Archive | April 2021

Hope Between The Pages by Pepper D Basham

Apr25

The Library Fairy And The Book Goblin

Hope Between The Pages by Pepper D Basham is a most delightful Christian dual timeline novel. It is part of the Doors To The Past series.

The novel is about the love of books that has passed down the generations. We hear about the love stories in present day and 1916. Stories fire up the imagination and link us down the years. Blackwells is a family bookshop that “was built on love.”

The action alternates between the two time periods and the voices of a great grandmother and her great granddaughter. The reader travels between America and the Lake District. As an English woman I loved having locations that mentioned Skiddaw, Derwent Water and Scafell Pike as I have holidayed in the area and these places are familiar.

Life in 1916 was still class based even though the world was on the brink of change. For some class held no sway. “It’s important to be seen as a person instead of a position.” Hearts united over a love of books with no thought to class. Others clung to the old order of things.

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Mosaic Life In Pieces by Chris Aslan

Apr23

The Familiar Springs To Life

Mosaic Life In Pieces by Chris Aslan is a marvellous Christian historical novel that will enthral and consume you.

It is set in the Middle East during the time of Jesus and just beyond. Familiar Bible stories spring to life, giving men and women from the Bible fully rounded characters that are woven into the reader’s heart. Although we realise this is a work of fiction, the characters seem very real. I would recommend reading the Gospels alongside the story, to familiarise yourself with the minor characters.

Chris Aslan has a masterful pen. His descriptions of the scenes really bring them to life. The reader can ‘see’ the hazy heat and ‘feel’ the dust and the relief when a public bath is taken.

There is much relief when we wash the dirt and dust off ourselves but we need clean hearts too. “You can wash me clean but I’m still full of filth.” We must deal with our insides and love others and God as Jesus has loved us. If we love then there is no room for hate.

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The Jane Austen Investigates: The Abbey Mystery by Julia Golding

Apr23

Captivating

The Jane Austen Investigates: The Abbey Mystery by Julia Golding is a YA historical novel. The action follows thirteen year old Jane in the late eighteenth century.

Our heroine is well drawn. She is a delightful mixture of curious, clumsy and clever. It is in her nature to seek out the answers to mysteries. It is this curiosity that has a tendency to land her into trouble.

We witness the power that the landed gentry wield. They put their faith in wealth and power over honesty and poverty. Young Jane sees beyond the wealth, or lack of it, to the heart within.

There are injustices that need to be righted. Jane Austen calls on her powers of amateur sleuthing.

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The Good German Girl by Erica Marie Hogan

Apr23

The Deepest Pit

The Good German Girl by Erica Marie Hogan is a very powerful historical novel that will consume you as you read.

The novel is set in 1944 alternating between the voices of an American soldier and a German girl. The reader travels from Omaha beach eastwards and from Berlin to Auschwitz. An invisible thread unites the two main characters.

Not all Germans were Nazis and not all Americans were honourable. Berlin was a terrible place to live. It was a place of fear, suspicion and ever decreasing liberties. The atmosphere of terror was palpable. The Germany of the leading lady’s childhood was gone. They were “drowning in the fear of what Germany has become.”

Within the novel there were close friendships. “If you stay, I stay… I will always be with you, as you promised you would always be with me.” This echoes the bond between Ruth and Naomi in the Bible.

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