine Reay

Author Katherine Reay really loves Jane Austen and her contemporaries. She has written multiple novels that draw from Austen’s novels and Recency classics, and her latest is a fun tale of friendship and falling head-first into history.

In The Austen Escape, Mary Davies is an engineer in need of a holiday, and she receives the perfect offer from her childhood friend Isabel Dwyer: a two-week stay in an English manor house. But then Isabel loses her memory and becomes convinced she lives in Austen-era Bath. Reay’s latest is a charming romp full of dancing, misunderstandings and romance.

Reay can’t get enough of Jane Austen—and neither can we. Here’s five reasons why.

Why we (still) love Jane Austen
By Katherine Reay

1. Austen introduces us to ourselves—and we are well dressed.

Austen shows that human nature is static—all while moving through life in silk dresses, cravats and shoe-roses got by proxy. From Pride and Prejudice alone, Austen shows we will always get things wrong, carry prejudice, look out for our own interests, demonstrate beautiful loyalty, stand firm when pressed and often rise above it all with the truest sacrificial instincts. In her fiction and in our lives, we see that sibling love is powerful and a gift, sibling rivalry undeniable, and families, good or bad, are for life. We interact with Wickhams, Caroline Bingleys, Lydias and Marys, and if we’re blessed, we count a few Lizzys, Janes, Georgianas and Charlottes among our friends. We not only meet these people daily—we are these people.

2. Austen wrote unlike anybody else—and exactly how we think.

We are taught to use active verbs when writing. Run! Slay! Dart! Use “ponder” rather than “think long and hard.” And never load up the adverbs—that’s clearly and noticeably weak. Yet, we think that way. We think in gradations of an unspoken, often even subconscious, standard. Comparisons are in our nature—likes, winks. Austen writes just this way. She describes Marianne Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility as “still handsomer . . . so lovely . . . though not so correct” as her elder sister, Elinor. She employs a prodigious number of very-s, most-s and much-es throughout all her novels. She continually compares because we understand it. We instinctively understand her.

3. Austen reminds us everyone is flawed—even our beloved heroines—but they, and we, can change.

In Northanger Abbey, Austen introduces an unlikely heroine:

“No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be a heroine. Her situation in life, the character of her father and mother, her own person and disposition, were all equally against her.”

It’s a delightful way to begin a story, and reveal a truth. We can change, learn, think and grow. We can become the heroes and heroines of our own stories. Human nature writ large may be static, but we as individuals are not. Her most beloved heroine, Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice, backs this up:

“But vanity, not love, has been my folly. Pleased with the preference of one, and offended by the neglect of the other, on the very beginning of our acquaintance, I have courted prepossession and ignorance, and driven reason away, where either were concerned. Till this moment I never knew myself.”

Now, Catherine and Lizzy don’t overturn their presuppositions and refine their thinking all at once. Austen’s books are carefully drawn journeys of self-discovery. Her young heroines learn who they are, where they stand and who they want to be over time—and if that comes with love, all the better. Catherine constantly sparred with the quixotic Henry—her education was challenging and slow going. She had to break old patterns and expectations—her thirst for good gothic drama, for one. Lizzy needed to recognize she was fallible. Her education was almost the opposite of Catherine’s. One came at the world with wide-eyed naiveté, and the other with a cynical belief in her own complete understanding. Like Catherine, we too can see mystery, pain, subterfuge and drama where only a laundry list exists. And like Lizzy, we often don’t pay attention to what’s around us and make discerning judgments. We judge on what we think we know.

Emma is also a delightful example of this. Austen, in an ironic play, exposes Emma’s self-absorption and arrogance by naming the novel after her—solely Emma. Yet Austen also gives Emma a remarkable capacity for understanding, empathy, sacrifice and selfless love. This novel is a beautiful story of transformation, and as often is true in own lives, it takes a little outside correction to get Emma there. No one will ever forget Mr. Knightley’s “It was badly done, indeed!” He could say the same to us, many times over.

