The author Floyd McClung lives and works in the red-light district of Amsterdam. He and his family moved there in order to care for and help some of the young people who struggle in lifestyles they hate. In doing so he learned a great deal about suffering and hardship, and the tragedies of those growing up in some of the most dysfunctional families.
I'd heard his book recommended in various Christian circles, so was pleased when I came across it, reduced in price, at a local bookshop.
'The Father heart of God' has many shocking anecdotes about people whom the author spoke to in the course of his work. It tells, for instance, of a young man who claimed that the happiest day of his life was when he heard that his parents had both been killed in an accident. Or the girl who wished she were dead because her mother kept comparing her negatively to her dead sister.
With a straightforward style, the book takes us to what Floyd McClung calls 'the wounded heart of man': the childhood abuse and neglect that causes so many people to embark on lives of drugs or prostitution, full of bitterness and anger.
But it isn't a negative book. Far from it. The author does not wallow in the pain of these young people, he simply shows us snapshot moments in their lives. And then he takes us to a different perspective: that of God, who is portrayed in the Bible as a loving Father.
So this book can be read at two levels: that of parents wanting to ensure that they give their children the fathering and mothering that will enable them to be confident, secure adults, and that of people who want to know more about the real Biblical view of God rather than the many false images that are portrayed in the media, by politicians, and even by some churches.
As both a parent and a Christian, I found it a highly readable and moving book. The style is simple but never condescending, mixing the author's experiences with basic theology and explanations of Scripture verses. Any chapter could be read alone; those who aren't interested in God could still find much to challenge them in the sections about parenthood and the ideal which Floyd McClung sees as God's pattern for parenthood, but which secular psychologists would probably approve too.
But for those who are Christians, or interested in Christianity, the whole book is well worth reading from cover to cover. Gently and unobtrusively it invites people to consider their past, to forgive their parents for their faults, and to begin to see God as who he is rather than the distorted image that so many of us carry around from our early years.
The book also covers emotional and spiritual healing, breaking out of judgemental cycles, and dealing with the inevitable disappointments of life. It ends with an appendix discussing authority, and giving general constructive criteria for finding a counsellor or therapist for those that need professional help in overcoming childhood wounds. Despite being a fairly contented person without any history of abuse or neglect, I found a lot in this book that was helpful and also challenging to me: both as a parent, and simply as a person who sometimes observes others in emotional turmoil but has little idea what to say.
Despite all this wealth of experience and discussion, it's not a long book. Including the introduction and epilogue it's only 160 pages, and I read it in a couple of hours.
Highly recommended.
I have very mixed feelings about Mary Wesley's books. She was a very good writer, but her characters and stories tend to have an element of the bizarre in them, and rather more bad language than I am comfortable with. I have enjoyed some of her books, and been less than impressed with others. This particular one is the first novel she ever had published.
I did like the opening of 'Jumping the queue'. Matilda is a rather fussy elderly lady, who has (unusually, we are told) been cleaning her house from top to bottom for the past week. She is watched by her pet gander Gus who is quite disturbed at all the activity.
Evidently Matilda is planning something fairly drastic, since she spends inordinate amounts of energy finishing every fine detail of her cleaning, makes lists of useful numbers for some unknown person who will need them in future, and then has a phone call at cross-purposes with an old friend who calls himself Piers, but whom she calls John.
At the end of the first chapter, events take a less pleasant turn when a man arrives to take Gus away, and puts him in a sack. Not that he's going to be eaten. Gus is on his way to be a goose stud in a large shed full of lady geese. But he clearly doesn't want to be taken away, and it so upsets Matilda that I realised she wasn't simply moving house or going on an extended holiday...
I should have stopped there, really.
It's rather a bizarre book in a way. I couldn't find myself relating to Matilda in the slightest. She seems to be a mass of contradictions who doesn't trust anybody she knows well. Yet this is turned upside down a short way into the book when she agrees - for no obvious reason - to shelter a criminal from the police. Not a family member or even a friend, but someone she meets quite by chance.
