Tag Archive | book review

In The Blink Of An Eye by Kate Hewitt

Jul3

A Powerful Offering

In The Blink Of An Eye by Kate Hewitt is a powerful contemporary suspense that had me glued from the start.

The action alternates from various points of view and is in the first person. The reader becomes intimately acquainted with the characters.

As the novel opens, we know that something terrible has happened – but is it deliberate? Or just a tragic accident? As the story unfolds, we must piece the evidence together before the concluding pages.

The novel is about families. There are many different types of family. No one size fits all. The ‘perfect’ family does not exist. There is a family that feels very ‘Stepford wives’ to the reader. It is like a show house but is a show family – very little is truly ‘real.’ There are single parent families and a family that is falling apart due to stress. It is here that we see what true love is.

Parents put their children at the centre of their world. Sometimes the parents bury their heads in the sand to any potential problems. It is far better to identify, and treat, the areas of concern.

We witness the terrifying ordeal that is the school gates! A clique of parents can make life heaven or hell.

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The Divine Proverb Of Streusel by Sara Brunsvold

Jul1

Do The Next Thing

The Divine Proverb Of Streusel by Sara Brunsvold is a most charming contemporary Christian novel that I just could not put down. It is a novel that will warm hearts, soothe souls and impart wisdom and love.

The novel is about love and lessons in how to love as God loves us.

Following her parents divorce, twenty something Nikki spends her summer on her uncle Will’s family farm, as she tries to process events. It is here that she finds an old family notebook full of recipes and proverbs. As she works through the recipes, she learns God’s lessons for life and love.

Being hurt deeply has resulted in Nikki turning inwards and shutting others out, especially her father, whom she sees as the source of all her pain. “Self protection was never a savior from pain. Only forgiveness could be.” Imprisoning herself in bitterness is not living life as God intended. God wants us to live in freedom. Only by forgiving can we achieve this. Forgiveness is beneficial to us and to those we forgive. “Lay down the bitterness and trust the Lord’s protecting arm to save you”. Being safe in God’s arms is the best place to be.

We need to build our relationship with God. We need firm foundations in faith in order to sustain us through the tough times. Start the day with God, not social media or the news. “Scripture at sunrise … Every morning, he said thank-you to the Creator of all.” We need to practice having a grateful heart. As Pollyanna did, we need to play the glad game.

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The Boy At The Back Of The Class by Onjali Q Rauf

Jun27

True Friendship

The Boy At The Back Of The Class by Onjali Q Rauf is a marvellous debut novel. It is a book that I just could not put down. It is suitable for ages ten years and over. In fact, it is a perfect book for anyone as it highlights the plight of refugees.

The book is written in the first person through the eyes of a nine year old living in London. Her school is a cosmopolitan one where children of all nations welcome the boy at the back of the class.

The only blot on the school landscape is that of the school bullies. We see them through the eyes of a child. We totally understand her thoughts and find her feelings easy to empathise with.

This is a tale of friendship that will go the extra mile in order to help improve a life.

Onjali Q Rauf writes through the eyes of a child, explaining her fears and her questions. There is humor in her words and sometimes well known phrases are heard and misquoted wrongly. “We didn’t say anything after that because sometimes you can tell grown-ups won’t listen to you anymore. Usually they say… ‘I’ve said my peas.’ “

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The Girl Behind The Gates by Brenda Davies

Jun27

Home At Last

The Girl Behind The Gates by Brenda Davies is an absolutely heartbreaking novel. It is the true story of Nora who was incarcerated in a mental hospital in 1939, and was still there in 1981 when a new psychiatrist, Janet, began to work there.

 This is a book of two halves. Nora’s early story in the first part, and her story as she interacts with Janet in part two.

This is a story that will shock and horrify the reader because it is true. It happened. This Nora’s story.

Nora had a home, not a particularly loving one, as her father was a bully.

In 1939 Nora fell in love as a seventeen year old and became an expectant unmarried mother. For a Catholic family, ruled with an iron rod, this was an unforgiveable sin. Nora is continually told that she is bad, and it is a lie that she tells herself. “Her mother does still love her, even though she’s wicked.” Nora is incarcerated in order to ‘pay’ for her ‘sin’.

The modern reader is shocked and horrified by the treatment of the patients – six hundred in 1939 in just one institution. This book should make us both justifiably angry, and very sad for the innocent lives locked away. In 1939 we read that “Such people [unmarried expectant mothers], since 1927 termed ‘moral defectives’, include those such as criminals, alcoholics and prostitutes – and also unmarried mothers.” This is beyond horrifying. It is appalling that innocent lives were hidden away for decades. That young girls were seen as infected with sin, and that they could infect others and also pass their ‘sin’ onto their baby. It is truly shocking to read of what happened at the birth of Nora’s baby.

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