4. Austen calls out what we know to be true: It is vital to pay attention to life right around you.

As I alluded to above, we often go with what we know, rather than paying attention to the truth around us. Austen opens her most famous book, Pride and Prejudice, with that immortal line, “It is a truth universally acknowledged. . . .” But she cautions readers to not be fooled. She is not going to dazzle the reader with a “universal” story, a sweeping saga with adventures across continents, great mysteries or international intrigue. Instead, Austen expresses the very small truth: A woman with five daughters believes that every young man must be in want of a wife, because all the Mrs. Bennets of the world have daughters who need to marry them. Austen’s characters stayed in their villages—or complained about a 50-mile carriage ride outside them. In those close quarters, her men and women moved through kitchens, ballrooms and life. She didn’t need more canvas. Nor do we. Although the concerns of the world do and should draw us to the larger stage, our actions close to home are paramount. How we love those nearest us will determine how we help and love those far away.

On that note, in Mansfield Park, Austen created Fanny Price—an often overlooked heroine, but one who confirms this point. Fanny is not a character many readers love. She is not a heroine who says much or even seems to feel much. But Fanny does much. She takes care of her indolent Aunt Bertram, continually assists her cousins, even taking part in a play she dislikes because it is their wish to continue it, and works time and again towards their welfare rather than her own. Fanny serves her family. She shows love through doing—on a very small stage—and she changes lives.

5. Ahead of her time, Austen recognized the multifaceted benefits of exercise.

I loved playing with this in my new book, The Austen Escape. One character pulls another up from a park bench with the truth, “When there are serious matters to discuss, Austen women walk. And it has the side benefit of keeping our figures so light and pleasing.” (Thank you, Mr. Darcy, for that visual.) Time and time again, Austen reinforced what we know to be true—a good long walk is always a good idea. Need to clear your head? Take a walk outside. Need to gain some perspective or relax? Again, go for a walk. Need exercise to get your heart rate up, purge some anger or avoid an unwanted guest—go walking. Exercise clears the mind, helps sleep, improves your mood, strengthens your bones and muscles and helps prevent disease. What more could we want? Lizzy was Austen’s most famous walker, but Catherine, Emma, Marianne, Fanny and Anne all walked as well. And another benefit? Good things happened on walks. Don’t forget it was during a walk Mr. Knightley proposed to Emma; Darcy to Elizabeth; and after one that Captain Wentworth handed Anne into a carriage and, I say, fell in love with her all over again.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little traipse into Austen with me. Bottom line: I contend we still love Austen because Austen is still relevant.

Author Katherine Reay can’t get enough of Jane Austen—and neither can we. Here’s five reasons why.

Inspirational Fiction

Review

Review by bookpagedev

For inspiration Michael Walker was eight on the Christmas Day he lost his brother David. For Michael, the meaning of Christmas changed forever. Thirty years later Michael is the neighborhood Grinch. He scowls at his neighbors’ fervent holiday traditions and at his own children’s innocent love of Christmas. But when another holiday disaster strikes, and his own cherished young son loses his will to live, Michael searches deep within himself to root out the anger, fear, and pain of the past. Can he bear remembering what happened that tragic Christmas day? Will he make peace with this past for the sake of his own children? When Angels Sing, by Turk Pipkin, is an inspiring tale of Christmas spirit lost and found. This small, unassuming little book is one of the precious few guaranteed to wring a tear from even the Grinch himself. It is spectacular.

