A Christmas in the Alps - Melody Carlson

Melody Carlson's Christmas novellas are an established tradition in their own right and this time she crosses the Atlantic - or rather, Simone Winthrop does, when she discovers a letter from her French great grandmother, and sets off to France to see if it's hints of treasure are true.  This is a big deal in many ways, not least that she's afraid of flying. On the long flight to Paris Simone meets Kyle Larsson, and their paths will cross again in the story.

I'm a bit of a sucker for a Christmas novella, and this is a great Christmas read. There's a nice level of mystery/curiosity, the French settings are lovely, and the family relationships are really well described and developed.

We all know that Simone and Kyle will connect - but the beauty of a good Christmas story is the way they do it, with lots of Christmassy sparkle and magic.

An easy read, perfect for a little 'chill out' time in the busy run up to Christmas. Recommended.

9780800739331, Revell

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own. 

Talking to Calippa Cumberland - Chick Yuill

Book Cover with Girl's Face and Christmas Tree

It’s half past four on Christmas Eve, 1976. Lori Bloom, aged three and three-quarters, is leaving a busy department store with her mother when the tannoy announces that a child in reception is lost and crying for her parents.

The impact on Lori is immediate. ‘Calippa Cumberland’, the mysterious girl with blonde hair and a curious name, becomes her imaginary friend and a constant presence into adulthood. For as one Christmas follows another, Lori finds herself confronting painful questions and in need of a companion in whom she can confide.

But will there ever be someone Lori can completely trust? And will Christmas Eve ever be about finding and being found, rather than losing and being lost?

* * *

I've read and reviewed Chick's books before and really enjoyed them so I was looking forward to reading his latest, Talking to Calippa Cumberland, and I wasn't disappointed.

Chick is never afraid to address tough issues in his books. In this case the challenges started from the very beginning, as this book is written in the first person from a female point of view. Kudos must be given to his daughters who apparently answered some of the kinds of questions not often asked of daughters by their Dads, although they warned him they would only answer them once! Chick's research approach proved effective, because Lori is both believable and relatable as a character at the various points in her life. 

I enjoyed her connection with her invisible friend Calippa, and the journalling/letters worked really well. I love letters in stories! Chick has done well to make Lori the child as engaging as Lori the adult, and the views of the world through her eyes are beautifully told.  I also love the description of 17 Morley Close, when Lori walks on the wall and talks to Calippa, for example. There's lots of detail which helps make the story feel immersive, but the detail doesn't overtake the storytelling. There's humour here and there too, such as Lori's wry observation on Christmas Eve 1996 that 'There are even some compliments on my cooking which, since we're only on the first glass of wine, actually seem to me to be genuine.'

The story manages to weave the traditional, in the form of the Christmas Eve carol services, and the secular, partly in the form of Lori's very sceptical view of religion, which stems in no small part from the tough situations she had to face from a young age. There are some gems of peripheral characters too, of whom my favourite is definitely Madge, whose friendship with Lori starts as an annual meeting on the church steps on Christmas Eve, but who will be influential in no small way in Lori's life.

Setting the story on a series of Christmas Eves is a different approach which works well. There are some twists in Lori's story, some of which were WAY bigger than expected, and some very sad, but overall this is a novel of hope. Of faith rebuilding trust. Of overcoming loss and letting go of the fears it brings. Plus a large helping of the importance of being aware that what may seem to be someone's perfect life can easily be anything but away from the public's eye. 

And the end is awesome (but no spoilers here! 😉).

An engrossing read, recommended as a fresh approach to the 'Christmas Novel/Novella' genre.

Note: For more conservative readers, be aware that the book does include some sexual content.

Chick Yuill is a speaker, writer and broadcaster with a passion to bring matters of faith out of the narrow confines of a religious ghetto and into the wider arena of public life and discourse. He writes fiction because of his lifelong love of words and out of his growing conviction that nothing reaches truth or touches people’s hearts better than a well-told story. 

Talking to Calippa Cumberland is his sixth novel published with Instant Apostle.

He has been married to Margaret for more than 50 years and has her name tattooed on his arm for the sheer joy of it.

9781912726486, Instant Apostle, October 2021

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.

Year 0033 - J M Evans

This novel, set in a dystopian future, is a gripping read.  Chella is a young woman who lives in ‘Area IF208’.  Religion is banned, but Chella is a member of one of the thriving underground churches.  Her life seems settled, but people are disappearing – and one of them is a close friend.  Rumours are circulating of people living Outside and worshipping in freedom.  Then Chella’s fiancé Jedan is arrested and Chella is questioned.  Before long they are on the run, trying to navigate their way through the Outside, looking for the Christians they believe they’ll find in a place called Anderley.

This is a multi-layered book. The beginning reminded me strongly of the early church, and the threat of danger and persecution reminded me of more modern situations too.  The characters are living their faith in a real, down to earth and practical way, and have to make hard decisions.  Not least leaving everything they’ve known, to set out with a grandmother and young baby on a very uncertain journey with little but faith and an old map to guide them. 

