Archive | December 2019

The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis

Dec12

Perfect For Bronte Fans

The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis is a cleverly thought out historical mystery and the first book in The Bronte Mysteries series. As the name suggests the action revolves around the Bronte sisters. As fact meets fiction, the reader is in for a real treat.

I am a huge Bronte fan and adore Haworth and the surrounding area. Therefore the locations were familiar to me and helped the book to come alive as I ‘lived’ through the action.

Within the novel, the Bronte sisters take on amateur sleuthing. They are three well educated, highly intelligent young women, trying to exert their presence at a time when women were seen as inferior to men. It is ironic that they need the help of Branwell Bronte to gain access to certain places. He is clearly inferior to them with his drug and alcohol dependence and yet he is accepted just because he is a male. His weak character is in contrast to his far stronger sisters.

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A Time Of Green by Eleanor Watkins

Dec12

Across The Years

  A Time Of Green by Eleanor Watkins is a delightful Christian dual timeline novel that will warm the reader’s heart.

The action is set in present day America and rural Wales in the 1940’s. The story is told from two alternating points of view – a great grandmother and her great granddaughter. The beautiful bond between them is tangible to feel.

The threat of dementia is the catalyst to opening up the past. During World War II the great grandmother, June, was evacuated to Wales as a twelve year old. She shares her experiences with her eleven year old great granddaughter. We are treated to a glimpse of the past as a city girl adapts to country life.

The countryside comes alive with Eleanor Watkins descriptions as the reader ‘wades’ through the mud, ‘experiences’ a blanket of snow and ‘sees’ snowdrops blossom.

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A Wedding In December by Sarah Morgan

Dec9

Fighting For Love

A Wedding In December by Sarah Morgan is a most delightful contemporary novel about love and family.

Families are complicated affairs with interactions that are constantly changing. The novel focuses on a family that is coming apart at the seams as everyone tries to cope alone, keeping secrets from others. A change of scenery brings more than just a new location.

The novel explores identity. Too often our identity is tied up in what we do instead of who we are. “Did her mother even have dreams?” has to be one of the saddest utterances… a character is more than just a mother. She has hopes and dreams too. We are never too old to dream.

Where our heart is, there lies our fortune. “Not all people were motivated by money and status. Some were motivated by love.” The richest people are those who love and are loved.

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The Camera Never Lies by David Rawlings

Dec8

The Greatest Gift

The Camera Never Lies by David Rawlings is a powerful contemporary novel about the importance of truth and integrity. As with the previous novel, The Baggage Handler, this book has the potential to change lives if we would just apply the advice given.

The Bible declares that ‘the truth shall set you free’, why then is it sometimes so hard to do? “Truth cannot simply be avoided, covered up or ignored.” Do we prefer to hide the truth because of embarrassment? Or fear? Or something else? We must be truthful because lies and secrets will destroy us sooner or later.

The novel explores the foundations of life. Have we built our houses on the Rock or sinking sand? “I think I’d die if I lost that kitchen.” Really? If our treasure is in stuff, we are in trouble. Treasure is to be found in people and God.

A marriage in trouble has far reaching effects. We need honesty to rebuild the cracks or our relationships will crash. We cannot afford to ignore or push our problems under the carpet. We need to deal with them now. We need to look “through the lens of honesty.”

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