For inspiration Michael Walker was eight on the Christmas Day he lost his brother David. For Michael, the meaning of Christmas changed forever. Thirty years later Michael is the neighborhood Grinch. He scowls at his neighbors’ fervent holiday traditions and at his own children’s innocent love of Christmas. But when another holiday disaster strikes, and […]
Inspirational Fiction

Tim LaHaye keeps readers enraptured with tales of those Left Behind

Review by Dee Ann Grand

"When I gave my life to the Lord, I thought I'd be a preacher," says Tim LaHaye, who despite more than 50 years of preaching is now best known as a phenomenally successful author. More than 30 million copies of LaHaye's books have been sold, including eight titles co-authored with Jerry Jenkins in the Left Behind series, the seemingly omnipresent apocalyptic novels.

With his latest book, Mind Siege, co-authored with David Noebel, the soft-spoken minister has raised the bar in Christian book sales. His critique of the ills of modern society premiered on The New York Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list at number 17. At the same time the Left Behind series had five entries on the hardback and paperback fiction lists.

"I can't tell you what a thrill it is to walk into a Costco and see our books and other Christian books in the secular stores," LaHaye remarks.

And what set off this avalanche of publishing success? "About 40 years ago I had an experience where I wrote a tract, he explains. After I'd preached a message on Sunday night, I'd print it up. One Monday, he went to visit a patient in the hospital. Her family had given her the tract, she read it, then gave it to the other lady who was sharing the same room. And that [tract] led her to Christ. I kind of staggered down the hall and thought, Oh God, this is a new way to reach people!" Years later, LaHaye and his wife took a trip overseas and were surprised to find just how far-reaching his printed products had become. "Bev and I did a trip around the world, and we'd been to Poland, a communist state. The spiritual leaders apologetically showed me a copy of my Spirit-Controlled Temperament. You see, they'd copied it without permission from the U.S. publisher. But I was elated they were using it."

Today, LaHaye's books have been translated into 34 languages. "And I've never done one thing to cultivate that," he says adamantly, crediting all his success to God.

But there must have been a secret formula for the overwhelming popularity of the Left Behind series, which describes the fate of those left on Earth after the rapture, in which Christians ascend into heaven. "It's a series of things," LaHaye says of the books' appeal. "Timing is one thing. All people, even secular people, are seeing books on the market like The End of History. It makes them start thinking, where is this world going? People recognize something's going to happen, and they'd better get ready." Another component in Left Behind's success, LaHaye says, is his co-author, Jerry Jenkins. "I think it's Jerry's masterful fiction writing. And he's never been given his due credit until now with the Left Behind series." Eight titles have been published in the series, with more to come.

"I think God has chosen to use this as a tool," LaHaye continues. "And Tyndale House has done a good job with marketing. They've done their homework."

With a wide array of topics, from the apocalypse to Bible prophesy, family life and the purported evils of secular humanism, who is LaHaye trying to reach? "Both adults and children," he admits. "I have several audiences. That's why I write, with help, children's books, like the Left Behind: The Kids," LaHaye says. "I'm currently working on a Mind Siege for youth. And part of my vision is to do dynamic videos for kids." But he doesn't stop with videos. LaHaye has set his sights on the big screen. Unhappy with the current Left Behind: The Movie so much so, he has filed a lawsuit against the movie's producers his goal is to create a believable conversion with a top quality, feature film.

At age 74, the author is bombarded with speaking invitations and does a weekly Prophetic Update on the television program The King is Coming. Does he believe his true calling is to warn about the coming of the rapture? "I hope," he says with a smile, but then adds, "Well, maybe that's one of them."

 

"When I gave my life to the Lord, I thought I'd be a preacher," says Tim LaHaye, who despite more than 50 years of preaching is now best known as a phenomenally successful author. More than 30 million copies of LaHaye's books have been sold, including eight titles co-authored with Jerry Jenkins in the Left […]
Inspirational Fiction

Father Tim is leaving Mitford?

Review by Sharon Chance

Author Jan Karon began her tales about the peaceful little North Carolina town in 1995 with At Home in Mitford. With the series, she introduced one of the most beloved characters in recent literary history kind-hearted Father Tim Kavanagh. In A New Song, the fifth in the beloved Mitford series, Father Tim has retired from Lord's Chapel. Dooley, his adopted son, has grown up and gone away to school, and Cynthia, his new wife, is busy at work on another Violet book. Father Tim is content to spend his time watching over his flock. These peaceful plans are changed, however, when he is asked to serve as interim minister of a small church on Whitecap Island.