Elements of trust, hope, faith and truth run through the whole book.  There are also secrets and lies and some of these are BIG, such as the Elite’s ‘staff’. There is plenty of tension, and a nice big twist in the tale which I really enjoyed.  An excellent and challenging story for teenage or adult readers with some interesting and useful Reading Group Questions at the back.

9781912457441  Dernier Publishing, paperback

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.

Tacos for Two - Betsy St Amant

Rory Perez, a food truck owner who can't cook, is struggling to keep the business she inherited from her aunt out of the red - and an upcoming contest during Modest's annual food truck festival seems the best way to do it. The prize money could finally give her a solid financial footing and keep her cousin with special needs paid up at her beloved assisted living home. Then maybe Rory will have enough time to meet the man she's been talking to via an anonymous online dating site.

Jude Strong is tired of being a puppet at his manipulative father's law firm, and the food truck festival seems like the perfect opportunity to dive into his passion for cooking and finally call his life his own. But if he loses the contest, he's back at the law firm for good. Failure is not an option.

Complications arise when Rory's chef gets mono and she realises she has to cook after all. Then Jude discovers that his stiffest competition is the same woman he's been falling for online the past month.

Will these unlikely chefs sacrifice it all for the name of love? Or will there only ever be tacos for one?

Rory Perez owns a food truck specialising in her late aunt’s tacos, but she relies on chef Grady and hides the fact that she can’t cook and her business is in financial trouble.  Jude Strong is at odds with his scheming father and brother, loves cooking and hates working at the family law firm.  When Jude buys a food truck of his own, his father gives him an ultimatum: If he wins the town’s Food Truck Festival contest he can leave the firm.  But the odds are stacked against him – and he doesn’t realise that the woman he’s been falling for online is the same woman he’s in competition with for the Festival prize!  And her need to win is at least as desperate as his.

 

This is a brilliantly written twist on the plot of You’ve Got Mail, and the references and quotes pop up throughout the book.  It’s an energetic and funny read with some mystery elements which add spice to the mix.  I really enjoyed it, which says something about the way the author writes, since Rory is decidedly unlikeable on a number quite a few occasions.  She’s often self-obsessed and quick to make negative assumptions about Jude, such as accusing him multiple times of using her, or her young cousin Hannah.  She’s not so quick to realise that she’s often guilty of the very thing she’s accusing Jude – usually incorrectly – of.  And she makes an astonishingly racist comment to him.  Anyone who likes You’ve Got Mail will be entertained by this one.  Quite honestly though, if I were Jude I think I’d’ve dropped Rory like a hot potato, but he’s much nicer than me!

9780800738907, Revell, UK release November 2021

The Winter Rose - Melanie Dobson

Young widow Addie Hoult sets out for Tonquin Lake, looking for the mysterious and elusive Tonquin family. 

Charlie Tonquin, the man Addie sees as a father-figure, is dying and urgently needs a bone marrow transplant. But Charlie refuses to talk about his past or his family, and the Tonquins have long since disappeared from the grand house above the lake.

In the 1940s, American Quaker Grace Tonquin is desperately trying to help Jewish children in France escape from the Nazis. She crosses the Pyrenees with the children and escapes into Spain, taking two of them on to the USA. She and her husband love the children as their own, but events from the past slowly tear the family apart.

Can Addie discover what happened to Grace’s family after the war? Are any of them still alive? And can the search help both Charlie and Addie heal?

This is an unusual book. It’s not a straightforward ‘happy ending’ title but shows that the things which happen in a person’s life affect them long afterwards.  There’s much about family here, and most of it in ‘non-traditional’ forms.  There are elements on faith, hope and restoration, and this is a book where all the characters have their flaws as well as strengths.  

I first thought this a ‘WWII’ novel, but it’s about so much more than Grace and the children’s escape from the Nazis across the mountains.  At times I found it a challenge to keep up with who was who, but this is a good read with depth and quality in the storytelling.

9781496444226, Tyndale, Jan22

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.

The Barrister and the Letter of Marque - Todd M Johnson

In 1818 William Snopes is a barrister in London, defending the poor against the rich. But that changes when Lady Madelaine Jameson pleads for help to save both a man’s life and her estate.

Captain Tuttle sails the Padget under a Letter of Marque – a document allowing him to seize the cargo of French traders operating illegally.  Lady Madelaine has invested heavily in the Padget, and the ship’s return to London laden with tea taken from a French vessel is the answer to her prayers.  But on arrival the vessel and her crew are seized and Captain Tuttle imprisoned under a charge of piracy, and the Letter of Marque which can prove his innocence has vanished.

 

Despite his hesitation, Snopes agrees to take the case. But he has formidable opponents, who think nothing of murdering those who get in their way.

 

This is a novel full of intrigue, in a very well depicted and atmospheric Dickens-esque setting.  It’s a complicated and clever mystery with many twists, multiple layers and a superb cast of characters who are all well developed, some of whom I’d like to know more about in future stories.  There are a few Americanisms here and there – the dreaded ‘gotten’ and ‘block’ for example – but this is a story which can easily rise above a few glitches with the overall quality of the writing.

