TROUBLED WATERS BY RENE GUTTERIDGE

TROUBLED WATERS by RENE GUTTERIDGE is a book about relationships, forgiveness and restoration.
Macille (Macey) Steigel is a successful news anchor, with the chance of getting into television broadcasting in New York, but she is neither happy nor fulfilled.  Her inability to sustain relationships is largely caused by a secret which keeps her tied to her past.
She was brought up by loving Christian parents on a farm in a small tight-knit community.  Her father, a godly man and a deacon in the church, had very strict rules about right and wrong, and, when she overstepped the mark, he reacted in anger and condemnation.  Macey is devastated by this rejection and leaves home at seventeen to make a new life for herself.  She turns away from the faith of her youth as she failed to see love and forgiveness in her father, the man who she wanted to please above all and by whom she had always felt loved and accepted until she failed to meet his standards, and wants nothing to do with God if He is anything like her father!
Her feelings are conflicted when she gets a message that her father has died, but she goes back to her childhood home for the funeral to be with her mother, Evelyn.
Evelyn has been praying for years that her husband and daughter will be reconciled, for she knows things that Macey has never known, and is angry that her prayers are unanswered.  However, her joy at seeing Macey again and the loving support and wise counsel of her friend Patricia, who had nursed her husband Jess until he died, make her realize that the Lord is indeed in control and His ways are not our ways.
Noah and his twin girls, with their unashamed love for the Lord and their desire that all should  come to know Him, have a lot to do with her restoration.  
It is a sensitively and beautifully written novel with believable characters. We learn a great deal about human nature and the importance of not trying to make things better in our own strength, which often makes things worse, and also of not being quick in jumping to conclusions.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

WITH EVERY LETTER BY SARAH SUNDIN

WITH EVERY LETTER by SARAH SUNDIN is the first book in her WINGS OF THE NIGHTINGALE series. The novel is set in 1942 during the second world war, mostly in North Africa.
Philomela Blake (whose name means "nightingale") has spent a great deal of her life in the jungle with her botanist father, and has always been a bit of a misfit due to her unusual looks and desperate shyness. Her mother, who died in a car accident when she was two years old, was half Filipino, which accounts for her rather exotic looks. She has a large mouth and is afraid to smile because of the cruelty of her classmates who say she looks like a monkey when she smiles, and she has never cut her hair, which she wears plaited in coils around her head. Her father says she is a rare orchid. She is afraid that if she cuts her hair she will end up like her mother, who became a party animal after cutting her hair and neglected her husband and daughter.
Mellie, as she is called by her father with whom she is very close, and later by the nurses in the army air force, has a real problem making friends. She has a scrapbook with photos she has cut out of magazines, and these are her "friends". Some are photos of real people who have terrible problems, one of whom is Tom MacGilliver whose father was executed for murder when Tom was seven, and Mellie prays for him and others who are suffering in various ways. She has a compassionate heart, is a caring and efficient nurse, and does all she can to help her patients, often singing to them with her beautiful voice. Her father calls her an angel of mercy. Being friendly comes easily to her in a hospital ward, but in she is hopeless at social functions. She has no self image and doesn't see how beautiful she really is when she looks in the mirror. She cuts her hair when it becomes hard to manage in North Africa, and realizes that cutting her hair will not make her like her mother! She is a person in her own right and is responsible before the Lord for her own actions and not her mother's or anyone else's.
She is transferred from the Walter Reed Memorial Hospital to the air evacuation unit at Bowman Field. We see how hard she tries to make friends, as her job depends on it, and the mistakes she makes along the way. She becomes involved in anonymous letter writing, and finds that she can really be herself in this kind of relationship.
Tom MacGilliver is her anonymous correspondent. He can also be himself in such a situation. He has a lot to live down being the son of a murderer, but he will not take the easy way out and change his name. He has some happy memories of his father before he became a drunkard. Tom smiles a lot and is determined not to be seen as a killer. He finds it hard making friends and finds leadership hard. He befriends a dog in the war torn country and lavishes affection on him. He calls him Sesame, and when Mellie sees him with the dog she knows he is her secret correspondant. He is an engineer and wants to build bridges between people, not kill them. He nearly gets his sergeant, Larry Fong, who is his only real friend in the platoon, killed, because he doesn't shoot an enemy sniper when he has the chance. He is a strong Christian and tries to do the right thing in every situation. Both Mellie and Tom have let friends down, been the target of cruel attacks and have been betrayed by those they thought they could trust.
The relationship between Mellie (Annie) and Tom (Ernest) flourishes as they can really open up to one another. They become really good friends and eventually fall in love. Will Mellie, who knows Tom's identity, take the chance of revealing her own identity to him and risk being hurt if he is repulsed by her looks? She feels she owes it to him and is being selfish putting her own fear of being hurt before his feelings.
This novel has a really good message and I can highly recommend it. I am looking forward to the next novel in the series.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