Always up for a challenge, Father Tim and Cynthia pack their bags, close up the house, and set off for new adventures beachside. The Kavanaghs soon find that Whitecap has its own unforgettable characters in a church organist with a mysterious past, a lovelorn bachelor placing personal ads, and an eccentric homebound piano virtuoso. Father Tim also realizes he has his work cut out here solving squabbles, soothing hurt feelings, and even taking in a parishioner's three-year-old son. Whitecap is not so very different from Mitford. Father Tim also realizes that Mitford is never far away as various problems back home keep the phone ringing off the hook. Karon's gentle style and beautiful descriptions make her books an absolute joy. She mixes a little romance, a little mystery, and a generous dash of humor, serving up a delicious helping of fine reading.

Devoted readers, old and new, will discover that no matter where Father Tim resides, Mitford will always be a delightful slice of life. 

Sharon Galligar Chance is a reviewer for the Times Record News in Wichita Falls, Texas.

 

 

Author Jan Karon began her tales about the peaceful little North Carolina town in 1995 with At Home in Mitford. With the series, she introduced one of the most beloved characters in recent literary history kind-hearted Father Tim Kavanagh. In A New Song, the fifth in the beloved Mitford series, Father Tim has retired from Lord's Chapel.

FictionInspirational FictionHistorical Fiction

Becoming Mrs. Lewis

Review by Jessica Bates

Patti Callahan weaves a hypnotic historical fiction narrative of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis, or “Jack,” as he’s known to his closest friends.

In 1946, Joy is married to an unhappy man and doing her best to raise her two young boys and juggle a writing career. One day in her son’s nursery, her knees hit the floor as a religious experience shakes her to her core, and she decides to write to C.S. Lewis, who loves to answer letters, and ask him all of her questions about God.

Joy is thrilled when Jack responds to her letter, and they start a long conversation across the ocean. When Joy’s health and marriage take a turn for the worse, she leaves home for a trip to England. Joy spends months exploring, writing and caring for herself, and she finally gets to meet her precious Jack and his brother, Warnie. Joy is in her version of heaven, but the skies darken when she learns that her cousin and her husband have fallen in love in her absence. As Joy is forced to return to her tattered American life in an attempt to make things right, she and Jack continue their pen-pal relationship, and she musters up the courage to divorce her husband and move her two boys to England.

Joy’s challenges are likely those of many midcentury women trying to conform to society’s ideas of womanhood and motherhood while also living as individuals with their own dreams and desires. Spanning more than a decade, this slow-burning love story will be especially satisfying to writers and C.S. Lewis fans, as there are many references to his literary canon and his famous stories of Narnia. Callahan’s prose is heartfelt and full of grace.

Patti Callahan weaves a hypnotic historical fiction narrative of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis, or “Jack,” as he’s known to his closest friends.

FictionPopular FictionInspirational Fiction

Leaps of faith

Review by Chika Gujarathi

There is nothing like the nervous anticipation of an impending storm to make a person think about all they value in life and how to protect it. In Lauren K. Denton’s new novel, Hurricane Season, the weather is just the beginning of what’s keeping Betsy Franklin awake.

Living on a dairy farm in southern Alabama with the love of her life, Betsy has truly found her happy place. But the ominous weather forecast from the Gulf of Mexico isn’t the only thing ruffling the feathers of her otherwise serene existence—she has also received a call from her younger sister, Jenna, with an unexpected request.

Jenna, a single mother of two and a coffee shop manager in Nashville, has received a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rediscover her passion for photography at a world-famous artists’ retreat. Could this be her chance to make something of herself and provide a better life for her daughters, Addie and Walsh? To find out, Jenna’s only option is to give up her job and leave Walsh and Addie in the care of Betsy, with whom she hasn’t exactly been close.

