Share
-
Category Archives: Historical Fiction
Arms of Love by Long
The year is 1777. America is in turmoil. And Amish life is far different than today.
Arms of Love
by Kelly Long
Thomas Nelson
April 2012
Pennsylvania in the late 18th century, once called William Penn’s Woods, was an assortment of different faiths living together for the first time in American history. Included in this tapestry was a small and struggling population called Amish.
Surrounding this peaceful people were unavoidable threats: both Patriots and the British were pillaging land and goods for the sake of the war, young Amishmen were leaving the faith to take up arms and defend freedom. A simple walk in the untamed forests could result in death, if not from bullet or arrow, then from an encounter with a wild animal.
Amid this time of tumult, Adam Wyse is fighting a personal battle. To possibly join the war efforts and leave his faith, which would mean walking away from the only woman he’s ever loved: Lena Yoder. But for that love he’s made a promise that may keep them apart permanently.
When Adam withdraws from Lena, she’s forced to turn to his brother, Isaac, for support. Must Lena deny her heart’s desire to save Adam’s soul? And will life in this feral and primitive New World be more than this peace-keeping people can withstand?
My thoughts on this book:
I have always enjoyed historical fiction and Amish fiction books. I like this time period of history. I had a hard time with the character’s and the story plot in this book.
Adam Wyse was the character that caught my attention the most. His character was well developed and you couldn’t help but not to like him. He made the story intriguing. As far as Lena was concerned I just didn’t get a real feel of her character. The love story with them was unrealistic and kinda felt empty.
I would of loved to have known more about Ruth. I think she would have added so much more to this story. She was a colorful person who I wanted to know more about in the story.
To many aspects in this story didn’t seem realistic. Lena and Adam’s brother’s relationship just didn’t do it for me. Adam and his fathers relationship was strange and not well developed. His father just made too many tangled loose ends in this book.
The rattlesnake incident at the end of the book just seemed unnecessary. It should of just been left out in my opinion. It just seemed that one drama after another followed every chapter in this book. To much drama for one book. Then after the ending of all the drama it had a fairy-tale ending. Really! It just didn’t seem right after all the drama in the book.
The story, while not bad in itself, didn’t live up to its potential. I have read some of Kelly Long’s previous books and have enjoyed them a lot. This book I think could have been great story if it had more dept and not so much drama. Sorry, Kelly but this book was disappointing.
ReneeK is a sweet tea addicted mamma who loves to cuddle up to a good book. She blogs at Little Homeschool on the Praire and writes about family, homeschooling, having a special needs child, and about whatever else tickles her fancy.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
Restoration by Olafsson
The year is 1943 – World War II is in full swing. Mussolini has lost his hold on Africa – the Allies are rapidly advancing, and the Germans are holding their own for now.
Restoration
by Olaf Olafsson
Ecco
February 2012
Alice’s father is dead – her mother remarried to a rich Englishman. Alice is planning to marry an Italian – the son of a minor landowner but a titled nobleman. He is ten years older than she and her family and friends try to discourage her from marrying Marchese Claudio Orsini. They marry, against her family’s wishes, in the Salone Del Matrimini in Fiesole and begin a journey that takes them to San Martino, a crumbling villa in Tuscany. They settle in as husband and wife, rebuild the villa, and Alice gives birth to a son – the joy of their life.
Alice soon becomes lonely and restless. This restlessness leads her into an affair in Rome with devastating consequences. While she is with her lover, her son becomes ill and dies. She returns home to seek forgiveness, but before she can make amends, Claudia disappears. Caught between loyalist and resisters, cruel German forces and Allied troops, Alice struggles to survive. She desperately hopes Claudio will return to her. She knows this is all her fault. Her son is gone and now too is her husband. Will she ever find the peace she so earnestly seeks?
A well written novel. Olafsson is an excellent writer. I really liked the book.
Highly recommended.
Mary Asher, the Golden Reviewer, is an 80 year old avid reader reviews the newest in Christian fiction and non-fiction with a sprinkle of the secular on top..
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
A Daughter’s Walk by Kirkpatrick
It’s 1896 when Clara Estby and her mother, Helga begin their journey on foot from Spokane,Washington to New York City. Having been promised a large sum of money from the fashion industry to complete this walk, Helga takes a chance in accepting the wager, knowing she will have to leave her family behind. But to save the family farm, this Norwegian native will do most anything.
A Daughter’s Walk
by Jane Kirkpatrick
Water Brook Press
April 2011
Having had no say in the matter, Clara is anything but happy as they begin the seven month sojourn. Adding to her frustration, they run into mishaps, sickness and danger. And Clara learns things about herself that change everything she ever known, and who she is to become.