Highly recommended.

9780764212369, Bethany House

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.

A Midnight Dance - Joanna Davidson Politano

In my view A Midnight Dance is the best yet by far of Joanna Davidson Politano's novels set in England. In it we meet Ella Blythe, who longs to be as gifted a ballet dancer as her mother had been before her. But dancing led to tragedy for Ella's mum, and it could lead the same way for her daughter.

This is a truly grippingly told novel.  The story is multi-layered and raises many questions, most of which are eventually answered! There are threads throughout of hope, ambition, desperation, challenge, overcoming obstacles and the fear of being 'not enough' no matter how hard you try.  There is also a rather nicely complicated love story (or indeed, love stories) with an extra twist just for good measure. 

The mystery of what really happened to Delphine, and who she was, is a fabulous story arc.  There are further mysteries and secrets throughout too.  Family is a powerful element, especially 'the fatherless'.  Faith elements are rather cleverly woven in, and although occasionally seeming a bit awkward these rare times in no way spoiled my enjoyment of a clever and involving story.

The brief historical notes at the end are informative and interesting and the very personal author note shows the root of a number of the story elements, not least the issue of God's love for the 'broken and messed up'.

There were one or two anomalies in the use of 'theatre' and 'theater', but I was glad to see that most times the Craven Street Theatre was correctly referred to, given that it's located in London, England.  The use of 'theater' elsewhere, given the book's US publisher and largely US readership, is perfectly acceptable - but I don't envy the editor or proof reader!  I read an early manuscript so I suspect that the rare situations where the wrong theatre spelling was used will now be correct.

Highly recommended for anyone who loves historical novels with a hefty helping of mystery and a light-handed sprinkling of not-too-overpowering romance.

9780800736903, Revell

Pelagia - Steve Holloway

Do you ever start reading a book which looks intriguing, find it surprisingly hard work at first, and then get completely drawn in?  That’s exactly what happened to me with Pelagia.  

I used to read a lot of science fiction and this book reminds me why, with its oceanic world which is so expansively and compellingly described.  For me, the ocean region of Pelagia and the nomadic vessel Osse and the family it carries are the real stars and points of difference of this book. 

 

Steve Holloway has created a book which is as much a thriller as it is science fiction.  Set in the near future, we meet Ben Holden, ex Special Forces, who is the key to unlocking information needed by the deadly New Caliphate who will stop at nothing to find him.  Ben’s past has been traumatic, and as he begins to recover he will need to learn who he can trust.  And perhaps even love.

 

This is a book which really feels like something different: fresh, beautifully written and immersive both in subject and engagement.  It portrays good and evil very clearly, and the people within its covers are interesting and believable, with faith elements which are also interesting and believable.  This is certainly not a cosy mystery.  The thriller elements aren’t watered down. A genuine page-turner, it is well worth persevering with if you too find the beginning a bit hard going.  I would love to read another novel set in Pelagia.

9781782643395, Lion Fiction, Jun21

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.

Yours is the Night - Amanda Dykes

A mysterious song in the forest...

A discovery in war-torn France...

A journey toward hope.

Matthew Petticrew’s childhood was hard, but the realities of the trenches of the Great War  bring a whole host of horrors.  One night he and two companions hear a singing voice, a sound of beauty in woods behind the lines.  Before long others hear the singing, and rumours of an ‘Angel of Argonne’ spread through the trenches. An angel who leaves wreaths on unmarked graves.

 

Mireilles grew up in the depths of the Forest but when war reaches her home it takes almost everything from her.  When Matthew and his companions find her, they begin a journey which will change them all. And perhaps, bring light into the darkness.

 

I can’t think of a suitable word to adequately describe this novel. Fabulous, wonderful, gripping and emotional all seem somehow lacking.  It’s a book which deals with loss, love, transformation, sacrifice, courage and faith.  Each character has their own issues and failings and must overcome their own challenges.  Faith is wonderfully integrated throughout as a ‘theology of life’  learned in the fields, gardens and stables of the USA and on the battlefields and roads of France and Belgium.  

 

Amanda Dykes’ books are wonderfully written and powerful and this is the best yet. It deepens and becomes richer and more immersive as the story progresses.

Written to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the interment of the Unknown in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia on November 11, 1921, this is a fitting tribute.

  

Amanda, thank you so, so much for writing this novel.  I truly hope it reaches an enormous readership, and it absolutely deserves to win every writing prize there is.

"what if what we believe to be our shortcomings, our oddities, are actually purposeful quirks that suit us for the moments we were made for?"

Oh, and whoever commissioned and designed the cover, it is absolutely beautiful and perfect.

To read an extract, click here: Yours is the Night - Extract

9780764232688, Bethany House, Sep21 (UK)

Crowned Worthy - L G Jenkins

Dysoptian fiction isn’t at all a regular choice of mine, so it’s somewhat surprising that I found myself reading another book from this genre.  