Between Betsy and her husband dealing with their little guests (and their own marriage and unfruitful parenthood) and Jenna chasing her artistic calling (which keeps taking longer and longer), Denton artfully explores the struggle between caring for one’s own dreams and helping someone else achieve theirs. Any reader who values the comfort of family, the possibility of second chances and the simple truths of love and sisterhood will devour Denton’s novel. In many ways, Hurricane Season feels like the calm before a storm that changes everything—for the better.

 

This article was originally published in the April 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

There is nothing like the nervous anticipation of an impending storm to make a person think about all they value in life and how to protect it. In Lauren K. Denton’s new novel, Hurricane Season, the weather is just the beginning of what’s keeping Betsy Franklin awake.

FictionInspirational Fiction

A town at the heart of something supernatural

Review by Arlene McKanic

Something strange is going on in Bellhaven, South Carolina, an exurb of Charleston. It’s the spring of 1920, and everything is blooming at once. That means the Carolina jessamine, the honeysuckle, daffodils, dogwoods, azaleas, crepe myrtles and magnolias. The whole town looks like a Monet painting. If you’re familiar with the South, you know that just doesn’t happen. But here it is in James Markert’s tale of destiny and good versus evil in the Low Country.

Another bright, strange thing is the town itself. It’s multiracial, like many historical Southern towns, but everyone is equal. The African-American friends of the white protagonist, Ellsworth Newberry, feel free to come into his home and call him by his first name. The town hosts a congenial jumble of the Abrahamic religions and their offshoots. One character calls Bellhaven the highway to heaven, and it just may be. It seems that everything bad that happens here comes from the outside, like an infection.

One of these pathogens is a strange little chapel in the woods just outside of town. At first, it’s in a place of surpassing beauty, with blossoming trees and singing birds. Inside, the very air is fresh and invigorating, and people who enter hear the voices of their deceased loved ones, granting them forgiveness. The townspeople long to believe this is unalloyed goodness, but it isn’t. It’s “fool’s gold,” as Ellsworth says, a trick of the devil that must be resisted.

All Things Bright and Strange feels like an allegory, probably a religious one. Consider that four of the main characters are named Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. Then again, it might be an allegory of the evils of slavery and genocide, as the chapel is a place where slaves and Native Americans were tortured and killed. It may even be an allegory of drug addiction, as the need to revisit the chapel becomes a nearly irresistible craving. It may be all three. Whatever is going on, this magical novel warns us to be careful what we wish for. We may get it.

Something strange is going on in Bellhaven, South Carolina, an exurb of Charleston. It’s the spring of 1920, and everything is blooming at once. That means the Carolina jessamine, the honeysuckle, daffodils, dogwoods, azaleas, crepe myrtles and magnolias. The whole town looks like a Monet painting. If you’re familiar with the South, you know that just doesn’t happen. But here it is in James Markert’s tale of destiny and good versus evil in the Low Country.

RomanceInspirational FictionContemporary Romance

Between two worlds

Review by Billie B. Little

Sallie Riehl was born in Paradise Township, Pennsylvania, deep in Amish country. As a wee girl, her Mamm said she had "itchy feet." Sallie realizes she isn’t settling into Amish life as easily as the rest of her nine siblings, and her parents worry she’ll end up leaving or remaining a Maidel—unmarried.

Sallie reassures her Mamm that she loves being Amish. She doesn’t mind hard work, especially when she and her sisters rub elbows and chat while churning ice cream, putting up jams and jellies, and hanging out the laundry. She doesn’t long to be “fancy,” but the predictability of life in Paradise Township weighs on her.