Following the railroad tracks, they move from town to town, staying only long enough to earn a bed and add food to their packs. But despite their determination and cunning, they begin to get behind the time line for completion. How will they ever get to New York on time?
Upon returning home, they are met with tragedy and hostility. Feeling betrayed Clara decides it’s time she sets out to find who she really is, and walks right into the chance of a lifetime. Will this new life and her name afford her the peace and independence she has fought so hard for? Or will she discover that one of the things she needed most, she had all along?
I have always enjoyed this author’s books. And so, was anxious to read this one. Out of all her books I’ve read so far, this one is my favorite. I always know I can expect great attention to historical detail and an intriguing story when reading her novels, but this one especially I didn’t want to put down. Wonderfully interweaving raw human emotions with the ups and downs of life, this is one book I whole heartily recommend.
Heather Ring says that books are her plane ticket into another world, “I’d feel lost with out them. Reading is a part of me. However I am also an avid lover of the outdoors and pouring into my creative outlets. But I think my biggest passion, is spending time with my family and friends.”
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
The Harvest of Grace by Woodsmall
Reeling from an unexpected betrayal, Sylvia makes a painful mistake that forces her to seek work far from her family.
The Harvest of Grace
Ada’s House #3
by Cindy Woodsmall
Waterbrook
August 2011
Sylvia Fisher is the oldest daughter of an Old Order Amish family. She is different than most of the other ladies. She is more interested in tending and nurturing the herd on her family’s daily farm than raising babies and caring for a family. She does have dreams of one day being a wife and settling down with her current boyfriend. She has been waiting for him to propose, but when he does propose, she just can’t say yes, and wants a little more time. He, of course, wants to get married in the fall and betrays her.
Sylvia cannot live with this betrayal and prevails upon her father to let her go to work for another dairy farmer far away from her home. Everything seems to be working out okay until the couple’s son Aaron returns. He wants his parents to sell the farm and move into town and help him sell appliances. Sylvia is devastated – is all her hard work for nothing?
Sylvia must find a way to work with Aaron. She must show him that selling the farm would not be good for his parents. They would not be happy living in a small apartment and selling appliances. This is an enormous task that she is not sure she is up to.
A wonderful book! Ms, Woodsmall is an excellent writer of Amish fiction. She is a New York Times best-selling author. She has been featured on ABC Nightline and in the Wall Street Journal.
Highly recommended.
Mary Asher, the Golden Reviewer, is an 80 year old avid reader reviews the newest in Christian fiction and non-fiction with a sprinkle of the secular on top..
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
Sixty Acres and a Bride by Jennings
Still grieving their loss, widows, Rosa and Louise Garner journey north from their Mexican abode, back to the home Louise had left behind in Texas ten years ago. Not sure what to expect upon their arrival, they are horrified when they are told they owe four years in back taxes, and they have just three months to pay it. With nothing to their names, they put everything they have into earning the money they will need to save the farm they have come to love.
Sixty Acres and a Bride
By Regina Jennings
Bethany House Publishers
February 2012
Meanwhile, as Rosa soaks up the love of a new found family, and delights in her new home, her beauty begins attracting unwanted attentions and precarious offers of help. Trying to understand the Texan customs and forms of communication, she further complicates things by befriending a man, Weston, who is also shouldering a heartache.
While she knows nothing can come of their friendship, she discovers her feelings are much deeper for him that she had ever intended. She begins cherishing every moment she has with him. But after her mother-in-law Louise, causes her to put herself in a most unbecoming position before him, she feels sure there will be nothing she can do to regain his trust.
Now the women not only face losing their farm, but also some of the people they love most. Will they be able to save everything they worked so hard for? And will either of them find love again? In a race against time and circumstances, two women band together to hold on to all they find dear.
This was good for an author’s first work of fiction. It was not, however a book I loved. The story was interesting enough, but I got a little bored with the emotional tug-o-war between the two main characters. I did like the era and the setting. And I liked that the main character was from Mexico, as I have always been drawn to their culture. Overall, knowing readers differ in what makes a book to their taste, I do think others will enjoy this book.
Heather Ring says that books are her plane ticket into another world, “I’d feel lost with out them. Reading is a part of me. However I am also an avid lover of the outdoors and pouring into my creative outlets. But I think my biggest passion, is spending time with my family and friends.”
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
The Mercy by Lewis
Hen and Rose are sisters living in Lancaster County’s Amish community. Both have a burden to bear. Hen is caring for her injured husband who doesn’t believe in her faith. To make matter worse he wants a divorce. Rose is looking for love and a lifetime commitment.