THE BREAKING POINT BY KAREN BALL

I have just reread THE BREAKING POINT by KAREN BALL and can highly recommend it. It is a story about family relationships and marriage. We see how God's amazing mercy and grace can restore, not only a broken marriage, but also broken people.
Renee and Gabe grow up in completely different families. Renee's parents are godly people who love each other, their family is very close, and her childhood is wonderfully happy. She feels secure in her parents' love for her. Her parents's marriage becomes an idol in her life, and she is frustrated with Gabe who is not at all like her father. She tries her hardest to change him.
Gabe's father was an angry and violent man, and there was no peace in their home. Gabe was afraid of his father until one day he became angry and hit him back, Even though he still was beaten on a regular basis, he made anger his friend and was no longer afraid. Gabe was also good at acting as if everything was fine. This became his way of life, and after he miraculously survived a fall down a cliff, he became active in church to fulfill a vow he had made to God. He was good at preaching, as he used his acting ability to help him. He didn't realize the Lord hadn't called him to ministry until his seminary professor helped him see the truth.
Renee and Gabe's marriage starts off on the wrong foot and goes downhill very fast. They go through years of counseling and are greatly helped by Grace and Oren, an elderly couple who belong to their Bible study group.
Renee, Gabe and their Siberian husky, Bo, are stranded in a snow storm after being away for a few days in the mountains. This is where everything comes to a head. They roll down a bank, Gabe is injured and unconscious and Renee is afraid he will die if she doesn't go for help. He wakes up when she has gone and is scared that she is lost and that he will never see her again. We see how they both turn to the Lord in this crisis and how He answers their prayers and how He uses this time to show them the truth about themselves. There is no room for blaming one another for their predicament, nor is their room for play acting.
Renee sees how critical she has become and realizes that she and Gabe are not her mother and father but that they are very different, and Gabe sees how he has hurt Renee by not appreciating her love for him. He has never felt good enough because of his father's physical and verbal abuse, and learnt to
protect his heart by playing a part instead of being himself. He sees how he has pushed Renee away with his outbursts of anger.
We see how a couple can be restored to one another if they are determined not to give up on one another, if they follow godly counsel and ask the Lord to change them rather than trying to change their partner.
This is a story of forgiveness, faith and redemption and is full of scriptural truth.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A BEAUTIFUL FALL BY CHRIS COPPERNOLL

