The sword of truth (by Gilbert Morris)

(Amazon UK link)

I'd never before heard of Gilbert Morris, although I gather he's a fairly prolific American Christian writer. But a friend lent me this book, so I decided to read it.

'The Sword of Truth' is a historical novel It opens with Margred, a serving woman, leaving her employment with her son Myles. Then the story switches to a landowner for a while, before there is a connection between the two subplots.

The book sees Myles grow up, and risk his life for the sake of the Bible. It's cleverly interwoven into the time of Henry VIII and although this is fiction, there are real characters mentioned. History seems to come to life.

There are some gruesome - though probably realistic - scenes which made me cringe, and a reasonably happy ending. Fast-moving and live, with a strong Christian emphasis... although I found it a little heavy-going at times, and it took me three weeks to finish it. It's not one I'm likely to read again, and I'm not going to rush to find others by this author. 

But if you like realistic history with a Christian slant, the writing is good and the research - as far as I can tell - is authentic.