Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

book reviews

Scotland on my mind

My thoughts have turned to Scotland. Privileged to have visited there once, I now long to go back, thanks to Liz Curtis Higgs and Here Burns My Candle.

Higgs once again shows her mastery of taking a familiar Bible story and transplanting it to a different time and place. Here Burns My Candle is the book of Ruth set in mid-1700s Scotland. Ruth and Naomi become Lady Elisabeth Kerr and Lady Marjory Kerr, daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, respectively, who face widowhood and loss, and who are changed by faith in the Almighty God.

Knowing the Bible story, I knew, in part, where the story was headed, and I wished it different, at times. Fortunately, finishing Here Burns My Candle is not the end of the women’s journey. It’s really just the beginning. Their journey concludes in the sequel, Mine is the Night, which will soon be on my reading list.

With my mind full of Scottish English and my thoughts fixed on Scotland, I half-jokingly told my husband we shouldn’t delay any longer in applying for passports. I long to walk the streets Higgs describes and let my imagination run wild as I picture the Lady Kerrs going about their business.

Two things I know: I have not yet read a Liz Curtis Higgs book I haven’t liked. Here Burns My Candle continues that streak. And even if I can’t travel to Scotland for a few years, Higgs’ command of words and language will take me there again and again. Check out her other books here. (She has another series set in Scotland that tells the story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel. It’s a page-turner, too.)

Read the first chapter of Here Burns My Candle here and tell me you aren’t hooked on this story.

Check out the trailer below for another taste of the story.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGOeKWCS-zs&feature=player_embedded]

In exchange for this review, I received a free copy of the book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

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An inside look at Afghanistan without leaving your house

A few years ago I’d never heard of Jeanette Windle and I thought the U.S. could “win” the war in Afghanistan. Then I read Jeanette’s book  “Veiled Freedom,” a work of fiction so believable it could be true, and I eagerly awaited the sequel, “Freedom’s Stand.” 

The wait is over. “Freedom’s Stand,” now available in bookstores and online, picks up the story of humanitarian aid worker Amy Mallory, Special Forces veteran Steve Wilson, and Afghan native Jamil where “Veiled Freedom” left off — all experiencing change through their time in Afghanistan, and all searching for purpose, love and freedom.

It’s difficult for me to review “Freedom’s Stand” without including my thoughts on “Veiled Freedom” because the two books really are one story in two parts. “Freedom’s Stand” is a fitting end to the saga, and I’d hate to give anything away about either story because the plots are so captivating. But don’t take my word for it. Read chapter 1 of “Freedom’s Stand” here.

I will say this: I first read “Veiled Freedom” because I’d met and gotten to know Jeanette through a local writer’s group, and I was intrigued by the premise that war and military action could not change a country. As the wife of a veteran who served in Iraq, I generally support military action. And as an American, I naively believe that all people who want freedom should have it and we are the people to help them achieve it.

The stories in these two books have changed my thinking and opened my heart to the vital role of prayer in changing the hearts of a people I will most likely never meet. Like Kathi Macias’ “People of the Book,” this series increased my awareness of the plight of women in Muslim countries and the possibility that Jesus can reach people where I cannot.

Jeanette is an amazing author who takes readers vividly to worlds they cannot or will not visit. And she is trustworthy in her depictions. Her research is thorough, so much so that she has been accused of receiving classified information.

For more information about Jeanette, click here.

To read her blog, click here.

 

I wholeheartedly recommend “Freedom’s Stand” for your want-to-read lists. But if you haven’t read “Veiled Freedom,” start there. I found myself a bit lost at the beginning because it’s been more than a year since I read the first half of the story. Re-reading the two together is on my list of when-I-get-around-to-it things to do.

Suspenseful, romantic, heartbreaking, inspiring — Jeanette’s books have it all and are not stereotypical Christian fiction.

Do I have to say it again? Read this book!

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In exchange for this review, Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.

I Review For The Tyndale Blog Network