So, I wondered, is the book meant to be lighthearted satire? At times it does seem that way. The situations are so unrealistic, at least in the world I inhabit, that I thought the book could not be taken seriously. Yet it was well-written, on the whole. It never gets boring, and while Matilda is quite outside my experience of humanity, the other characters who were gradually introduced do seem believable and fairly well-rounded.
But the plot isn't pleasant. There are several quite disturbing aspects of it. Not horror or suspense, and nothing particularly gory, but the kind of thing that left a rather bad taste in my mouth, and made me wonder why on earth the author hadn't written it differently. I thought the ending rather disheartening too. I wondered what the point was. I wished I hadn't bothered.
The Times, in the blurb on the back, claims that this book is 'A virtuoso performance of guileful plotting, deft characterisation and malicious wit'. No doubt they know what they're talking about. Perhaps my problem is that I don't much like warped and sick humour; however those that do might enjoy this book.
What a wonderful writer Rosamunde Pilcher is. Such a pity she has retired, although she deserves some peace in her older years, after producing such an excellent selection of novels over the years.
She is one of the few writers who has a genius for characterisation. I don't know how she does it, but I find myself caring enormously about the people in her books, right from the start. Ending them is like saying goodbye to dearly-loved friends.
I re-read them all periodically, of course, and enjoy them all the more each time.
'Wild MountainThyme' begins with the playwright Oliver Dobbs passing through the town where his two-year-old son lives with his maternal grandparents. On an impulse, he stops to see him... and events take a rather surprising turn...
Victoria is due a holiday, so when her ex-boyfriend Oliver arrives on her doorstep with his son and proposes a trip to Scotland to visit one of her favourite writers, whom he knows, it doesn't take much to persuade her.
What a lovely book this is, mixing delight and tragedy, gentle humour and some deeply moving moments. Characters are so real that even unlikely situations become believable in Rosamunde Pilcher's hands.
Wonderful, relaxing, and highly recommended.
Georgette Heyer is an author who crops up fairly frequently in these reviews. That's because I have a large collection of her books, most of which are Regency romances. I re-read them regularly.
Heyer stands out above the majority of historical romance writers, however, in that her research was excellent, her plots cleverly written, and her characterisation superb. I've probably learned more history (as background) from reading Georgette Heyer than I ever learned in school, even though she doesn't push the historical context much at all.
'The Talisman Ring' is - in my opinion - one of Heyer's most sparkling novels. There's romance, excitement and danger, all beautifully mixed together with the most delightful characters.
There's the excitable Eustacie, who longs for adventure; the prosaic Sir Tristram who's cautious and wise; and Ludovic, who left the country some years previously after being accused of murder, but is now working with the 'free traders' (ie smugglers of alcohol).
The plot is brilliant, the characters memorable, and there's just enough suspense to make it exciting without being in any way frightening. A most satisfactory conclusion, too. Highly recommended.
You can also read my longer review of 'The Talisman Ring', written six years later after re-reading.
This is not at all the kind of book I would normally read. The cover shouts 'chick-lit'! - and while I thoroughly enjoy more general women's fiction, I'm not all that keen on books about shopping and sex, which is my (admittedly biased, and based solely on a few reviews) idea of what chick-lit is likely to be.
I'd vaguely heard of Carole Matthews, but wouldn't have bought one of her books. However I was given this one, so decided to expand my horizons a little by reading it.
'More to life than this' is about Kate, who has a wonderful family, but feels a bit restless. So she decides to go on a week's tai-chi course, with her friend Sonia. So far so good, although I had no sympathy at all for Kate, whose husband and children would be the envy of most women.
Kate leaves her husband and children in the hands of a rather stunning Australian au pair while she is away - a remarkably stupid move, which I could hardly believe any normal woman would do.
Then the book does turn into chick-lit, unfortunately. No shopping, but lots of physical attraction, both predictably between Kate's husband and the au pair, and also between Kate herself and one of the course instructors.
There are some serious questions asked about loyalty and integrity, and the differences between love and lust... but the main part of the book is really rather unbelievable - neat and tidy, very contrived. A pity, because the main characters were likeable (if a bit caricatured) and the book was well-written, on the whole. It was quite interesting learning something about tai chi, too.
But, all in all, I found it disappointing.
