After My Last Hurrah! by Juanita Hughes

Nov15

Inspiring – Never Give Up

After My Last Hurrah! by Juanita Hughes is a most inspiring memoir of a sixty something Christian. It entertains from the very first page to the final one.

Juanita Hughes writes in a very personable style. It feels like the reader is hearing from a dear friend. There is humour involved in some of the situations she finds herself in.

Life has always presented health challenges for the author but she never lets her health get her down. Juanita Hughes pushes bravely on through the pain, and any obstacles presented.

Juanita Hughes has a strong faith. “I know… that God will work out what is best for me… in His own time, with me learning along the way.” Whatever happens, nothing is out of God’s control. Juanita Hughes knows that she can always trust God.

Following a heart attack, and in the ambulance enroute to the hospital, the author writes: “I had a strong reassurance that Jesus was riding along with me and wouldn’t let me die.” Juanita Hughes knew the hand of God in her life.

At first, the author’s faith was second hand. “Until that night, my faith had mostly been a habit passed down by my parents.” As we get older, we realise that we need to have our own relationship with Jesus. We cannot have a second-hand faith.

I really ‘connected’ with the author on a personal level as she mentions going to Holy Trinity, Brompton, the birthplace of the Alpha course – I did the Alpha course with my church in 1996 and began my own personal journey with Jesus. Before Alpha, I knew about Jesus. After Alpha, I knew Jesus.

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The Dragon Of Neston by Tess Adone

Nov15

Life Lessons For All

The Dragon Of Neston by Tess Adone is a powerful and very beautiful Christian Young Adult historical novel. It is the second book in The Neston Novels series. It could be read as a stand-alone but I would recommend reading the books in numerical order as book two starts where book one ends. There will be continuity of timeline, and more importantly, character progression.

Once more we join eleven-year-old Ette as she starts a new school in autumn 1964. The book is written in the first person, through her eyes, therefore, we get to know her intimately.

Ette is a new Christian, just a month into her faith journey but she shows a maturity beyond her years. Ette is kind and caring, having the ability to put herself in the shoes of another – even those who are mean to her.

There are many battles as a Christian to be fought but Ette is wise in knowing which ones to fight.

As a new Christian, Ette finds herself at odds with many of her peers and with what she is taught at school. When the truth burns within, she speaks out. At other times, such as the lessons on evolution, she keeps quiet, knowing that it is a battle she will not win – but she is true to herself, and after answering what was required in the exam, she writes her true thoughts on the bottom of her exam paper.

Ette knows that whatever she faces in life, God is the answer. “I may just be learning to turn to God as the perfect antidote for the everyday poisons of life.” Life can be messy but God changes our messes into masterpieces.

Over the summer Ette and her new friend, Dieter, had talked about God. “I never told them [her friends] how much we talked about God… He [Dieter] was a Christian, and he made me see God in a whole new way.” Sometimes we need help pointing us to the true nature of God. God is love. He is not the angry God, as misrepresented by some. God’s nature is love. His character is love. God is love. I cannot stress that too much. As God lives in us, we are called to show His love to the world we inhabit – and Ette does just that.

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Entanglement by Robert M Kidd

Nov15

They Gave Their Yesterday

Entanglement by Robert M Kidd is an absolutely mesmerising epic historical novel that I just could not put down. If you only read one book on World War I, make sure it is this one. Entanglement shows the war from a human point of view. You cannot detach feelings from action.

Robert M Kidd has created a rich tapestry of events showing how the ripples of the past connect with the present, as we follow Claire in 2005 and Clara, her great grandmother, through the tumultuous early twentieth century – from the suffragette movement to the battlefields of France and beyond. The tale is told in a narrative from diaries and letters. The voices alternate but Clara’s is the principal voice.

At the start of the twentieth century, women were gagged. “Women didn’t count. They had neither a voice nor the vote.” Clara, born to a German Jewish banking family, living in Britain, stepped out of the confines of her class to make her voice count. “The… poisonous bigotry… brings me to despair of my class.” Playing a major role in the suffragettes, Clara was not afraid of protest, prison or hunger strikes. The streets of London held no fear for her, as she saw all the people in their abject poverty. “Poverty and drink go hand in hand.” She wanted to step up and make a difference.

Clara was a pacifist. It was ironic that the love of her life was an officer in the Coldstream Guards. The pair complemented each other. Their love and mutual respect are clear to all.

Claire had a strong bond with her grandfather. It is only after his death and the discovery of the Gatehouse (unknown to her but left in his will to her) that she begins to unpack who her grandfather is; where he came from; and why he behaved as he did. This knowledge is unpacked in the form of diaries and letters.

Robert M Kidd has produced a marvellous account of the events leading to World War I and of the war itself. He brings history alive for the reader far better than any text book ever could. We witness the effects of the war on ordinary people. He shows us the cost to humanity, and the ripples through time. How innocent babies carry the heavy weight of adult’s decisions down the generations.

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The Glittering Journey Of Molly Katrick by Cherry Burroughs

Nov14

So Powerful

The Glittering Journey Of Molly Katrick by Cherry Burroughs is an extremely powerful contemporary novel about a family who had it all, but then lives implode as the husband and father just disappears.

The novel shows the devastating effects on the two children (both aged thirteen but born ten months apart) as their mother fails to cope. There is a rapidly spiralling downwards as she turns to alcohol for solace.

With more questions than answers, Molly Katrick leans on alcohol to help to pop her up – but her life is destroyed when the two people she loves the most are placed in separate foster care. Only Molly Katrick can turn her life around – it must be her decision. Which is the greater pull? Alcohol? Or her children? A chance meeting with a plumber gives her the push she needs, as he shows her that it is possible to recover from alcohol. “You might fail. But you might succeed too… And it’s a fantastic feeling when you do, because you get your life back.”

As more of Molly Katrick’s backstory emerges, we see that her husband has been controlling; coercive, manipulative and isolating her. Even after destroying her life once, and then picking up the pieces, he sets out on a mission to destroy once more.

The reader admires Molly Katrick and we have much sympathy for her. Since the age of nineteen when her parents were killed in a car crash while she was at university, Molly has had to learn how to be strong in isolation. Even fifteen years later, the sense of loss is palpable.

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