 

Ajay Chambers is outwardly on the up, with a high profile job, a host of merit-making friends and high-born girlfriend Genni.  Despite his successful life, he is restless and unsatisfied.  Ambition in Tulo’s City is on another scale with those who are ‘Worthy’ working constantly to score merit points to elevate their status.  Ajay’s ambition began young, and he carries an explosive secret with him – a secret becoming harder and harder to keep.  And all is not well with Genni, either.

 

It took a while to get into this as I didn’t find Ajay very likeable for a long time. I did warm to Genni though and her longing for expression through her gift for painting. There’s a huge and dramatic shift in pace quite late on, where the feel of the story changes. This is book one and it ends on a cliffhanger.  I hope this means that some of the untied threads will be tied in the next book!

 

There are plenty of things to think about here – the pressures of achievement and expectation, work, relationships and the effect of the over domination of technology, as well as living a truthful life.  My only hesitation is that the other option in the book – living in the ‘Unglorified’ district known as the Side and following the Guiding Light, doesn’t, at this stage of the story at least, appear very appealing!  I wait with interest to see how the story develops.

9781912863709, Malcolm Down Publishing, Feb21

Paint and Nectar - Ashley Clark

Paint and Nectar isn’t the kind of book I’d usually pick up, which just goes to show it’s always worth reading outside your immediate comfort zone.

In 1929, William is hired to produce forged copies of the paintings of gifted artist Eliza.  Taking the job to help his desperate sister, he thinks it will be a ‘one off’.  Little does he know it will change his life.

In modern day Charleston, Lucy Legare unexpectedly inherits a tumbledown historic property and its overgrown garden, along with a beautiful old ring.  She meets the engaging Declan Pinckney, but Declan has been instructed by his formidable father to buy the house no matter the cost, and the likely cost is rising all the time.

I enjoyed this not just because the story (stories?) itself is so very well constructed, but because there are flashes of absolute joy in the phrasing of Ashley Clark’s writing.  And not just in the notes and letters between William and Eliza, which are enchanting.  (How much are we losing in these modern days with the loss of actual letter writing, I wonder?)

 

The elements of retaining history, and yet aligning it with progress, are well laid out and I loved the themes of inheritance, hope and beauty.  Inheritance is shown to be about more than just the most obviously valuable, and hope shown as not always easily found.  There are lots of layers, so you need to keep your focus while reading, but it is SO well worth it.

 

But I do wonder what happened about the bricks…

9780764237614, Bethany House, £10.99 pb, Jun21

Mosaic - Chris Aslan

“When a pot breaks, it’s useless; at best there might be a shard that you can use to scoop grain.  But what about a broken life? What about me? I feel so fragmented. Can I be repaired somehow? How do I live with the hate I fell towards those I'm supposed to be closest to? My life is in pieces and I don't know what to do..."

Tabita is growing up in a mountain village in the Middle East.  When a tragic accident results in the death of her closest friend Sholem and the paralysis of her brother Phanuel, Tabi’s life is shattered.  When word comes of a miracle-working teacher it’s not only Phan who needs healing. 

 

The author’s childhood in Turkey and Lebanon is reflected in his immersive descriptions of the people and landscape.  Although I found the early chapters a bit hard going, before long I was captivated.  When Tabi and the four friends who with Phan make up ‘The Hand’ take him to the Teacher, it’s far from being the end of the story.   Influence for The Hand comes from Luke 12:52 and the overall story arc includes events from Mark and Acts which are woven in very well.  I like ‘biblical novels’ which don’t follow key characters, they give their authors scope for wider turns in the storytelling.

 

Mosaic gives the reader an insight into what life may well have been like for many in Jesus’ time.  It clearly describes the rift between those who followed The Way and the Jewish leaders, while making people on both sides of that rift ‘real’.  When reading the Bible we often go quickly through its stories.  Here, we’re aware of how tensions would be building over time, and the struggle of knowing what was right not just in the bigger things, but in individual lives where many broken pieces can be restored and create a beautiful mosaic.

9781782643388, Lion Fiction, £9.99, pb, Apr21

If it Rains - Jennifer L Wright

A story of resilience and redemption set against one of America's defining moments - the Dust Bowl.

It’s 1935 and in Oklahoma drought is in its fourth year.  14 year old Kathryn, born with a club foot, loves the land her family lives on, despite the increasingly desperate and precarious situation they are in as the land turns to dust.  She doesn’t love her stepmother Helen, but Helen is struggling to adjust to a life very different from her childhood, and grieving the loss of her third baby, stillborn on the day Kathryn’s sister Melissa makes her fateful vows to Henry Mayfield.

 

Driven by desperation Kathryn’s father James takes Helen and Kathryn and heads for Indianapolis, but disaster strikes on the way and Kathryn’s journey will be longer and harder than she ever imagined.  Meanwhile, Melissa is finding Henry is far from the charming and loving man she thought she was marrying.  Soon, she must decide how big a risk she will take to help others and follow God’s call.