When Sallie is hired as a summer nanny for a well-to-do family with a beach home in beautiful Cape May, she sees the ocean for the first time and lives in the family guest house by the shore. Through caring for young Autumn, a ten-year-old who is having difficulty accepting her baby brother, Sallie gains a glimpse of a very different world, one much more complex than she has ever known. In time, she meets Kevin, a young naturalist who, like Sallie, loves the ocean and who has family ties to the Mennonite community. The two become close, but Sallie vows not to "get in over her head."

At summer’s end, Sallie will have to return to Paradise Township and family, but her desire to explore her own path into God’s great kingdom and her affection for Kevin begin to pull her in the opposite direction.

As the number one name in Amish fiction, author Beverly Lewis could rest on her laurels. Instead, The Ebb Tide delivers a lovely and believable heroine, a glorious beach setting and serious life-choices against an uplifting backdrop of family warmth and faith. This coming of age story provides a pleasant respite for readers, both plain and fancy.

As the number one name in Amish fiction, author Beverly Lewis could rest on her laurels. Instead, The Ebb Tide delivers a lovely and believable heroine, a glorious beach setting, and serious life-choices against an uplifting backdrop of family warmth and faith. This coming of age story provides a pleasant respite for readers, both plain and fancy.

FictionInspirational FictionHistorical Fiction

Journey to the Panama Canal

Review by Beth Bulow

An intelligent mystery set during a compelling time in history, Sigmund Brouwer’s Saffire is a fascinating novel. James Holt made a lasting impression on Teddy Roosevelt during their service together in the Spanish-American War; now it’s 1909 and the President wants James to travel to Panama and meet with the Canal’s American Zone leader. Once James arrives, however, his investigation into the disappearance of young Saffire’s mother turns deadly, and he finds himself in the midst of a potential revolution.

The characters in Saffire are varied and realistic. James Holt is endearing and his first-person narration has a clear, distinct voice. The faith element is light and never preachy; James views everyone through a faith-based worldview and wants to help those who cannot help themselves. The secondary characters are vibrant. In particular, T.B. Miskimon, Canal Zone Inspector and reluctant helper to James, provides some humorous pieces of dialogue and Saffire makes a memorable first appearance. There’s also a heartfelt romantic thread running behind the action and history.

Readers who know little about the building of the Panama Canal, or the political climate of the time, will become well-informed in an organic way throughout the story. The descriptions of the different aspects of construction are equally fascinating, and the magnitude of this undertaking is keenly felt. Unique, smart and compelling, Saffire is sure to be remembered well after the last page.

An intelligent mystery set during a compelling time in history, Sigmund Brouwer’s Saffire is a fascinating novel. James Holt made a lasting impression on Teddy Roosevelt during their service together in the Spanish-American War; now it’s 1909 and the President wants James to travel to Panama and meet with the Canal’s American Zone leader. Once James arrives, however, his investigation into the disappearance of young Saffire’s mother turns deadly, and he finds himself in the midst of a potential revolution.
FictionInspirational Fiction

A mysterious curse in a Blue Ridge holler

Review by Michael Alec Rose

The line between mainstream and Christian fiction gets thinner and thinner. That’s because the quality of writing by identifiably Christian authors gets better and better. There has always been a strong thread of Christian theology running through mainstream fiction, from Flannery O’Connor to Marilynne Robinson. The ironic key to this successful wedding of religion and high art has always been the subtlety of the moral of the story, which must be subordinate to the storyteller’s art. The same principle elevates the novels of Virginia author Billy Coffey (The Devil Walks in Mattingly). 

In the first line of the book, Coffey’s hillbilly narrator invites his accidental guest (that would be us, the readers) to “come on out of that sun” and set a spell. The spell is immediate. We are altogether bewitched by the teller, by his lyrical telling and by the tale itself, whose darkness is infernal. How is it that Coffey convinces us that the tiny population of Crow Holler, Virginia—nestled in the remote depths of the Blue Ridge—possesses so much significance, not only as a microcosm of humans as a whole, but as a prime example of the essential flaws and virtues of human nature? The tides of events and emotions running through the book pull us right under as Coffey tells the story of a small town where young girls begin suffering from mysterious symptoms. 

