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Summer In Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen

Jul15

Coming Home

Summer In Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen is a most delightful contemporary novel that I adored. It is the first book in the fantastic Bellbird Bay series.

Maggie Christensen writes with warmth and an understanding of her characters lives. Her leading characters are in their fifties. They prove that even though they are older, their personalities remain the same as thirty years ago. We age on the outside but not on the inside. They are wiser and have their priorities in place – but their insecurities and fears remain the same.

Both leading characters have had the foundations of their lives shaken. They need to learn to live and to trust again.

Bellbird Bay is a very charming coastal town in Australia. It is a place where hearts come home and lives heal. “Bellbird Bay… was a place a person could come to heal, to discover there was more to life than fame and fortune.”

Life is about love – who we love, and who loves us. Love is what is most precious. It is the greatest treasure.

A character returns to Bellbird Bay when life has hit hard. He believes “home is the place you return to when you have nowhere else to go” – but home is not always a place. Sometimes it is a person.

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The Woman With All The Answers by Linda Green

Jul1

Until The Wind Changes

The Woman With All The Answers by Linda Green is a very entertaining contemporary novel that I absolutely loved. I read it in just two sittings.

The plotline is unique and perfectly executed – what happens when Alexa goes rogue and is merely Pauline from Halifax? Surprisingly it seems to have a plausibility to it!

We witness the importance of mothers or mother-like figures in lives. Mothers spend all their time juggling life, and may forget who they once were. “What… happened to the person I used to? Who had a life of her own, dreams for the future, time to do the things she enjoyed doing.” Mothers need to practice self-care.

Within the book we see the sandwich generation, balancing the needs of both elderly parents and also teenage children. The novel is partly seen through the eyes of a mother who falls into this category. The needs of the two generations are similar but different. Both need to be helped through the minefield that is social media, and also outside pressures.

Mistakes are made. Bad choices will have consequences. We need to own them.

Life is full of regrets. We need to forgive the face in the mirror.

External pressures have kept a teen prisoner in her own house, fearful of the outside world. We see the difference an elderly labrador can have on her life. Owning a dog gives her a purpose, and a reason to get out.

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A Writing Upon The Sand by J M Kirkley

Jun29

Trust Him

A Writing Upon The Sand by J M Kirkley is a very charming Christian historical novel that I adored. It is grounded in facts as we witness and learn about, the Galveston disaster of 1900.

There is the theme of taking care of the orphans. Under the right conditions, they will thrive.

We see the importance of living well. It is said of a grandmother, “She traded a privileged life for serving in ministry… She lived generously, despite hard times.” Generosity is more than just money. It is about time – where we spend our time shows where our hearts are.

We learn the importance of being correctly grounded. “May your character be not writing upon the sand, but an inscription upon the rock.” We need good foundations in our lives. We need to build our lives on Jesus so that when the bad times come (and they will), we need to keep our eyes fixed firmly on Him.

What do we do when God is silent? We trust. “Emily found no shred of consolation the longer her prayers went unanswered, when God remained silent.” Sometimes there are no answers, and we must just trust and hold on to the hem of His garment, figuratively speaking.

“Maybe God wanted her to desire knowing Him more than having answers.” God longs for us to come to Him and to rest in Him. “Whatever happens, may God’s peace comfort us.” God’s peace will still our hearts, even when all around us is crumbling.

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The Life She Forgot by Joanna Davidson Politano

May9

All The Broken Pieces

The Life She Forgot by Joanna Davidson Politano is a powerful dual timeline Christian novel that enthralled me from the start.

The action is set in 1913 and 1947 in a small village in Cornwall.

We learn about love and loss; and memories that sustain us or break us.

There are characters suffering from memory loss – following a trauma the brain protects a character by amnesia. Life before the accident ceases to exist. When snippets of memory return, a character questions the reliability of these memories.

We see that sometimes love means letting go, standing back, and waiting for love to return. “Love is powerful… It can be bent and misshapen and even broken, but it doesn’t simply go away.” When we love unconditionally, we will do whatever it takes in order to protect those we love. “Love means shared moments, limping through the rough patches together.”

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