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Christian Novel Review

Having always been an avid reader, since becoming a Christian I have found a wealth of reading material in Christian bookshops and in various second hand bookshops. I have found that in Christian novels one often finds truths that help in one’s Christian walk. I enjoy reading about how the various characters deal with life, and I also find I am the richer for reading a really good Christian novel. Certain authors, through their books, give you a real insight into their joys and struggles, which I find very interesting. The books which I am going to review are those which I have really enjoyed, and have read at least twice – some books, for example the “Mark of the Lion “ series by Francine Rivers, I have read at least five times each. The first books that I am going to talk about are the latest two novels by Francine Rivers,


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Saturday 24 September 2011

RETURN TO APPLETON by SYLVIA BAMBOLA


RETURN TO APPLETON by SYLVIA BAMBOLA
In this sequel to Waters of Marah, we find Gloria back in Appleton  with new found confidence after her year of independence in Eckerd city.  Her mother is amazed at the way she doesn't get rattled any more, and at how loving she is, even while being firm.  She is no longer the doormat that left Appleton a year before!  Although Tracy has always told Gloria she has no backbone, she is not too happy with the new Gloria who stands up for herself and for what she believes in!
We get to know Cutter Price better in this book and we see Gloria's feelings for him change from revulsion to friendship.  Could Gloria have found love in the last place she thought she would? We see him change from being a rather pompous and prideful womanizer, to being someone who is caring and dependable. 
Gloria learns from her grandmother, who she loves dearly, the reason for her mother's unhappiness and for her controlling spirit.  When this all comes out in the open, Geri and her mother are reconciled after years of unforgiveness and pain. and Gloria's relationship with her mother is greatly improved.  We see the importance of forgiveness and unconditional love in a family.  We see Gloria's growth as a Christian and her obedience and compassion.  She is confident in the Lord's love and faithfulness. Her relationship with Jesus is the most important aspect of her life, and she knows she can never marry a man who doesn't share her faith.

Cutter's mother, who is Geri Press's best friend, asks Gloria to visit her. She is very ill and dying and is very afraid.  Gloria has always been scared of Virginia Press, but she feels sorry for her now.  Cutter's relationship with his mother is not good at all.  She has controlled him all his life, without showing  him any love, and in fact only telling him she loved him just before she died.  He feels he has been cheated of a mother's love.  Gloria is  worried about Virginia Press dying without Jesus and is very firm with her, refusing to visit her again unless she allows her to share her faith.  Gloria stands her ground and her prayers for Virginia are answered.
Gloria worries about Tracy as well, who used to be her best friend.  She loves her but realizes that there is nothing she can do for her, and Tracy gets involved with an ex jailbird and works in a bar.  Tracy asks her for money, which Gloria gives her the first time, although she can't afford it, but she realizes that by giving her money she is not helping Tracy make the right decisions in life. When she refuses Tracy it is very unpleasant.  Gloria asks Tucker to give Tracy her old job back, and he does offer it to her, only to be scorned by Tracy who calls him "the Monkey".

Gloria enjoys her work for Paul and Wanda and ends up being able to buy out their printing business.
Gloria is still involved with trying to expose the environmentalists and Harry Griswald continues producing flyers in spite of the danger.  Cutter helps in this as well, as he is in danger of losing his property. In spite of a  murder and the fact that Gloria is being stalked, they are determined to reveal the truth. We are kept in suspense until right at the end as to the outcome.  Her friends in Eckerd city are very important to her and she is afraid of causing them harm, as it seems as though the criminals want to destroy her and all that is dear to her.  She is determined, however, to listen to the Lord and to do what He wants her to do.  She feels she must stand for what is true and somehow bring about justice for Perth's father and the others whose lives were destroyed by these unscrupulous men.
In this novel we see Gloria grow in maturity and we see the effect of her love,compassion and faith upon the people in her life.   