 

This is a superb novel by a debut author. She portrays the desperation of the Dust Bowl period perfectly. You can almost taste the dust and feel the longing for rain.  This is a book of hardship, yet it’s also one of hope, and there are little gems from The Wizard of Oz scattered through it.  The faith elements are well woven through, and the author has earned many stars from me by writing a book in which all the characters are believable in both their struggles and joys.

 

An excellent book, perfect for those who like a book which introduces them to historical details which they didn’t know about before, and also like a strong and engaging story.

9781496449306, Tyndale House Publishers

Home Fires and Spitfires - Daisy Styles

This book was lent to me by a friend who knows I've an interest in things WWII related.  Following the midwives and mothers-to-be of a Lake District Mother and Baby Home is an interesting premise, although aligning the story to Call the Midwife is a very big stretch in my opinion. Anyway, my interest was piqued enough to spend a solid period of time reading it, and on the whole I enjoyed it.

The girls who find themselves at Mary Vale Mother and Baby Home are each interesting, especially Zelda, a Jewish German refugee who arrives at the Home starving and traumatised after fleeing Nazi Germany when her husband is shot in the street for being Jewish.

Diana is pregnant and planning her imminent wedding when her fiancé sets out on a secret mission from which he goes missing, and she must leave the WAAF role she loves to move across the country to have her baby.

Gracie works in the shipyards and dreams of operating the huge dockyard cranes, but when she discovers her dashing suitor is married, and she is pregnant, what direction will her life take?

Their stories are interwoven with characters introduced in the first book in the series, but this book reads very well as a stand alone novel.  There is plenty of wit and humour as well as grief and loss, and the setting is very well described.  It's very clear that the author knows this area of countryside well and describes it so that you can see it through her eyes.  

This is an easy read and I enjoyed it although the style of language used for a 1940's tale and how people are sometimes referred to (ie Harry referring to his senior officer as 'Derek')  grated here and there, as did some of the story elements for me.  

For instance Diana would have been dismissed from the WAAFs as soon as her pregnancy was known, and she wouldn't have had loose hair at work, it would have been tied or pinned back and not 'falling in a  silky curtain over her face'.  The SOE Lysanders flew from Tangmere not Duxford, pilots didn't work on the Operations Room balcony where Controllers, Tellers, Liaison, Warning and Recorders worked so Harry being 'recalled' there is highly unlikely, the mountain-rescue team mentioned by Sister Mary Paul wasn't formed until 1953, and church bells certainly wouldn't have been rung for a wedding, as their ringing during wartime was to announce an invasion. 

I also found the repeated reference to 'pouting' lips off-putting, together with some of the other descriptions of the women of Mary Vale.  At one point I checked to see if the author was female because the descriptions of the girls in the story seemed more like they'd been written by a man!

I both loved and was disappointed by Zelda's story, which felt like it had two distinct halves.  It all started very strongly and realistically.  She's introduced as a terrified, exhausted and grief-stricken Jewish German refugee who barely speaks English and is viewed with hostility and suspicion by women within Mary Vale and some of the locals in nearby Kendal. This is an interesting angle in a WWII-era novel and could have been better explored.  Yet we very quickly move to there being almost no references at all to her German accent or speech patterns.  And it seemed to me that after the trauma of losing her beloved husband and fleeing for her life and that of her unborn child the decisions she makes later on in the book are highly unlikely within the time scale described.  I'm not against the story's direction for her, just the speed at which it happens.

The Spitfires of the title and cover are noticeably absent from the story, except by association with Duxford. There are certainly some spitfire characters though!

All that said, this is a well-told story with some interesting characters.  Perhaps a little too much romance for me, but I'd while away a few more hours reading another of Daisy Styles' books.

9781405945196, Penguin

Discovering God Through the Arts - Terry Glaspey

Discovering God Through the Arts is a very accessible introduction to considering art and faith combined. As in 75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know, Glaspey has produced a superb resource book which is fascinating and thought provoking.

Easy to pick up and put down, and read not necessarily in a linear way, my copy is now covered in highlights and markers. One marked passage reads: ‘The arts can help us learn how to pay attention. I’ve discovered that looking at art, listening to music or a poem, reading a descriptive passage in a novel, or viewing a film can force me to slow down, quiet my restless thoughts, and open myself to a moment of revelation. A moment when I can see the wonder in the ordinary. Because, in a very real sense, nothing is ordinary.’ This quote comes from the section headed Coming Awake: Teaching Us to Pay Attention, and the book is split into 11 chapters considering elements like Digging for Deeper Meanings, Bringing the Scriptures to Life, Awakening a Passion for Justice and Assisting Us in Prayer and Contemplation.

Liberally illustrated in colour, which you may not expect from a paperback even if it IS about art, this is a nicely designed book with strategically placed quotes among the pages and questions and spiritual exercises at the end of each chapter. I highly recommend this to a very wide readership. It’s certainly a book which will remain not only on my shelf, but also often be on my desk or coffee table within easy reach for reference or reflection.

(First published in Together Magazine, May/June21 issue)

9780802419972, Moody Publishers

Talking God, Daring to Listen - Jacki Bulman

Recently I’ve been contemplating the fact that the longer I’ve been a Christian, the less certain I am of

some elements of what that means. Reading Talking God provoked more thoughtful pondering on this subject. 