The Mercy
Rose Trilogy #3
Beverly Lewis
Bethany House
September 2011
Thing are not going too well for Hen. She married an Englisher, left the community to move to the city. Now she is back – her husband was involved in a horrific car accident that left him blind. He is not too pleased about moving to the Amish community and is really a hand full for Hen to contend with. One morning, out of the blue, he tells her he wants a divorce. She is devastated, but assures him she will continue to care for him until his sight returns.
Rose, on the other hand, is a typical Amish young woman. She lives with her parents and helps care for her mother who was injured in a horse and buggy accident. Rose has a new boyfriend, Isaac, who she sees on a regular basis. She begins to hope that he is the one she will spend her life with. Isaac has taken her to several places that the Church would not approve of, but she thinks maybe he is just feeling his way before taking his vows. She soon learns that he is becoming too much an Englisher and breaks off the relationship.
The Bishop’s adopted son Nick left the community for the outside world. He is back, trying to make amends for not taking his wows – joining the church. The Bishop has been silenced for Nick’s lack of commitment. Nick hopes to rectify this situation and become a member of the church.
Hen and Rose are yearning for new beginnings. Will things turn out as they hope? What part does Nick play in their lives?
The book has it all – romance, mystery and family drama. Ms. Lewis is “the reigning queen of Amish fiction.”
Highly recommended.
Mary Asher, the Golden Reviewer, is an 80 year old avid reader reviews the newest in Christian fiction and non-fiction with a sprinkle of the secular on top..
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
The Time in Between by Duenas
Sira Quiroga is a young girl living in Madrid with her single mother who is a seamstress. By the age of twenty she has learned the ropes and is engaged to a mild government clerk. Wedding plans are progressing along nicely, but soon things go astray. Two charismatic men enter Sira’s life – an attractive salesman and a father she never knew.
The Time in Between
Maria Duenas
Atria
November 2011
One day Sira’s mother takes her to a part of town she had never been before. There she meets a father she never knew. He is fearful for his life and wants to meet the daughter he never acknowledged; he gives Sira a small fortune in jewels and money. Sira breaks her engagement to her fiancé and follows her lover Ramiro to Morocco. Things are great for awhile – she is having the time of her life. This all changes when Ramiro leaves her stranded in the hotel – owing a large bill – and taking all her money and jewelry. Sira reinvents herself by using the skills she knows best – creating beautiful clothes.
With World War II looming on the horizon, Sira returns to Madrid where she soon becomes embroiled in the world of espionage and political conspiracy. She is an English spy. She soon meets the man of her dreams, but it will take many years before their love is fulfilled.
A wonderful novel with love, mystery and intrigue – a page turner. Ms. Duenas is an excellent story teller. You will thoroughly enjoy the book from cover to cover.
Highly recommended.
Mary Asher, the Golden Reviewer, is an 80 year old avid reader reviews the newest in Christian fiction and non-fiction with a sprinkle of the secular on top..
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Klassen
Miss Margaret Macy is set to receive her inheritance in just a few months. She is already planning to support her mom and two siblings but she refuses to support her step-dad. She has been refusing his nephew for her hand in marriage and she just knows it is to take control of her inheritance. When she fears she may he losing the battle and feels on danger, she takes off, disguised as a maid with her maid, Joan.
The Maid of Fairbourne Hall
by Julie Klassen
Bethany House
January 2012
As time rolls on, Joan and Macy, now called Nora, get separated and Nora gets a job as a maid at Fairbourne Hall which is also home to her formal suitors, Nathanial and Lewis Upchurch.
Nora soon discovers how difficult being a maid is, not to mention what they would have to put up with with some men or the secrets you have to keep. It would take every ounce of energy to hide her true identity for a couple of months, in a servants hall where she barely got privacy. Just as it gets close to her birthday, she retreats home in fear that her sisters future is in danger and she prepares to hand over her inheritance.
This book is very intriguing, keeps you guessing what will happen, from beginning to end. Julie Klassen is a fantastic author. She brings the 1800s alive in this book!
I was hooked from the first chapter! The mystery Margaret Macy carries with her throughout the story is enough to keep the reader intrigued. You feel for the characters while you read. I give this book 5 stars and would recommend it to anyone.
Brittney Dodson is a stay at home mom who also works from home. She find reading free her from reality and the worries it brings.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
The Captive Heart by Cramer
The Captive Heart is about an Amish family in 1920 who moves his family to Paradise Valley, Mexico to escape religious persecution in Ohio. What they encounter is nothing they could of ever imagined. The novels are inspired by actual events from his family.