A BEAUTIFUL FALL BY CHRIS COPPERNOLL is is the second novel by Chris Coppernoll that I have read.  I posted a review on Providence by him on  the 18th April.  I really enjoy his writing style and can highly recommend his books. 
Emma Madison grew up in Juneberry in a community where she was loved and well cared for.  Her closest friends were Samantha, Christina and Michael.  
Emma's father, Will, is a loving father who has had to bring Emma up alone after his wife died when his daughter was five years old.  There is something missing in Emma's life and as a child she was always looking for her mother, who she couldn't really remember.  There was a certain oppression in their home which was filled with photos of her mother, and when she is given a box of mementos that meant a lot to her mother, she buries it.  She is ashamed of her feelings and is afraid of telling anyone how she feels.  This is what leads to her decision to leave Juneberry behind her. She doesn't even say goodbye to Michael, with whom she has had a very close relationship, and who everyone thought she would marry one day.  She hasn't been back for twelve years when she receives a message that her father has had a heart attack and is in hospital.
Emma is a successful and beautiful young lawyer and is a partner in a law firm in Boston.  She has just won a very important case for her firm.  Colin, one of her colleagues, is also a successful lawyer and it is felt that they would make an ideal couple.  Emma has a good life in Boston, but life there is completely different to life in Juneberry.  There is not much chance to unwind in Boston.
Emma loves her father dearly and feels terribly guilty for not having been home to see him for so long.  Her return to Juneberry is a turning point in her life.  Her friends welcome her with open arms and unconditional love.  From the moment she is met at the airport by Noel, Christina and Jim's son, to when she is taken to the airport for her return to Boston, she feels the love of the Lord in all the wonderful people that have played such a big part in her life.  She comes to the painful realization that she has shut people who love her out of her life and not only wounded them, but also wounded herself.  
There is still a strong bond between her and Michael.  She is in turmoil, like a leaf that is blown about by the fall wind, but he is at peace with himself and his Lord, like a tree firmly rooted in the ground.  
The weather plays a big part in this story.  For example, when she returns to Boston to an important meeting, it is cold and raining heavily.  Before returning to Juneberry she had forgotten how beautiful it was in the country.  The heavy rain and cold in Juneberry gives rise to happy memories and times spent with the man she still has feelings for.
She is not ready to return to her life in Boston and stays longer than she originally intended.  Colin keeps phoning her to see how she is getting on, telling her she needs to come back "where she belongs".  But where does she really belong?  She is determined not to be rushed, as she has given the firm years of her life and now is determined to make her family her priority.
Robert Adler, her boss, is not used to people saying no to him, and is exasperated at her long absence from the firm.  She compares the greed and manipulation shown by Robert when she is back in the office and he offers her huge money and even political success in order to keep her, with the Christian love  and forgiveness she has just experienced, and realizes that people are more important than position and success.
Will Madison is a praying man.  He has always been there for Emma, even though she wasn't always there for him.  He is grateful for his heart attack as it has brought his daughter home for a few days.  The way he welcomes his "prodigal daughter" home and then lets go of her when she has to go back to Boston at the end of the week, reminds us of God's amazing grace towards us.  This time, however, she does say goodbye to those she loves.  Michael also lets her go, but this time he goes to Boston to see what choice she is really going to make this time!
This is a story of love, forgiveness and God's mercy.  We see the importance of the choices we make, not only in our own lives but in the lives of those we love.  We see the relationships between the different characters and what love and commitment produces in their lives.  There is a strong Christian message and a lot to learn and enjoy in this sensitively and beautifully written novel.

ENGLISH IVY BY CATHERINE PALMER

ENGLISH IVY by CATHERINE PALMER is a charming novel which takes place in 19th century England and is highly reminiscent of the writings of Jane Austen.
Ivy Bowden lives with her parents and her three sisters, Caroline, Madeline and Clementine in Brooking house, near Otley. She is happy living with her family, but when her father arranges a marriage for her with Mr Creeve, she agrees out of obedience to her father, although she is not looking forward to spending the rest of her life with such an unpleasant man.
When Mr Colin Richmond comes to his country house, Longley, with a message for Ivy, she learns that those who she had always thought were her parents are in actual fact her uncle and aunt, and her sisters are actually her cousins. She is badly shaken by the news and further shaken by the fact that her marriage to Mr Creeve was arranged by her father in order to benefit her adoptive family financially. Ivy is caught in a difficult situation when she learns of her birth father's stipulation that In order to access her vast fortune she must marry Mr John Frith, who is the son of his best friend. Neither man is at all appealing and she knows that both men are after her money. There are legal arguments and an attempted murder which are caused by her fortune and the conditions attached to her receiving it. In fact this fortune is threatening to ruin Ivy's life and make it impossible for her to marry for love.
Mr Bowden is a well read man who,delights in having the right quotation for every occasion. Ivy loves him dearly and knows that he loves her. She also knows that God loves her even more than Mr Bowden does. Ivy is a godly young woman and is determined to please her Heavenly Father and to use her vast inheritance in order to help those in need. She is already known as an "angel" amongst the poor who she visits and helps in the area, and they are expecting more from her once she comes into her inheritance. She feels that an awful lot is expected of her!
Colin Richmond is a man of the world who is to take over his father's shipping company which is based in India. His father gave him the commission to find Ivy and give her the news of her inheritance which she will obtain on her twenty-first birthday, if she complies with the conditions laid down by her birth father, Mr Kingston. He is obeying his father, Ivy is trying to obey both her dead father and her adoptive father, but above all she wants to obey her Heavenly Father. Colin and Ivy are drawn to each other, but Ivy is duty bound to marry either Frith or Creeve, and Colin feels totally unworthy of someone as pure and lovely as Ivy.
Ivy and her sisters first meet Colin Richmond when they are attacked on their way to Otley. Ivy is hit on the head by one of the ruffians and is taken to Longley Park where she stays until the doctor sees fit to let her go home.
Ivy feels there is something familiar about Mr Richmond and there are smells and sounds that keep coming back to her, which she realizes are memories of the first years of her life when she lived in India.
There has been a lot of speculation about the young Mr Richmond, and rumours abound. Some even say that he is a pirate and a vagabond who has a different woman in every port!
Ivy is pleased to hear that Colin has changed his ways and has made a commitment to follow Christ.
The plot has many twists and is very exciting, the characters are well portrayed, and there is a strong Christian message. It is a delightful book and I can highly recommend it.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