 

The book is based around interviews with eleven people, with contributors from several Christian church backgrounds as well as those with mystic or contemplative spiritual viewpoints. The reader is challenged to read each interview with an open mind, taking time to consider what each raises and seeking what we can relate to rather than immediately getting hung up on areas we disagree with or are challenged by.  That, I found, was not always easy!

 

Although this is a book largely talking about God, you may well find Him speaking to you through its pages.  We’re asked ‘Do any of us really know the absolute Truth of God? And more importantly, perhaps, do we even need to be this certain of our complete “rightness”? Can we let go a bit, and just trust in One far greater than us knowing best?’ The issue here, for me at least, is what to let go of (a bit), and why. 

 

While undoubtedly an interesting read with much to say about belief and spirituality more widely in today’s world, this is also a book which highlights big differences in Christian faith and its practice.  The struggles some experienced in explaining some of the specifics of their faith made me consider how well I understood parts of my own beliefs.  

 

Some way into the book, Jacci asks ‘How much do we fail to learn or grow when we do not listen because we are so sure only ‘our’ way is the ‘right’ way?’  This is a good point to ponder while reading Talking God.  Perhaps, in addition to considering what to loosen our grip on in terms of what and how we believe, there is room here to reach out to some different expressions of faith, and perhaps to talk to God about them in terms of our own experience of living out our faith in a way which honours Him.  

 

Like everyone who reads the book, I imagine, there were some interviews which struck me more forcibly than others.  Probably my favourite is Richard’s, and the post-interview note about his view of the cross.  I also enjoyed particularly enjoyed the illustration on perspective.  Or ‘Do all beans jump?’  My perspective may say yes they do, if I’m in a box with them.  But someone looking from above, seeing all sorts of other beans around the box but outside it, will think differently! 

 

Jacci’s boxed out comments and responses to various elements of her interviews make thoughtful reading.  She is open about some of the issues which have been raised for her by asking her questions to such a wide spectrum of people.  There were times I didn’t agree with her remarks, but they acknowledge that Jacci, like me, often finds herself without clear answers.  

 

The second section opens with a very interesting list of what each person interviewed taught Jacci through the process of their answers.  These include pilgrimage, justice, the meaning of prayer and grace, looking for fresh ways of understanding God’s universe and purpose for us, and service.  This list underlined how if we ‘listen’ rather than immediately dismiss, God can speak to us through sometimes surprising channels.  It also made me aware of much of what I had missed in the interviews!

 

Jacci then gives her own answers to the same interview questions she asked the others.  This section, which expresses some of Jacci’s faith path with its various questions and viewpoints – some quite literally! – is a brave insight into her thoughts and fears, and is at least as thought-provoking as the earlier interviews are. 

 

For the individual reader this is a book which challenges in terms of what we believe, and in some cases why we believe it. For example whether parts of how we believe and therefore act are down to cultural and historical influences.  This is also an insightful look into the wider spiritual landscape around us and what we can learn from it whether in terms of deepening our own faith and better understanding it, or understanding those who think differently to us, and how we can connect with them with respect. 

 

I found this a difficult book to read, certainly much of the first half, but it’s one I will return to, asking God to help me to listen better.  ‘Am I a Christian?’ Jacci asks the reader.  Yes, I believe that I am.  Though very much a work in progress.  

First published in Together Magazine, May/June 2021 Issue

9780745981017, Lion Books, June 2021

Along a Storied Trail - Ann H Gabhart

Kentucky packhorse librarian Tansy Calhoun doesn't mind the rough trails and long hours as she serves her Appalachian mountain community during the Great Depression. Yet she longs to find love like the heroines in her books. When a charming writer comes to town, she thinks she might have found it - is is the perfect man actually closer than she thinks?

I must admit that as well as the fact of the heroine being a packhorse librarian I was also drawn to this book by the simply beautiful cover.  As it happens, there really were packhorse librarians in the Appalachian mountains in the 1930s, and they must’ve been pretty determined and resolute people, because they were far from fair weather riders.

 

This is a refreshing read with a feisty heroine in Tansy, and some other love stories along the way.  One of which unexpectedly concerns the wonderfully irritable character of ‘Aunt Perdie’, whose solitary and spartan existence is suddenly shattered by the arrival on her doorstop of the young, desperate and pregnant Coralee.

 

Ann Gabhart writes fantastic characters.  Visiting writer Damien has just the right balance of charm and unpleasantness (is that a word?).  Caleb is loyal but hesitant, maybe to his cost.  Caleb’s ma, determined to have her own way, made me want to grind my teeth, and the transformations of Aunt Perdie and others in the story are perfectly written.  As well as the people I also liked the wonderfully-named Shadrach – Tansy’s horse.

 

The faith elements are woven through the story in a way that feels real to the people and the time period, and this faith is honed through tough times and heartaches, as well as joy.