The Captive Heart
The Daughters of Caleb Bender series
by Dale Cramer
Bethany House
January 2012
Mexico is in turmoil after the Revolution and bandits roam the country with no compassion. Taking anything they want. They steal, kill, and take women and children to sell into slavery. This is the second year for the Bender family in Mexico. Life is not getting any easier for them and their Amish community is growing as more families come to Mexico. They are even expecting a preacher to arrive soon. They are being ravaged by disease, death, and the unthinkable. No matter what happens, they are determined to live by their faith and remain true to their convictions.
Caleb’s daughter Miriam, is struggling with her feelings for Domingo, a Nahua native who is a farm hand her father has hired and helped the family settle into Paradise Valley. He has also been like a son to Caleb and a true friend to the family.
I loved the characters in this series. This story is fast paced, and is very interesting. Book two focus a lot on Caleb’s daughter Miriam and Domingo. Don’t worry you will still get a lot of the main characters from the first book.
Rachel, Aaron, Ada, and little Amos are attacked by bandits returning home from a doctor’s. Rachel is kidnapped and Aaron left for dead. Ada wasn’t taken because the bandits considered her loco due to her mental disability. Ada runs off with 18 month Amos and has to find her way home. She surprises everyone with what she accomplishes.
Jake and Domingo go after El Pantera to rescue Rachel. Domingo knows the only chance that Rachel and Jake have to get home safely is for him to take a stand and fight. When they return home without him, Miriam and Domingo’s sister Kyra go searching for him to bring him home not knowing if he is alive or dead. They are fearing the worst.
Domingo is a fascinating character who is honest, sincere, and a man of high principles. I found him intriguing. His search to understand this, “God of the Amish” intrigues him. He struggles with the “fences”. You will just have to read the book to understand.
You can see the gospel is displayed in the lives of many characters. Each character is unique. Each one displaying their own strength of faith and weakness.
I have to say that this has been an amazing series with an ending that you just can’t wait to read the third book in the series coming out in December 2013. So long to wait! Thanks Dale for a wonderful book.
ReneeK is a sweet tea addicted mamma who loves to cuddle up to a good book. She blogs at Little Homeschool on the Praire and writes about family, homeschooling, having a special needs child, and about whatever else tickles her fancy.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
The Spoils of Eden by Linda Lee Chaikin
Birds of Paradise bend towards the sunlight, pungent coffee beans grow wild up the mountain side and pineapples, heavy with juice, beg to be plucked. It’s Hawaii, 1891: tropical paradise. But amidst the balmy weather and crashing waves, secrets lurk in undiscovered corners.
The Spoils of Eden
by Linda Lee Chaikin
Moody Publishers
May 2010
Eden Derrington, fresh out of nursing school, is passionate about her call to help the lepers quarantined on the island Molokai. A work her father, Dr. Jerome, started many years earlier. Eden is also in love. Rafe Easton has had her heart since childhood. Sharing her heart with two men, she realizes a heart cannot be divided. So deciding she must follow her father to Molokai, she puts her engagement on hold with the only man she ever hopes to marry.
When an epidemic breaks out in Rat Alley, Eden is forced to lay her heavy heart on a shelf while she protects the people from the disastrous outbreak that threatens to wipe out the whole island. But while they investigate the source of the outbreak, a lot more than disease is turned up .Kip, Rafe’s ‘nephew’ goes missing, family secrets become unburied, and hidden motives become exposed.
Feeling torn with whom to believe as sides begin to be formed, Eden starts to feel caught in the middle of something much bigger than herself. With a constant longing to be in Rafe’s arm, she knows some difficult decisions lay ahead of her. Will she be able to quiet her own thoughts long enough to let the Lord speak His plans into her life?
Having read previous book series by this author, this one so far, isn’t my favorite of them. But that’s not to say I do not like it. Only having read book one, it took very few pages to remind me that she is still one of my favorite Christian fiction authors. Not only is her historical research impeccable, she also has a way of grabbing the reader, bringing them into the world she is creating. Her story is always intriguing and full of interesting characters. I am always surprised at the twists and turns she weaves through out the book. I am much excited to read the rest of this series!
Heather Ring says that books are her plane ticket into another world, “I’d feel lost with out them. Reading is a part of me. However I am also an avid lover of the outdoors and pouring into my creative outlets. But I think my biggest passion, is spending time with my family and friends.”
