Archive | June 2022

The Life We Almost Had by Amelia Henley

Jun14

Love Will Find A Way

The Life We Almost Had by Amelia Henley is the most beautiful contemporary story about love.
There are many types of love. We witness a romantic love between a couple. Life is not always plain sailing but we see that love goes deep. We see a marriage that is strained at times by life but the love never weakens. It is a love that will never die.


Long lasting friendships produce love. That is a love that will drop everything to offer support in an hour of need.


Parental love goes deep. No matter how old our children are, we always want to heal their hearts and make life better for them.


The novel is also about dreams and about loss. Amelia Henley has written sensitively and beautifully and the pain of loss is tangible. You will need the tissues.

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Dreaming Of Flight by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Jun11

Sowing And Reaping

Dreaming Of Flight by Catherine Ryan Hydeis the most delightful contemporary novel that completely warmed my heart. It is a hug in a book.

The novel looks at the topic of grief. We all handle grief differently. There is no right or wrong way, you just have to get through it. Our reactions to loss change. It is perfectly normal to swing from sad to mad in an instant.

Eleven year old Stewie forms a relationship with an elderly neighbour who reminds him of his Gam. Both the old and the young need each other. It is beautiful to witness the development of their relationship. As their relationship buds and blossoms, life begins to open up further for both. They need each other and bring out the best in each other.

Stewie is kindness personified. He always tries to help everyone and spreads love and kindness wherever he goes. If he spots a wrong, he makes it his mission to try to right that wrong.

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The Polish Girl by Malka Adler

Jun7

Powerful

The Polish Girl by Malka Adler is a compelling historical novel that is rooted in fact.

The story is written in the first person as we follow the life of a young girl. The tale alternates between ‘now’ and looking backwards to World War II. 

The reader witnesses the courage and strength needed to survive as a Polish Jewish family under Nazi rule. It was a time of fear, persecution and round-ups. It seemed as though the people were forgotten by the world and by God. “God’s in heaven, and He isn’t asleep.” Faith was clung to, and a hope and desire to survive.

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The Silver Gate by L. M. Parry

Jun5

Enchanting

The Silver Gate by L M Parry is an enchanting contemporary fairytale adventure for ages eight years and over. I am considerably older but I really enjoyed it.

This is an old-fashioned fairytale with traditional elements as we witness the fight between good and the powers of darkness. There are magical spells, fairies, talking animals and wizards to name but a few.

 We see that not everything that appears good can be trusted. We need to discern who is good and who has been caught in a spell and spreading darkness.

To defeat evil, we need to remain steadfast and true, living in the light and not being deceived.

It is important to hold on to hope. To despair would be to admit defeat. Hope tells us there are better times ahead.

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