 

An engrossing story, told believably with very well described settings and lots of interesting historical details about the work of the Pack Horse Library Initiative whose riders covered 100-120 miles per week even in winter when their boots froze to their stirrups. A fascinating insight into a part of American history I’d never heard of before.

9780800737214, Revell, Jul21 (UK)

75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know - Terry Glaspey

My first conscious connection with ‘Art’ was standing in awe as a child before the immense painting The Night Watch at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.  The Night Watch isn’t included in 75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know, but Handel’s Messiah, my first introduction to the power of classical music as I sat enthralled in the Royal Albert Hall, is.  

 

Also included in the ‘75’ are C S Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, books I devoured as a child without realising their Christian foundations and symbolism until much later.  It’s this spread of medium and level which is one of the great charms of this book, in which The Lord of the Rings sits alongside The Book of Kells, It’s a Wonderful Life, and the painting The Resurrection at Cookham among many (69!) others.  The book begins with the oldest of all Christian art, the paintings in the Roman Catacombs, of which Glaspey writes ‘The earliest Christian art, however, with its greater simplicity and obvious devotion, remains a powerful testimony to the way that art could reflect deep faith and trust in God.’

 

About The Chronicles of Narnia, created one and a half millennia after the paintings in the Catacombs, Glaspey writes, ‘Lewis had the ability in his writing to capture those transcendent moments that can occur when we come face-to-face with something bigger than ourselves, the hint of a realm beyond our ordinary lives’.  Glaspey himself, in his own writing about his chosen 75 Masterpieces, opens them up to the reader of all levels, whether the simply curious or the art scholar, and his passion for each subject shines through.  This is a treasure trove of a book with a multitude of fascinating short essays on art of all kinds.  Beautifully illustrated, it’s easy to dip in and out of, and a colourful exploration of art in place and time through history.  With its mix of the familiar and the less – to me at least – well known, it is an excellent tool to encourage the reader to broaden their interest in the arts, whether that be through books, films, paintings or cathedrals.

8670802420879, Moody Publishers, February 2021

Tales from Lindford - Catherine Fox

January 2020. Freddie, Father Dominic, Jane and all the other residents of Lindfordshire are celebrating the New Year with parties and resolutions. None of them is aware of the trails and tribulations the coming months will bring - not least the horseman of the Apocalypse who has set out quietly, with barely a jingle of harness, in a distant province of China...

Catherine Fox's novel Acts and Omissions, the first of The Lindchester Chronicles was named as one of The Guardian's books of 2014 and was followed by two more.  The Chronicles were intended to be a trilogy, but the events of 2020 gave Catherine the perfect opportunity to revisit Lindford's residents once more.  Tales From Lindford was originally written in real time as a series of blog posts and this makes it very 'of the moment' as you read.  

Perhaps this original blog style is also what made me find it a perfect book for picking up and putting down. The dramatic personae at the start does help a bit if, like me, you get a bit muddled as to who's who from time to time.  I suspect this was mainly necessary due to the fact I've not (yet!) read the earlier volumes.

There's a bit of something for most people in this book with its wide cast of characters.  I loved meeting Fr Dominic who worries for his elderly mother; Jack-in-the-greenhouse and Miss Sherratt who watches for the green card he places in the window each day; various clergy and lay people and their respective families; and my favourites - youngsters Leah and Jess.  Honestly, I promise that's not just because we share a surname!  Jess's diary is a highlight of the book for me, with her wonderfully pithy commentary on growing up and her tolerant affection for fiery older sister Leah who has strong views and expresses them forcibly. (Small spoiler: Covid comes very close to the Rogers family.) We also see how the ebb and flow of the pandemic affects everyone, with the resulting impact on family life and friendships, some of which show more obvious strain than others.  

The overriding reason this all works so enjoyably as a novel is Catherine's brilliant use of prose and the underlying wit which often appears. Early in the book, commenting on Brexit, she writes: 'But whichever way we voted back in June of 2016, the end has manifestly not come with the decisive bang of a Hazard Type 1 professional-only firework. It was more your back garden Catherine Wheel nailed to the clothes prop.' There's lots of political commentary throughout, told from various character's perspectives, and it's likely you'll find something with which you don't agree.  (You'll also find strong language from time to time, fyi.) But that's one of the factors which makes this book such a compelling read, and there are plenty of 'day to day' elements which are just fun (maybe even when they aren't funny, strictly speaking). You'll have to read the book to find out the amazing reason why, for example, Mrs Logan wants Turkish Delight. Go to pages 444-446 if you can't bear the anticipation for the entire book! The story (stories?) itself is sometimes 'stoppy-starty' by the very nature of writing about the lives and Time of a village and its surrounds, but anyone who lived in semi-rural England during 2020 will recognise elements of their own lives in its pages.

Halfway through the book, in June, Lindford is waiting eagerly for Lockdown to Lift.  'The pale horse is currently quietly cropping grass in an English meadow, but the horseman will ride again.' Reading this with hindsight, the author was clearly accurate in her expectation. Nearly a year on as I write this review, the pale horse is galloping hard across India even as we are waiting to see, here in the UK, whether all restrictions will be lifted soon. Yet even if they are for many of us 'normal' will be a long time coming. Tales from Lindford is a reminder that across communities people are coping with Covid and other things day to day in many and varied ways, with many and varied influencing pressures apart from The Pandemic itself. It's a clever, witty, engaging, sad, joyous and challenging read which I highly recommend. 

