Archive | June 2021

Madame Burova by Ruth Hogan

True Love

Madame Burova  by Ruth Hogan is a delightful dual timeline novel that I could not put down. It is set in 1972 and present day.

The early 1970’s in Britain was a time of unrest, prejudice and intolerance. The Windrush generation were still finding life hard as they tried to integrate into British society. Their children found it just as hard. “All he wanted was… to be white.” What a heart-breaking thought of an eleven year old of mixed race. The reader is horrified by the attitudes levelled by children to other children. “He had never allowed… the filthy words flung at him in ignorance and hate, to define or diminish him.” This young boy has an enormous capacity to love. When he sees injustice towards a weak, helpless dog, he steps in.

We all want to know our roots. “I feel like a question mark.” On learning that she was a foundling, a woman in her forties sets out to seek out her birth parents, after the receipt of an envelope from her father following his death.

The reader becomes immersed in the life of a 1970’s British holiday camp. It is very reminiscent of the BBC’s Hi-Di-Hi. It was a time of fun but also of sexual harassment which was largely accepted and unreported – until the day the women decide enough is enough.

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More Than This by Marion Ueckermann

Stuck In A Rut

More Than This by Marion Ueckermann is the most charming contemporary Christian novel that will warm your heart. It is part of A Rustic Falls Romance series and is in the box set of Love’s Treasure.

Marion Ueckermann always writes wonderful works grounded in God with realistic, likable characters who face relevant problems. It is refreshing to see the two lead characters are in their fifties.

In the novel we see the importance of having God at the centre of all our relationships. We witness a marriage that is drifting. “How could they work on fixing a marriage they’d never realized was more than a little broken?” In our busyness and our routines sometimes we take our loved ones for granted as we witness two lives passing by like ships in the night. Marriages take time and work. We need to invest into them.

God knows just what we need . As He sees our busyness destroying us, He may remove us. “Had they somehow lost touch with each other somewhere between the busyness of city church life and raising two daughters and a son?” Sometimes we can be so busy working for God and for others that we neglect those closest to us.

The big city was squeezing the life out of a couple. The reader meets them in their new small town life. The town is warm, welcoming and caring. There is a spirit of generosity – both of goods and of time and most importantly of prayer.

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The Girl Behind The Wall by Mandy Robotham

Continuing Life

The Girl Behind The Wall by Mandy Robotham is a compelling historical novel set in the early 1960’s in Berlin as the wall went up to divide the East from the West.

Mandy Robotham has perfectly captured the atmosphere of fear and confusion as Berliners are trapped on either side of the wall. “They are Berliners, first and foremost.” United by the city but divided by the wall. “As the wall climbs higher, life as we know it comes crashing down.”

The reader witnesses the courage of one young woman determined to see her sister. As the tension rose, so did my heart rate.

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The River Between Us by Liz Fenwick

At The Going Down Of The Sun And In The Morning, We Will Remember Them

The River Between Us by Liz Fenwick is a powerful dual timeline novel about life, love and loss. The love found within its pages radiates outwards to encompass the reader.

The novel is set in present day and mainly in 1914 and up to 1921. As the dates suggest, this is a time of loss. A whole generation of young men were lost as cannon fodder to the battle fields of France.

Love is the main theme. There are many different sorts of love – that of a mother, of children towards their parents, of a nanny towards her charges and between couples. In 1914 some of this love was forbidden.

This links to the theme of identity. Some characters had to hide who they were for fear of judgment and/or incarceration.

1914 was a frustrating time for women. They were seeking the vote, marriage alliances were for wealth and power and not for love, love matches between the different social classes were a no-no.

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