'Catching Katie' is a historical Christian novel set in the early 1900s in USA, by Robin Lee Hatcher. It's about Katie, an idealistic and strong-minded young woman. She is a passionate advocate of women's suffrage, in days when homes tended to be traditional and only men were allowed to vote in many States.
Katie returns to her home town for a few months, after studying and working elsewhere, and meets Ben, her best friend from childhood. As they get to know each other again, her heart struggles to determine the best path for her future.
There are some very good characterisations in this novel. They include not just Katie and Ben, but an angry schoolteacher, Katie's parents, Ben's sister, and many other more minor characters. Their interactions feel real, and Katie's decisions resounded well with the way I would have thought, at times. Katie sometimes does something a little rash because of condescending advice against it!
The Christian message in the book is low-key, not pushed in a preachy or cringeworthy way. Some difficult questions (such as a woman's place in a marriage) are examined in a fair and balanced way without any authorial comment about either extreme.
All in all, I thought this a good read which I would recommend to anyone interested in historical novels.
'June' is a historical novel by Lori Copeland, set in the 1800s in the USA. It's about one of the 'mail-order brides' - a custom that developed, apparently, when there were more men than women in the West, and too many women further East. Agencies would have people on their books and encourage letters to be exchanged, then eventually, if all went well, the young woman would travel to meet and marry someone she had never actually met.
June is the potential bride in this story, who goes West to marry a preacher's assistant. Unfortunately things don't turn out the way she expected. But she's full of faith and very resourceful, and soon becomes busy and (mostly) happy in her new life.
There was quite a good plot with an encouraging ending, albeit a little predictable. I'm not sure that all the characters were entirely believable, though. June at 17, raised with her two sisters by an elderly aunt, seems to me much too confident and outgoing for someone of her age and background. The other main character of the book was a confusing mixture of harsh and friendly, not just unpredictable but not really someone I felt I could trust.
The other problem I had with this book is that there's far too much reporting of thoughts, and sudden decisions made without any apparent reason. I would have preferred more action and conversation.
Still, it was fine as a light holiday read.
'The truth will set you free' is an intriguing, sometimes disturbing, and frequently thought-provoking book by Alice Miller. It's about childhood trauma and its effect on adult life, written for the layperson. It looks at the known effects of childhood abuse and neglect, and the denial of pain that continues right throughout adulthood, with violence often begetting more violence in a vicious cycle.
The book is very well-written, and mostly convincing too. It has clear anecdotal and other evidence of the harm that people suffer when they are seriously beaten or otherwise abused and humiliated during their childhood. The author also shows how those who, despite bad treatment, do best as adults are those who had someone to confide in, who respected them, believed them, and listened to them without judgement.
My only slight reservations were:
1) Miller's assumption that if serious abuse causes great problems in adult life, then even occasional yelling or spanking a child must also do so. This may possibly be the case, but it's not a logical conclusion based on the evidence she provides, which only covers severe and long-term neglect or abuse. After all, salt in large quantities is toxic, but a small amount is not; indeed, salt in tiny quantities is vital for life.
2) Her generalisations about severe and abusive religious training - a horror indeed, in some cases - implying again that almost any kind of religious upbringing is therefore harmful. This is the same logical fallacy as above.
Still - overall I thought it a refreshingly honest account. There are many interesting, if disturbing anecdotes, and it's well worth reading by any parents, or indeed anyone involved in working with children. How sad that it will probably not be read by those who are already committing violence against their offspring.
'Beyond the Shadows' is a novel set in America in the 1950s, by Robin Lee Hatcher. The book opens rather dramatically at Deborah's young husband's funeral, where she first meets Gideon. He's an old friend of her late husband, and offers to do some odd jobs around the house.
As events move forward slowly, we pick up on the reason why Deborah's husband died, and also get to know both her and Gideon as they slowly get to know each other. Not surprisingly, romance starts to blossom, and indeed, Gideon does seem to be a charming young man. It's not until later that his past begins to emerge in a way that causes serious problems.
Sensitively written, probably eye-opening to some, I found this a very moving novel. My only slight regret is that I read the blurb on the back before starting, as it gave away rather more of the plot than I would have wished. Still, it didn't really matter, and by the time I was half-way through the book I could hardly bear to put it down.
