Beauty From Ashes: A Legacy Of Faith

Witch by Denise Weimer is a fabulous conclusion to the Restoration Trilogy but can be read as a stand-alone. It is a Christian contemporary and historical romance which I really loved.

God is at the very heart. God is a God of restoration. “God’s healing triumphed brokenness.” God loves to take our broken lives and make them whole again. This love and care is mirrored in the restoring of the old house and buildings. The care and love that Jennifer lavishes on her restoration pales into insignificance when compared with the love and care God pours into us.

This links to the theme of healing. God sees our hurt and He restores us to full spiritual health.

The past and present collide in the novel as the eighteenth century diary mirrors present day. There are hurts that have defined characters but “the ordeal does not give identity, God Himself does.” Characters suffering from PTSD need God to heal them at a time when PTSD was not recognised. “The pull of the past is so strong.” The past must be faced and dealt with before one can progress into the future. “Let go of the past and let God work in the present.”

Life is more than we can see. Life is a spiritual battle. “Those voices told her she was second hand… the pastor… told her to replace those voices with the truth from God’s word.” We need to listen to the voice of God and “replace the lies with the truth.”

Within life there are good and bad people. “People get good at hiding the darkness inside.” Being a Christian does not make us immune to the bad in life. God does promise to walk beside us always and we need to keep our eyes fixed on Him.

There is the theme of forgiveness which may be hard to do but God can help us. “I don’t deserve forgivin’.” Jesus died for us all. We must not exclude ourselves from His love and grace. Sin is sin. There are no degrees of sin. The cross covers them all. No one deserves forgiveness but God’s grace means we can all receive it.

There is hope in the novel because of Jesus. Jesus heals and restores as the reader witnesses in the story.

Witch is written in both the first and third person from two different points of view, just over two centuries apart. As such the reader becomes intimately acquainted with the main characters, both of which have similar but different parallel lives that are easy to empathise with.

I have adored this Restoration trilogy. It has been a delight getting to know the past and present characters and sharing their highs and lows. For anyone not yet acquainted with this trilogy, you are missing out. It’s a fabulous story with warm characters and a great big loving God.

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON

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