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Veiled In Smoke by Jocelyn Green

Dec12

Rising From The Ashes

Veiled In Smoke by Jocelyn Green is a powerful Christian historical novel that totally consumed me. It is the first book in The Windy City Saga which promises to be fabulous.

Whilst this is a fictional tale, it is grounded in fact as it is based on the devastating Chicago fire of 1871 which destroyed much of the city, leaving many homeless. Locations and some actual people are real (as we find out in the author’s notes at the back of the book.)

Fire destroys but fire also cleanses and renews. The reader is reminded that Jesus walked beside Daniel and his friends in the firey furnace, and Jesus walks beside us. “She must trust Him for what she could not see.” We cannot always feel or see Jesus but He is beside us. “Had to believe God remained in control even when His children were not.” God sees the end from the beginning. We can trust His leading.

Within the novel the two sisters own a bookstore and are passionate about books. They quote from popular novels of the day, including the Bronte sisters, Louisa May Alcott, Shakespeare and more. The reader can see parallels between one lead character and the fictional Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre. Fire destroys and both have to re-learn how to do things differently.

Within the novel a character has to learn to look at things from a different perspective as the subjects of her paintings change from portraits to landscapes after the fire. “The rich and the poor connect… You are compassion, he is resilience. Both of you are Chicago.” At the heart of Chicago are the people and not the buildings. Buildings can be re-built.

Everyone faces storms. I loved the quote included by the fictional Amy March, “I’m not afraid of storms for I’m learning how to sail my ship.” As we navigate choppy waters, we need to focus on Jesus. “The One who made the sea is in my boat with me.” Jesus will never leave us. “Avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward.” We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. He will navigate the seas of life with us.

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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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When The World Went Silent by Ellie Midwood

Dec6

Pandora’s Box

When The World Went Silent by Ellie Midwood is a powerful, harrowing historical novel that consumed me from the start.

The novel is set in Germany during World War II but opens and closes in Hiroshima in 1946. The whole novel surrounds the topic of the nuclear bomb, as we join and follow a young girl with a passion for physics. Deaf since measles aged five, Mina has immersed herself in science. “The world outside is hostile, filled with prejudice and intolerance. But precise sciences are her sanctuary.”

Following the Nazis rise to power, Mina was excluded from school and seen as ‘undesirable’, and has been home-schooled. Her superior talent within nuclear physics has brought her to the attention of the Nazis at the highest level. Mina is sent to Berlin to work on the development of the nuclear bomb but she is determined to never make a bomb. She wants to heal not harm. “We’ll all have to face the choices we made today.”

Mina has a conscience, a heart and much courage. “The courage of those who dare to stand against the darkness.” As a young girl, she stood up for the marginalized except for one time when she ran, and this haunts her dreams. “Still has nightmares… she was just a young girl whose only fault was walking away when she should have stayed.” The guilt remains even though she knows there is nothing she could have done. Later she is told “Sometimes running away is the only logical thing to do.”

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