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When Herald Angels Sing by Scott R Rezer

Dec8

A Time For Miracles

When Herald Angels Sing by Scott R Rezer is a most charming contemporary Christian Christmas novel that I really loved. It is the second book in A Festival Of Carols series but can be read as a stand-alone.

The novel is set in present day and 1863 in America, a time when the American Civil War was still raging. The location is Philadelphia, still recognizable to the characters in both time periods. It is set just before Christmas and the reader is treated to snow and a simpler Christmas when Jesus’ birth was celebrated.

We see the devastating effects of loss on characters who feel utterly alone and stuck in a moment in time. However, “you are never truly alone… God is always nearer than you think.” God is as close as the prayer that our hearts utter. God is as close as we want Him to be. “He [God] hasn’t been near me… That’s because you have kept Him at arm’s length.”

Lives are lost in the past, trying to alter what cannot be changed. “The past isn’t about mourning what you have lost, it’s about celebrating what you had.” We celebrate the lives we knew rather than mourn their passing.

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The Lotus House by Ann Bennett

Dec8

Powerful& Harrowing

The Lotus House by Ann Bennett is a powerful historical novel that I just could not put down.

The story begins in 1941 at Pearl Harbor as we follow a young nurse through that devastating December day, and across the seas to the Philippines.

All too soon, the Philippines are occupied by the Imperial Japanese army. The nursing staff are in retreat once more. Eventually we see that the remainder of their war is within a prison camp. “It was hard to imagine… how a war could be raging in these idyllic… peaceful islands.”

The action alternates between the young nurse and an army captain. We see their wars are similar but different as he, too, ends up in a prisoner of war camp.

There is much bravery, grit and determination needed to survive, as well as luck. Any day your name could be written on a bullet.

We see the camaraderie and support between the nurses, the soldiers and the indigenous population of all ages.

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One Silent Night by Scott R Rezer

Nov29

A Timeless Appeal

One Silent Night by Scott R Rezer is the most charming dual timeline Christian Christmas novel that I absolutely loved. It is the first book in A Festival Of Carols and I cannot wait to read the subsequent books.

One Silent Night is beautifully written. There is a serenity to it and an air of wistfulness. The story has a timeless appeal. This is a book that could be read as part of a Christmas tradition.

The novel is set in the Ardennes, Belgium in 1944 and also in small town America in 2012. Both stories are set just before Christmas and are similar but different as we follow two serving soldiers – one in World War II and the other invalided out after an IED in Afghanistan.

Obviously in 1944 there was much loss of life as a bitter battle raged as the American soldiers fought the Nazis. In 2012 in his hometown, the veteran is returning home following the death of his grandparents three years earlier. The memories are all around. His heart has been locked away. “By shutting away Christmas, I was shutting away… my memories.” Memories should keep us warm, not cause us pain.

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The Secret Keepers Of The Old Grocery Depot by Amanda Cox

Nov4

Delightful

The Secret Keepers Of The Old Depot Grocery by Amanda Cox is the most delightful Christian dual timeline novel that filled my soul with love.

The novel is set in present day and from 1965 working forwards. It is a story of family and love and life.

A character has been grieving her whole life for a boy who went to Vietnam and never returned. Life still kept turning and she had to learn to live again in spite of her grief. Grief never leaves us. We just need to find our way through it.

We witness the horrors of war in the lives of those who return. “How could they find normal after that? Love when they’d been baptized in hate.” Some lives buckle with PTSD and they escape through alcohol and drugs.

There is the theme of guilt. A character is drowning in it, carrying burdens that were never meant for her. “I’d become so tainted by darkness that I couldn’t feel the warmth of the sun anymore.”  It is time to let go and let God.

Sometimes we revisit the past and that is fine but we must not dwell in it. “What-ifs won’t get us anywhere… We can’t change the past. But we can choose a new tomorrow.”

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