Archives

Tempest At Annabel’s Lighthouse by Jaime Jo Wright

Jan12

Love Is…

Tempest At Annabel’s Lighthouse by Jaime Jo Wright is a gripping Christian dual timeline novel that I just could not put down.

The action is set in present day, 1874 and twenty years earlier.

Once more Jaime Jo Wright has presented a dark and brooding novel where the elements mirror the action.

Obsessions dominate lives as they travel down the generations. Greed grips hearts. “Greed… it’s the root of … mankind’s problems.” The love of money is the root of all evil. When pound signs are all one sees, one is in trouble.

Greed and jealousy dominated a life who then inflicted cruelty on an innocent.

There is the difficult topic of domestic abuse. In the nineteenth century characters needed rescuing from their situations. We witness love stepping in. “Love meant giving oneself for another.”

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The Lost Boys Of Barlowe Theater by Jaime Jo Wright

Jan3

Let Go & Let God

The Lost Boys Of Barlowe Theater by Jaime Jo Wright is a powerful Christian historical dual timeline novel that I loved.

Once more Jaime Jo Wright has penned a dark and brooding novel that grabs the reader’s attention from the start. Scenes set at night and in an old dark theatre help to set the atmosphere. Amongst all the cloak and daggers, the reader tries to guess what is real and what is an illusion?

The action takes pace in 1915 and present day, with Barlowe theatre as its’ focus. There are rumours of lost boys and a woman in white walking abroad. What is real? Are there ghosts of the past that need to be put to rest?

In both time periods there are leading female characters who are struggling to find their place in society. Both feel abandoned by parents – one through death, and the other due to being adopted. They both struggle with feelings of self-worth. In 1915, one’s worth was attached to one’s position in society. “What would ruin someone of Eleanor’s status would merely go unnoticed by those in her world.” There are different rules for the different classes.

In present day the leading lady finds it difficult to trust that she is lovable as she was abandoned at birth by her birth mother. “Deep down… Kit felt disposable. Even her faith was challenged by the idea that God too must certainly have His limits of grace.” God is our loving Father. His love for us is unconditional and everlasting. The leading lady struggles to believe that God’s love is given freely to her and that she doesn’t have to earn it. “Human nature is conditional… But God is not.” Slowly her faith emerges. “A thin thread of belief that her value wasn’t based on conditions.”

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Restoring Hope by Philippa Cleall

Jan2

Heaven Is Watching

Restoring Hope by Philippa Cleall is a powerful contemporary Christian novel about love, forgiveness, redemption and new beginnings. It is a beautiful story that warmed my heart and soul.

The setting is Wombat Valley in New South Wales. It is a charming small town where the leading lady flees to after years of domestic abuse. It is where her grandmother lived and where she feels safe to start again. “The dream she’d built from sorrow.” Our dreams are important; they give us a hope for the future.

A café is opened as she follows in her grandmother’s footsteps. It is a place of community. She was “building more than a café.” It is a place where the lost, the hurting and the vulnerable feel drawn to, and feel safe.

The grace that is received, is passed on to others. Words of encouragement that are planted into hearts, bud and blossom.

We meet characters who live out their faith. “She doesn’t push faith on others… she lives it.” People are drawn to those whose lives point to Jesus. They are not just hearers of the Word; they are doers of the Word too.

There is a group of women who have all suffered from domestic abuse. They learn about the power of forgiveness – what it is, and what it is not. They also learn that trust once gone, is not easily restored. It needs to be earnt.

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The Elusive Truth Of Lily Temple by Joanna Davidson Politano

Dec16

The Gardener Is Waiting

The Elusive Truth Of Lily Temple by Joanna Davidson Politano is an enchanting Christian historical novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The novel is written with elements of traditional story telling interspersed with actual historical figures. Over everything, God awaits, with His love and His heart calling each and every one of us.

Much of the book revolves around a garden. The reader recalls the Garden of Eden where God walked with Adam and Eve in His creation. God lives in our hearts as we read “from somewhere deep within the core of him, where God dwelled.”

Sometimes life happens and we lose sight of God. “Regret was a poison that never left the bloodstream.” Letting regret live in our hearts is not good for us. Anything that takes our focus from God, needs to be got rid of.

When we have known God, there will always be that longing for Him. “I’d cried out to God, begged for Him, and felt nothing.” Just because we feel nothing, does not mean that God is not there. God works in our lives. He sends people across our paths to point the way to Him. “He [God] uses people at times to set things right.”

God can clearly be seen in some people. “He ushered in the presence of God wherever he went… where Gordon Makepiece was, there also was God.” We are called to preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary to use words.

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