LOVE'S SACRED SONG BY MESU ANDREWS

LOVE'S SACRED SONG by MESU ANDREWS is the story of Solomon's marriage to Arielah, a shepherdess from Shunem,  his treaty bride.  For Solomon, who already has many wives, it starts out as a contract to bring peace amongst the Israelites in the northern region, but he becomes totally infatuated with this godly woman who is so different from the many women he has known.  Solomon, with his upbringing in the palace, has never had the close family life that Arielah has had, and is thus unable to understand what love and commitment are all about.  Arielah's father, Jehosaphat, prince of Shunem, is to become the king's ambassador in the area in accordance with the terms of the treaty.  The people of Shunem are particularly angry about the fate of one of their daughters, Abishag, who comforted king David when he was dying, but who was looked upon as "tainted" and was not treated honourably by the royal family after his death.  
When Arielah is born Jehosaphat has a dream that his daughter, whose name means "lion of God", will marry the king and bring peace between Judah and Israel.
Arielah falls in love with Solomon when she sees him for the first time at the age of seven and knows in her heart she will marry him one day.  It is through the little shepherdess and her godly family that king Solomon comes to know what love really is. Although she is hurt by his behaviour she learns to forgive him and to love him unconditionally.  
God has given Solomon amazing wisdom, and in his desire to build his kingdom he makes treaties and trade agreements with  foreign kings and governors.  In exchange he is given many foreign wives.  Where he is so wise in worldly matters, he is sadly lacking in wisdom as far as love and commitment are concerned.  The wisdom God has given him serves him well in the world of commerce, but he lacks his father David's shepherd's heart.  David was a warrior king; Solomon is to bring peace to the land during his rule by using his great wisdom.  He is also to build the Temple that his father David wanted to build.  He is very aware of his duties to his people and the importance of obedience to Jehovah.
The novel is full of scriptural truth, and their love story follows the Song of Solomon.
There is intrigue, deception and jealousy, not only between the wives and concubines, but also between Judah and Israel.  There are men at court who do not have the king's or the country's best interests at heart.  These men, led by the cruel Ahishar, together with the twin Daughters of Jerusalem, stir up dissention and make the most of the jealousy in the harems and the pagan worship practised by the foreign wives and concubines, to try and usurp power in the kingdom.
The meaning behind Jewish betrothal and wedding practices are beautifully explained and we can't help but make the parallel between these and the betrothal and marriage that takes place between the believer and Jesus.
In this novel we are reminded of God's unending love for each one of us, how He alone brings about changes in our characters as we seek to be obedient to His will.  How it is perfectly safe to trust Him with our very lives and with the lives of those who are dear to us. He is the Great Shepherd, and it is often when we are alone, surrounded by His creation, that He speaks to us and shows us what to do.
We see Arielah's obedience, which very nearly leads to her death, and are reminded of the sacrifice of Christ when she speaks to the people of the north at the Passover festival, and her wounds remind us of the wounds of Jesus, our sacrificial Lamb.
God's mercy and grace, the importance of repentance and forgiveness and of obedience to His Law, run through the story from beginning to end.  
Jehosaphat is a godly man, and he is a father or "abba" to many, including to his son-in-law, king Solomon.  He honours his daughter's free choice and doesn't force her to marry the king, even though his heart breaks when he realizes what she will have to suffer to bring about peace in the kingdom and in Solomon's heart.
When Solomon is parted from Arielah after her attack, he not only realizes how much he truly loves her, but also comes to seek the Lord in true repentance.  This time, when he fetches her from her father's house, they do not go straight back to the court at Jerusalem, but they spend some time of restoration and refreshment at his vineyard.
The novel is beautifully written and the characters are very real and well portrayed.  Of course this is a work of fiction, but this does not take away from the truth of the story or the scripture that it is based on.  It is a really inspirational book and most enjoyable.
 

