Archive | January 2024

Love Wins by Lorraine Beard

Jan12

Love, Care & Family

Love Wins by Lorraine Beard is a powerful Christian historical novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The action is set during World War II in Cardiff and moving to the Forest Of Dean in order to escape the nightly bombing raids and an evil grandfather. We ‘hear’ how he had no morals and gave into evil desires. The subsequent generations are not destined to repeat the sins of the fathers.

We witness another unscrupulous husband and father who had his own wife incarcerated in an asylum.

We see the bravery of sons who stand up to their fathers and who forgive, as Jesus commands.

Faith can get us through the tough seasons. “Lizzie helped him see all the ways Jesus had been alongside him through all the hard times.” As we see faith in action, other characters are attracted to Jesus. It is beautiful to witness lives transformed by knowing Jesus.

Prayer is important. “Taught them how to talk to the Lord and to listen as well.” Prayer is a conversation with God. It is important to listen for answers too.

Life on the farm in the Forest Of Dean opens up lives, offers freedom and the opportunity to learn new skills. The spirit of hospitality is alive and well. No one ever goes hungry when they visit the farm.

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The Missing by Michael Rosen

Jan12

Educating The Next Generation

The Missing by Michael Rosen is nonfiction exploring what happened to members of the author’s family during World War II. It is suitable for ages ten years and over.

Michael Rosen’s family are Jewish. At the start of the war, he had relatives in France and Poland. They had disappeared without a trace by the time war had ended.

The author sets out on a quest to find his missing family members. He finds the fate of some, but not all.

The book is also about World War II and the Holocaust. Michael Rosen writes in such a way as to educate young minds but not to scare them witless. We need to tell the next generation in order to keep the memories of the innocents alive.

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A Bird Alone by Ericka Clay

Jan11

A Gritty Read

A Bird Alone by Ericka Clay is a powerful Christian novel. It is a tale of real problems faced by real people. It is a tale of overcoming by God’s grace.

This is a gritty read. Being a Christian is no guarantee of an easy life. In fact the Bible tells us that in this life we will have troubles but we know that God will never leave us to face life alone. “Belief isn’t a thrown up prayer and crossing your fingers … It’s an utter reliance on Jesus.” When we face problems, we know that we can turn to Jesus and trust Him with the outcome. “Prayed for peace, a sense of reliance on Jesus no matter the outcome.”

We see faith in God played out in the novel as a character walks beside God and tries to show the Father’s love to all those that he meets. Life is better when this character walks into the room. There is a young boy with autism who can ‘see’ the difference in the man of faith compared with others.

Life certainly deals a character some bitter blows. God is questioned as the character feels abandoned. Why do bad things happen to good people? There are often no answers but we just need to press into God. “Giving everything over to God was peace.”

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Falling Night by Phil Clarke

Jan11

To Shake Us Up

Falling Night by Phil Clarke is a powerful and horrifying Christian novel set in the 1990’s. It is a fictional account but grounded in fact as it is based on the author’s experiences in Africa during the 1990’s.

Bored of life in sleepy Yorkshire, lead character Alan, volunteers to help in the fictional war-torn country of Kugombwala. We follow him as he encounters some very different experiences.

The country is unstable and corrupt. Aid workers need to be very aware of their surroundings. They meet some good souls along the way but also encounter pure evil.

Under Phil Clarke’s masterful pen, the hot landscape, fear and corruption come alive. We see terrible scenes of genocide, child soldiers and pure evil along the way as civil war erupts. Local tribes think nothing of massacring their neighbours. Life is not sacred but cheap.

Alan is naïve at first. We see his character development and understanding of the situation as the novel progresses.

We also witness Alan becoming a Christian.  Too many ‘coincidences’ happen until Alan has an epiphany “God had turned His face towards him.”

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