Thursday 22 September 2011

WATERS OF MARAH BY SYLVIA BAMBOLA

WATERS OF MARAH by SYLVIA BAMBOLA is the story of Gloria Bickford.  We see her search for love and her secret adoration for her best friend Tracy's brother, Tucker, who she feels is far beyond the reach of someone as plain and ordinary as she is.  On the other hand we see how she falls in love with "her beautiful Jesus", and each chapter is headed with a verse from the Song of Solomon.  In her search for a more exciting life, when she finally manages to cut the apron strings and leave Appleton and her domineering mother, she struggles to please the Lord and not get drawn away into temptation.  It is beautifully and sensitively written, and as we read the thoughts of this young woman and see her actions as she tries to give glory to Jesus in all she does, we see the beauty of her character.
Gloria's mother was a beauty queen and names Gloria after Gloria Swanson, hoping her daughter will also be a beauty. Gloria knows her mother is disappointed in her looks.  This makes her timid and easily manipulated by both her mother and her best friend Tracy, who is striking looking and very outgoing.  Gloria works for Cutter Press, who she dislikes intensely as he teased her unmercifully when they were at school.  Gloria's mother and Cutter's equally overbearing mother, Virginia Press, try to arrange a marriage between their son and daughter.  Gloria is horrified and manages to tell Cutter that she won't marry him because she doesn't love him.  This is quite an achievement as she is not very brave!
She escapes to Eckerd City with Tracy's help and feels her dreams are about to come true as she will be working for Tucker. The Lord has given her a promise to give her the desires of her heart, and she feels that this may be the fulfillment of His promise.  Her eyes are opened living in the big city and working in a big office.  She is taken to buy more suitable clothes for her job in Tucker's office and is told to sort out her hair.  She does all this and loves the effect.  She realizes that she may have done nothing with her hair and makeup in order to spite her mother.  She really looks good afterwards, although the whole situation is quite humiliating.
She makes some very special friends when she is obedient to the Lord.  She goes the second mile for Perth, and finds such satisfaction in having a "little sister", even though she was full of misgivings at the beginning. It is hard to get rid of a lifetime of fear and a feeling of unworthiness, but she does this with her precious Jesus at her side.  She finds He is all she needs and that she need never be lonely again.  She finds work that she loves and that she is good at.  Her friend Tracy has always said she has no backbone, and is surprised when Gloria stands up for herself and for what she believes is right.  She learns to stand up to her mother and Tucker as well.  Her relationship with her mother improves when she is firm with her, but  she always tells her mother that she loves her.  She does her best to mend fences with Tracy, whilst still standing her ground.  She also gets involved in a lot of intrigue and is determined to do what she can to uncover the evil she hears about.  The plot is exciting,  the characters are very real and there is a lovely message of overcoming one's fears and inadequacies when one follows closely after the Lord.

Sunday 11 September 2011

NOT A SPARROW FALLS BY LINDA NICHOLS


NOT A SPARROW FALLS by LINDA NICHOLS  is the story of Mary Bridget Washburn, a young woman who is on the run from Jonah and his meth business.  She hasn't always been living this life of crime, she got caught up in it when her mother died and left her and her brothers and sisters without many options.  Her grandmother, a godly woman who never gives up on her granddaughter, isn't well enough to look after the children and welfare takes her younger siblings away not allowing Mary to carry on looking after them.  When this happens she is devastated, angry with God and everyone, and runs away with Jonah, a friend from school who has always fascinated her.  Jonah turns to drugs, becomes a dealer and a manufacturer of meth and is a complete addict.  Mary is not an addict but she helps him by buying what he needs for his factory and keeps house for him and Dwayne in the sordid apartment they live in. The drugs have affected Jonah's brain and Mary is afraid of him and also of Dwayne, who she feels may take advantage of her.  She is a beautiful girl.
She manages to run away to Alexandria where she starts a new life, taking the name and social security number of her late mother who was called Bridie, short for Bridget.  Bridie, as she now calls herself, is being drawn back to the faith of her youth, although she feels that God can't possibly have any use for someone as sinful as she is.  She goes into the Presbyterian church, where she loves the peaceful atmosphere, and sees a notice board with the words "Not a Sparrow Falls to the Ground Without Your Father Seeing" on it and sees a teenage girl rush in and pin a note to the board.  After the girl leaves she reads the note which says "Help me, God".  Bridie feels drawn to this young girl's plight and ends up being the nanny/housekeeper for her father, Alasdair MacPherson, the pastor of the church.  She meets Alasdair through one of his sisters, Lorna, who meets Bridie where she is working and invites her to Thanksgiving dinner.  The young girl, Samantha, has a twin brother and sister, Cameron and Bonnie who are not yet two, and the whole family needs a lot of love.  Bridie has her secrets and so does Alasdair MacPherson, who lost his wife Anna when the twins were very small. The house is dark and forbidding until Bridie comes and paints the dark walls, opens the heavy drapes and puts the old heavy heirloom furniture into the attic, making the place more child friendly.
We see how God can use anyone to minister to those in need,  Bridie, who feels she is totally unworthy and has enough problems of her own, and Lorna, who is the only one of Alasdair's sisters who is willing to lay down her life for the family.  Lorna has always gone along with her sisters' decisions until she realizes that the Lord has chosen her to make a difference in her brother's life.
There is a lot of intrigue and it is an exciting book, but more than that it gives us quite an insight into the workings of the human heart.  We see how God can move in even the most impossible situations when people   
decide to walk in truth.  He brings light into the darkest places and truly looks after all His "sparrows"!

Monday 5 September 2011

EDGE OF THE APOCOLYPSE BY TIM LA HAYE & CRAIG PARSHALL


EDGE OF THE APOCOLYPSE 
by TIM LA HAYE & CRAIG PARSHALL is an end times novel with a legal twist.  The two authors combine well, with Tim la Haye who is well known for end time prophecy, and Craig Parshall who is well known for his legal dramas.  
Joshua Jordan was a colonel in the air force and is now a private military contractor.  He had a stellar military career and is disappointed that his son, Cal, is not interested in following a military career.  Their relationship is not all that good, and deteriorates further when Cal changes from an engineering major to art.  Cal takes after Abby, Josh's wife, and has come into a personal relationship with Jesus as she has.  His daughter, Deb, is also a born again Christian and she is the one in the family following a military career. Josh loves his wife and children very much, but doesn't see much use for Christianity.  He is very disciplined and feels that he can cope with anything, especially after having been in several very dangerous spy missions over enemy territory.
Abby is a very clever lawyer, and although she is retired, she is a great help to Josh in helping to keep him out of jail when he fails to co-operate with the politicians.
Josh has developed a weapon which is known as "Return to Sender" which he uses to save New York City from a missile attack.  He has seven minutes in which to launch this weapon and gets permission to do so from the vice-president, who later denies giving permission.   He is not sure that it will work, but there is nothing else that can be done to avert nuclear disaster.  The weapon returns the missiles to the North Korean ship which  launched the attack, destroying it and those on board. 
Joshua Jordan is first of all seen as a hero, and then  is attacked by the politicians who demand  all the data on the RTS.  He refuses, as he fears that it will get into the wrong hands and be used by enemies of the United States against them.
There is a lot of intrigue. The Russians, amongst others, are trying to get hold of the RTS.  A dangerous hit man comes into the United States through Canada with the express purpose of causing harm to Josh and obtaining the RTS by any means possible. The politicians are keen to use the RTS as a bargaining chip for obtaining oil and loans from other countries in order to bolster their failing economy and in order to win the next election, thus staying in power for another term.
The dangers of globalism are evident, and we see end time prophecy coming to pass.  We see those in the government about to bring in a global monetary system, and we see that things are moving towards global government followed by global religion.  This is explained to Josh by Abby's pastor, Paul Campbell, but Josh feels he can manage without the Lord in his life.  Josh is out to save the United States and the world by his own hard work and brilliant mind!
When a member of his family is in danger he finds that his own efforts are not enough.  We see the Lord coming through for him in answer to his wife's and her pastor's prayers, and also to his own desperate prayers.
It is an exciting and interesting book and I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series which is coming out soon.