RARE EARTH BY DAVIS BUNN

RARE EARTH BY DAVIS BUNN is another Marc Royce adventure. This time he is sent to Kenya by Ambassador Walton to investigate suspected underhand activities at Lodestone, a company with its headquarters in the States, whose operatives supply food, tents, etc, as well as security, in the drought-stricken and war torn country.  He goes in undercover as a former accountant and is put in charge of getting supplies to the refugee camps. An Israeli aid worker, Serge Korban, has been kidnapped and he is also looking for him.
In the camp he meets Serge's sister Kitra, who works in the camp clinic. She dislikes him to start with, as she holds Lodestone responsible for her brother's disappearance, but when she sees his compassion for the poverty-stricken refugees, she comes to trust him.  Marc feels that he may at last be ready to move on, as it is over four years since his wife died.  He and Kitra have feelings for one another, but Kitra's life is complicated and he doesn't know if he can give up his life to become part of hers.
We see Marc's respect for both the elders at the camp and also for those that he meets in the slums of Nairobi. They have been let down badly by white men in the past who are trying to take over their land, but they trust Marc, especially when Philip, a young chief who is a believer in Christ, says he is sure that Marc is the deliverer he has seen in his dreams. They like his humility and commitment to help. 
He doesn't hurry them in their deliberations and he allows them all the time they need to make decisions.
Marc has to use all the skills learned in the military and during his time in the C.I.A. in the dangerous situation in which he and his allies find themselves.   
Marc goes to Israel at Kitra's insistance and  stays with her parents in a Kibbutz in the Judean desert.  In this desolate place they extract elements from rare earth which are used to manufacture components for  mobile phones and nuclear reactors, to name but a few. Now he understands why the villages are being evacuated - they are going to be taken over by the Chinese, aided by rogue African mercenaries. The Chinese already have the monopoly in the industry and can thus charge exhorbitant prices. This is the secret that Serge discovered and which led to his abduction.
Marc and Crowden, and those who are with them, have full permission from as far up as the White House to do what is necessary to stop the Chinese from appropriating the villagers' land, so as to counteract their monopoly.
Serge and Kitra have come to Kenya to search out the rare earth in order to have a supply for their kibbutz. They have come to "heal the land", as their way of extracting the substances from the earth is not harmful like that of the Chinese. In fact there are people that are being treated by Red Cross doctors for  unknown diseases which are directly caused by the extraction factory. They do not want to take away anything from the Africans, but they want to work together for the mutual good of both countries.
God has brought about an amazing miracle in Kenya where people from warring tribes have come to faith in Christ and are now living as brothers. Marc, as a believer himself, relates well to them, and also to Kitra's parents and the occupants of the Kibbutz who are Jewish believers in Christ the Messiah.
Philip, his uncle Oyango, and the other elders see Marc's involvement in their plight as a miracle as well.  They are so glad he has come to help them in a situation where they feel absolutely hopeless and helpless.
Davis Bunn has a good grasp of the culture and lifestyle of the African continent. The story is convincing and one can feel the dryness of the landscape, the brooding of the volcano and the fog caused by the ash. This fog serves its purpose when the villains at the extraction plant are overpowered by Marc and his men, who seem to be far more in number and whose blowing of the "vuvuselas" make one think of the destruction of Jericho when the Israelites blew the trumpets!
The story is exciting, the characters are well portrayed and there is a strong Christian message.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad