The Bonds We Form

Secrets Of The Desert Rose by Marilyn Turk is a powerful Christian dual timeline novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The novel is set in 2019 America and Algeria, and during World War II in Algeria. The time periods are linked by a great grandmother and her great granddaughter as the latter wants to step into her great grandmother’s wartime footsteps.

We see that friendships formed in the early 1930’s between English Audrey and French Monique have strong bonds. They both share a secret which they keep for many years.

The two women are more like sisters than friends. Audrey spent years searching for love from her cold-hearted parents. It is in Monique’s family that she finds love.

Audrey is the more adventurous of the two. Monique prefers to watch from the sidelines. Monique’s family are wealthy. During the 1930’s there were many parties with a common goal “to find a husband.” This changes with the advent of war. Both women fight two very different wars but both are very brave.

In both time periods we hear of the archaeological digs and the landscape of Algeria. It is vibrant and comes to life under the author’s descriptive pen.

We see the importance of prayer. “Grand Mere used to say she prayed about important decisions before she jumped into them.” It is always best to pause and pray before decision making. Prayer is conversing with God and can be done anywhere. “Pray? Out here? She’s thought prayers were only done in church… What should she say?” Prayer should be as natural as breathing. “Praying naturally like he was talking with God.”

When we pray, we need not worry. “Praying is a good idea. So, let’s not worry.” We know that “The Lord will take care of us.”

All the characters were well drawn and believable. They were easy to empathise with.

I thoroughly enjoyed Secrets Of The Desert Rose. It was a powerful tale that educated me as I read.

JULIA WILSON