Definitely recommended.
'A Home in the Valley' is a historical Christian novel by Dianna Crawford, another author I had not come across before until I found one of her books inexpensively on the MV Doulos.
The main character is Sabina, a young woman whose stepfather gambles her away to one of his drinking cronies after a big revival meeting. So, urged by her mother, Sabina runs away.
She is taken in by a family with four children who are returning from the meeting, although their widowed father is at first rather reluctant. But she proves herself an excellent housekeeper and befriends some of the local women.
That's just the beginning... I found myself drawn into the story quite quickly, and particularly appreciated the great characterisation of the younger three children. I suppose there's a bit of a 'Sound of Music' theme, but that's not necessarily a problem.
There is an exciting (though not unexpected) climax and satisfying ending. Apparently there are more in the series, but this book was complete in itself.
Recommended.
I thought there was a lot of potential in this book, 'An Unbreakable Hope' by Kristin Billerbeck. It features Emily, a naive and sweet young lady in the United States from a fairly strict Christian background. She attends the wedding of a friend to her ex-boyfriend, and meets someone unlike anyone she's ever come across before...
Darin has a shaven head and wears an earring. Emily quickly learns that he used to be wild and alcoholic. He's a changed character, but his parents and previous girlfriend are convinced he's just going through a 'religious' phase and will soon return to his normal self.
The message about non-judgementalism is good, and the few 'action' sections of the novel also work well. Unfortunately, the majority of the book is filled with author thoughts and cliches, or random and long-winded thoughts from the main characters. Worse, these thoughts often didn't fit with what we already knew about them.
I gather the author now mainly writes chick-lit. In a way I'm not surprised as that was the overall feel of this book. But it was made even worse by the triteness of some of the Christian cliches.
Still, I kept reading and the ending was satisfying, albeit entirely predictable.
Apparently 'If morning ever comes' was the first book Anne Tyler had published. It's not particular long, but already reveals the kind of clever observation and characterisation that her books are full of.
This novel is about a typical Tyler family, with a young man (Ben Joe) who is a student at university - yet he worries about the rest of his family. He decides, on a whim, to return home for a bit after learning that his married sister has left her husband.
I don't know quite how the author manages to make the most unlikely and quirky people seem real, but she succeeds every time. Are there really families like this? If so, I haven't come across them, but I'd like to!
The skill of this author is in the clever characterisation, because there really isn't much plot. We learn about Ben Joe's various sisters through his eyes, and the general family problems and hidden skeletons gradually get revealed through everyday life.
The ending is a bit abrupt. It is basically satisfactory, but does not really answer any questions. Still, I enjoyed it while I was reading it.
I've read a few books by Catherine Palmer before, and quite liked them... But they aren't very deep or moving. So when I saw some on special offer, I only bought one, 'Wild Heather'. I didn't expect too much of it, but it looked like an interesting light read for holiday time.
'Wild heather' is a historical novel about two Christian families with centuries of feuds behind them. A minor accident causes two of their members to notice each other. This begins a chain of events that inevitably leads to a hope of healing, although predictably it's a stony path.
At the same time, controversy arises in the local church when an enthusiastic preacher raises debate about literal 'young earth' creation. This leads to serious divisions and dissensions amongst the faithful. The main characters refuse to take sides, and so does the author. I found this to be a welcome relief from those who, like the rest of the characters, sit firmly on one side or the other.
These different plots intertwine somewhat, the feuds reflecting each other and also showing the vast difference between landed gentry and the 'working classes'.
It wasn't the greatest of books, and the ending is mostly predictable. But it wasn't bad as a holiday read. I don't think I'd have bought it at full price, and didn't rush back to buy anything else by this author. But on the whole I liked it.
I'd never heard of Robin Lee Hatcher until I saw some of her books for sale on the MV Doulos, at very good prices. American Christian fiction can be variable in style and quality, so I bought just one of her books at first, not sure what to expect.