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The way white families, especially white women, invited black women into their homes to raise their children, cook their food, clean their houses, and tend to their every need seems charming. However, The Help shows how whites think they are helping and doing the right thing, when in reality the blacks still feel degraded and unappreciated. It shows you both sides of the story from an emotional perspective, not just a factual one.
The Help
by Kathryn Stockett
The Penguin Group
February 2009
The main maids Aibileen and Minny hold on to sanity by relying on one another for comfort and strength. They don’t work for much and do what they are supposed to each day, but still it’s never enough.
Skeeter is a classic example of a child who makes it out of her town and goes to college and comes home a woman changed for the better. She now has more confidence and is completely driven. These traits, plus the fact she’s dying to get a writing job in New York, help her convince Aibileen to let her document stories from her life.
Aibileen eventually concedes to helping Skeeter write her first book by gathering information from the perspective of ‘the help’. At first Aibileen is timid but as events happen around the town her confidence grows and she gains the help of Minny and many other maids.
After the book gets published everyone involved with the writing process is nervous as they still work in the homes of the very people whose deepest secrets are revealed. The maids however, know they cannot be touched now, because no one wants them to tell who each story was really about.
The book of course is better than the movie, giving you more details that reinforce ideals. The book also helps provide a better understanding of how policies and morals were passed on or changed through different generations.
I particularly enjoyed The Help because it provides another perspective on the life of black women during segregation without the grit. It does contain some racial violence, but it also wouldn’t have any authenticity without it. However the violence is in the background instead of being in your face.
Ashleigh Taylor loves to travel and experience new cultures. She also loves food, friendship and a good laugh.
The Whipping Club by Deborah Henry
It is 1957. Marian and Ben, an inter-faith (Catholic and Jewish) couple are working to carve a new life out for themselves in Ireland. After a disastrous meeting with Ben’s parents on the day that Marian gets some shocking news, Marian makes a decision that will eventually be her family’s undoing.
The Whipping Club
by Deborah Henry
T.S. Poetry Press
March 2012
Young, scared, and faced with impending motherhood, Marian succumbs to the pressure of her Catholic priest Uncle and enters a maternity home to await the arrival of her child. She tells Ben she is taking an extended trip out of town, never disclosing to him that she is expecting their first child together. She has been told that the maternity home nuns will find a suitable adoptive American family and accepts this as what will happen.
Over a decade later, Marian and Ben have married and have a daughter together. Their life together is far from ideal, as Marian is distant and detached, and Ben is weak and near spineless. Their daughter is crying out for their attention, particularly from Marian.
One day, in the midst of their difficult family life, a nurse from the maternity home shows up with some disturbing news: their son, Adrian, never made it to a new home in America. Instead, he was sent to one of the worst orphanages in Ireland.
The story that follows is one of the plight of thousands of children in 1950′s and 60′s Ireland, as unwed mothers found themselves pressured into entering these homes to await the birth of their children. Eventually, those children would either be adopted out or send to live in orphanages.
Deborah Henry weaves the story of one of these families in The Whipping Club. At times creating sympathy, others anger, sometimes hopeful, and in turn hopeless, Henry keeps the reader riding a roller coaster of emotions. At the beginning of the story, I found that I could understand why a young Marian made the decision she did. She had no parents, was in an unexpected situation, and was being stifled by the social stigma created by the time period.
A decade later, I found that Marian was someone with whom I had difficulty sympathizing at times. Once she learned of Adrian’s fate, she did work to correct the decisions of the past. On the other side of that, there were times when Marian displayed an inability to own those decisions and wanted others to pay penance for them. In that same decade, Ben has become an enabler who is just as spineless as ever.
Mixed in are a collection of others players who seem to be fighting their own demons, their own sins, and their own societal restraints. Every time I thought they were getting to the point where their lives were reaching turning point, Henry throws them another curve ball and they are all back to square one.
In the end, I land on the fence on this one. I kept wanting them all to get their acts together, and it seemed like they never would. Most of the characters, all adults, wanted to blame someone else for the mistakes they had made. There comes a point when you have to own what you have done and take charge. For this novel, it doesn’t come until the novel is almost over. Since I read to escape “real” life, I prefer a little more hope in my fiction. But, that is a personal preference. Henry’s novel is very much true to life, and once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down.
Robin Gwaro is a founding book review blogger at Bookgateway.com and has generously supplied this review. She describes herself as “a woman just trying to keep it all together. Most days, I have the juggling act down! Others, I have the broom and dustpan handy to clean up the mess. My life is not always easy, it is not always neat, but it is always worth every minute!” Her personal blog is Just Wandering. Not Lost.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
