So Beautiful

Tandem Cottage by Carrie Fancett Pagels is a most charming contemporary Christian novel that I adored. It is the third book in the Mackinac Cottages series but can be read as a stand-alone.

Carrie Fancett Pagels always writes fabulous stories that are close to the heart of God. We see that life can be hard but God is always good and God is always faithful. We can lean on Him and trust Him through all the seasons of life. “She might not be able, but God was.”

God gives us opportunities. “There are no coincidences just God incidents.” Nothing in life surprises God. Whatever we are going through, He is already there. He provides instances where we can lean on Him and trust His leading. When life is hard and makes no sense, press into God, recognise His hand on our lives. “Choices… God was providing.” God provides choices to help us. We can choose whether to accept or not.

We learn about the importance of music. “Good praise music…that’s something that helps get me through… life.” Music can lift us above our circumstances and draw us close to the heart of God.

Within the tale, a character is suffering from grief. “Grief… You could be laughing one moment and crying the next.” Grief brings a mixture of emotions. Guilt and grief go hand in hand. God wants us to live free. He wants to take our grief and guilt and pain, and exchange them for His care and love. “None of us is perfect. But God extends grace.” Grace. We don’t deserve it. We cannot earn it. Grace is a gift from God, paid in full by the blood of Jesus on the cross.

Sometimes in life God feels absent. “Where was God when Carter was needing Him?” God stands right beside us. He carries us through the difficult periods of life.

There is the difficult topic of rape (years ago before the book opened.) This is sensitively portrayed. A character blames herself but sexual assault is never the fault of the victim.

The evil one wants to destroy us. He is the father of lies. “Shame knocked on the door of her soul, but she wouldn’t answer. God didn’t send that shame.” God is the God of love. We need to silence the other voices and listen to the life-affirming voice of God.

God takes our messes and turns them into masterpieces. We are reminded of this in the story as a beautiful mural is created on top of unwanted scribbles.

“God worked in mysterious ways – she just had to trust Him.” We can trust God when life is good. And we can trust God when life is bad. We can trust that even when circumstances are bad, God is still good.

God is the God of reconciliation. He wants us to be reconciled with those who love us, and He wants us to return to Him if we have wandered.

God does not want us to live in fear. He wants us to trust Him and to exchange our fear for faith.

There are some beautiful parent-child relationships. I absolutely loved the bond that nine-year-old Sam, who had autism, had with his Mum. Carrie Fancett Pagels has perfectly captured his traits and mannerisms, and his unswerving truthfulness. I really loved him.

Tandem Cottage was such a beautiful book. It is one that I never wanted to end. I want to know, what happens next! Some books end far too quickly – and Tandem Cottage is one such book. I adored it.

A word of caution: If you have been affected by any of the themes, please tell someone and seek help.

JULIA WILSON