Archive | January 2018

Silent Harmony by Caryl McAdoo

Jan23

The Love Effect

Silent Harmony by Caryl McAdoo is a sweet Christian historical romance that will warm the reader’s heart.

Set in the years following the American Civil War, people have lost so much but the love of the Lord remains.

Caryl McAdoo has created some delightful characters that took up residence in my soul. Grown up sisters were realistically drawn with their sibling quibbles and their loyalty to each other.

As there were prophets in the Bible, so they exist today. Caryl McAdoo portrays a character struck dumb by a stammer apart from when he is speaking in love or the Lord is speaking through him.

The novel revolves around a school for the deaf. Teaching, ahead of its time opens up the world for scholars young and old alike.

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The Bad Mother by Amanda Brooke

Jan21

Untangling The Web

The Bad Mother by Amanda Brooke is a contemporary psychological thriller that has the reader hooked and guessing from the start.

The novel opens and then jumps backwards six months before moving forwards. This is a clever device as it made me question what had happened to end (or start) so intensely?

If someone reminds us of our actions, it must be true. Memory can mislead us. “Do you know what it’s like not to trust your own memory?” Once the seeds of doubt are sown it is hard to return to where we once were.

The novel deals with mental illness. We fear family genes coming down the lines. We fear history repeating itself. “None of us can escape the past.” The past haunts our present and we fear for our future.

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Bridgers: A Parable by Angie Thompson

Jan21

Fish Sticks And Joan Of Arc

Bridgers: A Parable by Angie Thompson – wow, wow, wow! What a powerful contemporary telling of The Good Samaritan. Bridgers is an amazing read, packed full of Godly truths.

God came for everyone. God loves everyone. Who are we to judge when we should be loving?

Just as in the Biblical story, people walk on by with excuses for not helping. “I needed to get to church.”

A young man, rough to look at but with the seed of the love of God planted in his heart, lives out the love of God. He prays “begging a God you’re not even sure exists” to help him.

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Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict

Jan20

Carving A Different Path

Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict is an awesome historical novel. Based on fact, the reader is treated to a cracking story.

To me, Andrew Carnegie was just a name of someone long gone. Carnegie’s Maid has educated me to see the man behind the name.

The novel is written in the first person from the point of view of Clara, Carnegie’s mother’s maid. Both Clara and Carnegie’s mother were poor immigrants, one from Ireland, one from Scotland. They both rose or fell using their own wits. They both cared deeply for their family and would do anything for them, although their methods differed.

Education brings freedom. In a land where the civil war was fought over freedom and the issue of slavery, no man can be truly free without education. Education must be available to all.

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