History Comes To Life

The Eye Of The Storm by Janice L Dick is a marvellous Christian historical novel and the second book in The Storm Series.

As a historian with a passion for Russia from 1900 under Czar Nicholas II, I found the whole book fascinating. The action is set in Russia from 1917-1919. It was a time of severe unrest – a dislike of Czar Nicholas handling of WWI, the assassination of Czar Nicholas and his family at Ekaterinburg, civil war between the Whites and the Reds, the emergence of Stalin, Lenin and Trotsky. Under the masterful pen of Janice Dicks history comes to life as fact meets fiction.

We follow a Russian Mennonite family who believe in peace not war. They are very godly but the reader senses a tension within.

There are some terrible attitudes towards mental disability with patients shut away from the world. We witness some kind hearts who treat the patients as people to be loved not shunned.

There is the theme of forgiveness. We must forgive because we have been forgiven. It is hard to forgive the atrocities in our own strength. We must ask God for his help.

We all face choices. We must choose whether or not to follow God whole heartedly. “God will have all of you or nothing.” We cannot be half in. God wants our whole heart.

The novel was extremely well thought out and executed. As the reader we ‘walked’ through a very turbulent time in Russian history. You will be educated as you read.

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

JULIA WILSON