About the author: Catherine Fox is Academic Director of the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her debut novel Angels and Men was a Sunday Times Pick of the Year, and the first book in the Lindchester Chronicles, Acts and Omissions, was chosen as a Guardian Book of 2014. Catherine is married to the Bishop of Sheffield and is a judo black belt.

9781910674659, Marylebone House, UK publication May 21

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.

  

The Abbey Mystery: Jane Austen Investigates - Julia Golding

‘It had to be acknowledged that the life of a clergyman’s daughter in deepest rural Hampshire was disappointingly full of duties. There were few things for an adventurous girl to do. That was why Jane always considered it fortunate to be in the carriage accident. Without that disaster, she would never have met the Abbey ghost.’

It’s 1789, and 13-year-old Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra are involved in an accident which results in Jane being sent in her sister’s place as companion to the wealthy Lady Cromwell while the household at Southmoor Abbey prepares for the elder son’s coming of age party.  She’s sent with a challenge from her brother Henry – to prove that the rumoured ghost which is said to haunt the ruins on the estate doesn't exist. But what initially seems to be an easily dismissed nonsense soon turns into a dangerous investigation with a lot more at stake than winning her brother's half a crown wager.  

 

There’s a lot of fun to be had in this novel, which – aside from the carriage accident in the first few pages – starts a little slowly but ramps up the pace and action briskly as the story progresses.  Jane is well aware that she is seen as the ‘lesser Austen sister’, but she is sharp, intelligent, and quick to pick up on things.  This lands her in trouble more than once but she is not easily dissuaded from the tasks she sets herself to, and along with her friends Luke the stable boy and Indian girl Deepti she sets out to find out the truth about more than one mystery, and save the life of an innocent man.  

 

I finished reading this at 1.30 am, which is a big ‘thumbs up’ to what a great read it is.  I couldn’t put it down!  Jane is an interestingly written and complex character and her relationship with her sister through Jane’s letters is lovely to read.  Her little comments such as her ‘(un)invitation’ to the coming of age ball make for some amusing interjections here and there.  Luke the stable boy and Deepti and her father are characters with their own passions and pains, and Grandison the dog is wonderful! 

 

A highly enjoyable story with an excellent plot, wonderful cast of well-described characters, plenty of action, a good dose of mystery and some satisfying plot twists.  I'm glad to see we won’t have to wait too long for young Jane’s next mystery.

9781782643340, Lion Fiction, Ages 9+, UK publication April 21

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.

When Twilight Breaks - Sarah Sundin

In Munich in 1938 Evelyn Brand is working as an American foreign correspondent.  She is careful to report in a balanced way, wanting to tell the truth of the bad and worrying things she is seeing in Nazi Germany as well as the good, but her boss George Norwood dislikes her and edits her pieces in a way which makes her seem supportive of the very things she loathes.  Meanwhile Peter Lang, also American, is working on his PhD and teaching in another part of the city.  He is impressed by the structure, order and prosperity of the Germany he sees – until everything he thought he knew is overturned.  When he meets Evelyn, sparks fly of more than one kind, not least because of his love of order and her passionate desire for freedom above all else.  Peter begins to feed her information she can use in her reporting, but life is becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous for them both: and soon they must join forces to escape.

I’ve been a big fan of Sarah Sundin’s wartime stories for a long time now but this book is by far the most heart-pounding of her stories.  The tension rises and rises as the story progresses and there’s a real sense of dread at several points.  Because the reader knows what happened to Jews in Nazi Germany, the worry about the Jewish characters in the book increases, and even when you think you’ve reached a point where you can pause for breath – you can’t!  

Sarah doesn’t write ‘perfect characters’ and this makes her books more real and edgy.  Peter has a past which has coloured – quite understandably – his view of his present.  Evelyn has to fight her way through the man’s world she works in – and at times she’s a bit annoying as she displays her frustration about this although I liked her determination.  I also felt she was far too casual about her conversations about being Jewish, despite the fact she would certainly have known this was not something to talk openly about.  However, it is a major factor in the plot…

When Twilight Breaks shows how good people can become subsumed by evil things, and how that can destroy both friendships and lives.  It also shows how reporting influences people’s views at personal and much wider levels.  On this front it raises many questions, even in terms of modern-day social media, where at present I have taken a serious reduction in my exposure due to the enormous amount of negative input to the situation which the global community faces as I write (in January 2021) with the Coronavirus pandemic.

There are one or two spots where I thought ‘?’ but this is Sarah’s best book yet in terms of the storytelling.  Powerful, involved,  and compelling, with wonderful characterisation across the board and a fabulous – and tragic – sense of place, particularly of Munich in 1938.

An out an out 5* read.  

9780800736361, Revell

For transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.