'Firstborn' turns out to be an excellent book about family relationships. Steve and Erika seem to have the perfect marriage, and happy family life with their loving and bright son Ethan, who is 17. Erika is a little insecure - her father is rather harsh, her mother died when she was quite young, and she was unable to have any more children after Ethan. Nevertheless her life seems to be idyllic and people hold her marriage up as one to admire and emulate.
Then she receives a letter which brings to light a secret she has kept for 20 years. Unfortunately the blurb on the back of the book says what this is, which could rather spoil the first part of the story. But it happens relatively early in the book and is hinted at before. This secret threatens to disrupt all she holds dear.
It's a Christian book without being trite or preachy. The people seemed very believable, in particular Steve as he struggles to accept that his wife has kept something from him for so long. All the characters have to face up to their flaws and difficulties, and they all felt realistic to me.
It was hard to put this book down once I had started. When I finished, I rushed back to the book exhibition to buy the other three books available by this author!
Highly recommended.
Adrian Plass is one of my top favourite Christian authors. Indeed he is probably my favourite of all British living ones. He writes so well, on a variety of subjects. He combines very moving moments with gentle humour (or laugh-aloud humour in the case of his 'Sacred Diary' books).
This particular book, 'Broken Windows, Broken Lives', is one of the most moving I have read. It features a young man who applies to work at a home for disturbed children. He has no idea what he's letting himself in for, but is a caring and honest person. However, he is rather too sure of himself and convinced that he will be a great success.
Of course life turns out to be very different from what he imagined, and the boys are much harder to deal with than he expected. Nevertheless he slowly gets to know them, and builds trust, and learns a lot about himself in the process.
I gather this is based in part on the author's own experiences working in a boys' home. It certainly feels authentic.
I've read this at least twice before but found it impossible to put down once I'd started it again. Highly recommended.
'Nights of rain and stars' is a moving character-based book by Maeve Binchy, which I was delighted to find second-hand, although I would probably have bought it for full price sooner or later. It's set in a small town in Greece, the book opening with a tragedy which draws together four disparate foreign tourists and several locals.
Gradually these people get to know each other, and I felt as if I did too.. as the learned to care for each other, I found myself caring what happened to each of them.
Their past histories slowly unfold, each of them seeing more clearly the problems that the others have, and seeing answers to other people's dilemmas more easily than their own. A good reflection of life in general, albeit a little sanitised.
Living in Cyprus, I found the descriptions and habits of the Greek people very believable, which added to my enjoyment and made it a good setting for this book. People are basically similar the world over, and become closer under pressure; the book looks at relationships, particularly that of parents and grown-up children, and was sometimes quite moving.
Well written with an encouraging ending. Highly recommended.
I love just about everything written by Rosamunde Pilcher, and this collection of short stories ('Flowers in the Rain' and others) is no exception.
They're gently romantic tales about women of all ages and styles. Each of them is different, and each of them seems utterly real while I'm reading. The stories are heartwarming, encouraging, moving in places, and sometimes thought-provoking.
I've read these at least three times before and enjoy them afresh every time.
Highly recommended.
(You can also read my much longer review of 'Flowers in the Rain', written about twelve years later after re-reading this book.)
'Red sky at night' is an exciting historical novel by Jane Aiken Hodge. It's set in the time of Napoleon, and involves smugglers, Luddite rebellions, and - of course - low-key romance.
Kate and her mother are homeless after the death of Kate's father and brother, since their house is entailed to an unknown American cousin. So they go to work for someone else. But Kate has a secret life, and people aren't always who they seem...
Clever fast-paced plotting, and a very good ending, albeit somewhat predictable. Perhaps a little forced in places, and there are one or two sections which seemed slightly out of character. But overall I thought this a very enjoyable book.
Recommended.
'Let us pray' is a fairly short book by Watchman Nee. He was a Chinese Christian who was eventually imprisoned for his faith.
The theme of the book is that prayer is hard work. The author claims that we should not take prayer for granted; instead we should take it seriously. He makes some good points, but I felt they were a bit over-worked and long-winded.
In addition, some of his ideas are rather over the top, in my view. There is what seems to me an exaggerated emphasis on spiritual warfare, in even the most minor of situations.
I was a bit disappointed, really. Perhaps it's the translator that made this book seem stilted in places and rambling, but I expected more of it.