Friday 2 September 2011

A MEMORY BETWEEN US BY SARAH SUNDIN

A MEMORY BETWEEN US
by SARAH SUNDIN
The second romance novel in the Wings of Glory series takes place during the second world war.  Walt's older brother Jack meets his match when he meets nurse Ruth Doherty.  Major Jack Novak is different to his brother Walt in that he is very sure of himself, ambitious and rather full of pride.   He has trained as a pastor but his heart is not in it and he  would love to make the air force his career.  He is an ace pilot and loves being in command.  He is a strong Christian but feels he hasn't been called to follow in his father's footsteps pastoring a church.  He has never had to struggle at anything, but he struggled at seminary for three years and only just passed.
He meets Lieutenant Ruth Doherty when he is hospitalized after getting shrapnel in his behind during a mission over enemy territory.  She is beautiful, but because of her past  
she refuses to date and makes a point of keeping to herself.  She is a good nurse and takes her job seriously. She grew up in the slums of Chicago, and after the death of her parents she spends every cent she earns on her four underage brothers and sisters.  She has no friends except May, who makes a point of befriending her.  She finds out that May is also an orphan and has known rejection and poverty and has lost her husband in the war.  She gets on well with Jack as a friend, but because of her past she feels that she will never be able to have a real relationship with him. She is very fond of him and relies on his friendship.  
Charlie de Groot is Jack's best friend in the air force and they have been flying together for three years.  Charlie and May become friendly and fall in love.  Charlie sees that Jack is overly ambitious and full of pride and he says that Jack sees winning Ruth's love as a contest.  Jack doesn't listen to Charlie and Charlie moves to another flight for his last two missions as he feels that Jack's pride will be his downfall.  When Charlie's plane is shot down and he is missing in action May never gives up on him.  She trusts God implicitly and knows that He is in control.  Jack is devastated as he feels responsible for Charlie's death (he feels he could not possibly have survived) and finally realizes where he is going wrong.  He has a secret fear which led him to make the decision that led to unnecessary loss of men and planes.  He realizes he is not such a hero after all!
Ruth and May become flight nurses and they both love flying.  The training is strenuous but they both get through it.  It is when she is flying back in a cargo plane after dropping off patients that Ruth faces her worst fear and overcomes it with God's help.  She realizes that she needs to rely totally on God and not man for her family's provision and for her safety - in fact for everything.
Jack also faces his worst fear when on D-day he is forced to ditch his plane at sea.  He realizes that he can no longer rely on his own strength, which leads to pride, but must give his whole life to the Lord.  There is a strong theme of forgiveness in the novel.  
Their love story follows closely the story of Ruth and Boaz.  I really enjoyed this book and have ordered the third book in the series.


A DISTANT MELODY BY SARAH SUNDIN

A DISTANT MELODY by Sarah Sundin is a love story that takes place during the second world war.  Both Allie and Walt play the piano, and there is a music theme right through the novel.  
Allie, who was named Allegra by her mother, has never been able to meet her mother's standards and always feels she has disappointed her by not being beautiful like she is.  She is close to her father who she feels is on her side.  Her parents are very wealthy and she is expected to take over Miller's Ball Bearings one day and to marry Baxter Hicks who is her father's right hand man in the business.  Her mother has made it quite clear that Allie is fortunate to find someone who is prepared to marry her seeing she is so homely, and her father wants her to marry Baxter to carry on the family business with him.  She is an only child, and apart from a brief spell at college where she was very happy and made friends, she has always lived at home.  
Her parents are very snobbish and feel that their attendance at the rather stuffy St Timothy's church makes them Christians.  When Allie hears about Jesus from her friend Betty at college she realizes what true Christianity is and makes a commitment to the Lord.  She longs to serve Him and to belong to a church that preaches the truth and honours Him, but she is afraid of being disobedient to her parents.  She also longs to do something more useful than staying at home with her mother to clean the silver and longs to do something worthwhile to help in the war effort.  Underlying everything is the desire to obtain her mother's approval.  She doesn't love Baxter but feels that she may be the instrument the Lord will use to lead him to the truth, and  she also feels that she will be honouring her parents by marrying him and in this way she will be pleasing to the Lord.  Baxter is very cold and condescending towards her, and is more a friend of her parents than hers.  
Things change for Allie when she goes to her friend Betty's wedding and meets Walt, an airman, in the train.  Walt is a friend of Betty's and the two of them have a wonderful time during the week they are together over the wedding.  Walt is shy and has never had a girlfriend, but he finds Allie very easy to get on with and he thinks she is lovely.  She feels so special with him that she doesn't tell him about Baxter.  She makes the excuse to herself that she is sure that Betty, who talks a lot, must have told him she had a boyfriend.
Walt's father is a pastor and is not impressed that Walt chose engineering rather than following in his footsteps.  Walt is the youngest of three sons - all of whom are in the air force.  Whilst his mother is equally loving and supportive of all of her sons, and his grandfather encourages him, his father is always comparing him unfavourably with his brothers.  He is also not goodlooking like his brothers.
There is a strong theme of truth running through the book.  Walt, whilst being a very committed Christian, is inclined to tell the odd white lie and even to make up a story when he feels it will help a situation.  Allie hasn't been honest with Walt or with her parents or even with Baxter.
There is a theme of obedience and sacrifice running through the book.  In his letters Walt helps Allie to break away from her parents' stranglehold and become the person that God has made her to be.  He is very caring and understanding and becomes her very best friend.  They become very close, and Allie even wakes up at times to pray at exactly the same time that Walt is in danger.
We see Allie standing up for herself and getting involved in the war effort and also in her new church and with her new friends.
We see how they each deal with the situation they are in, how they encourage one another in adversity, and how they each learn to trust in the Lord instead of trying to do things in their own strength.
It is a lovely story, full of real people trying to make sense of life at a very difficult time in history.