The fate of the daughters of Crow Hollow—cursed by the witch Alvaretta one night, up at her bad place on the mountain—becomes our own fate. What happens to Sheriff Bucky, or to that preacher’s boy John David, or to the witch herself, becomes a moral obsession to us over the course of reading The Curse of Crow Hollow. Everything is at stake in this battle between good and evil—including the identity of the narrator, revealed at last. To Christians and non-Christians alike, this roaring tale will leave a powerful mark.

 

This article was originally published in the August 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

The line between mainstream and Christian fiction gets thinner and thinner. That’s because the quality of writing by identifiably Christian authors gets better and better. There has always been a strong thread of Christian theology running through mainstream fiction, from Flannery O’Connor to Marilynne Robinson. The ironic key to this successful wedding of religion and high art has always been the subtlety of the moral of the story, which must be subordinate to the storyteller’s art. The same principle elevates the novels of Virginia author Billy Coffey (The Devil Walks in Mattingly).
RomanceInspirational FictionHistorical Romance

Betting on love

Review by Lily McLemore

Tamera Alexander continues her inspirational Belle Meade Plantation series with a tale of high-stakes romance, To Win Her Favor. Set in Nashville during the devastating fallout of the Civil War, the novel follows Maggie Linden, a brilliant horsewoman determined to make it in the lucrative world of horse racing, and the strong-willed Irishman who is roped into her plans.

Though determined to save her family’s home, Maggie is running out of options. Although she is an accomplished rider and trainer, her gender has kept her out of the horse races she knows she can win—races with prize money that she and her ailing father desperately need in order to keep their farm. Unable to race herself, Maggie has placed all of her hopes on the talented young jockey she’s trained and her beloved mare, Bourbon Belle. But her hopes are shattered when her jockey is forced to flee Nashville in the face of escalating attacks against freed slaves. However, her father has one last plan to save the farm—if only he can get Maggie to go along with it. 

Leaving behind a painful past, Irishman Cullen McGrath immigrated to America with the dream of living a quiet life on his own piece of farmland. However, the famed Southern hospitality does not seem to extend to people of Cullen's lineage. Farms that are advertised as for sale mysteriously become unavailable as soon as Cullen opens his mouth—Nashvillians clearly have no interest in selling to an Irishman. The Linden’s farm is his last hope, and Mr. Linden has no qualms with selling to an Irishman. There is one stipulation though—Cullen must marry his daughter. 

 Could Cullen and Maggie’s marriage gradually become one filled with true love?

Maggie is far from pleased with her father’s scheme, but her desire to hold onto her family’s farm trumps her misgivings about the arranged marriage. They are hastily wed, and Maggie and Cullen struggle to get to know each other under these unusual circumstances. Although innately kind, Maggie has prejudices that she must work through, and she is used to getting what she wants. However, with patience and understanding, Cullen and Maggie’s affection for each other grows. Although their marriage came about through desperate circumstances, could Cullen and Maggie’s marriage gradually become one filled with true love?

Alexander does not glaze over the historical facts of the time—post-Civil War Nashville was not a pleasant place—nor does she breeze past the struggles that Cullen and Maggie face as married strangers. To Win Her Favor is a thoughtfully rendered love story filled with convincing historical details. It’s rewarding to watch Cullen and Maggie grow as people and find faith in love, God and each other, even when it feels like there’s no hope left. 

 

Tamera Alexander continues her inspirational Belle Meade Plantation series with a tale of high-stakes romance, To Win Her Favor. Set in Nashville during the devastating fallout of the Civil War, the novel follows Maggie Linden, a brilliant horsewoman determined to make it in the lucrative world of horse-racing and the strong-willed Irishman who is roped into her plans.

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