Recent Reads {Here Burns My Candle}

Here Burns My Candle by Liz Curtis Higgs - Having finished Higgs' Scottish setting novels featuring Leana and Jamie and their family, I couldn't resist delving into another Higgs novel.  This one parallels the Biblical story of Ruth, setting the action in Edinburgh, Scotland, during the Jacobite rebellion.  Lady Elisabeth Kerr and her mother-in-law Lady Marjory Kerr, are the heroines of the story.  Elisabeth is a Highland commoner who has married into the Kerr's noble family.  The family's loyalties are divided between the Jacobite cause and their traditionally royalist leanings.  Readers familiar with Ruth's story will anticipate many aspects of the story but I certainly didn't find it diminished my enjoyment of it at all.  Keep a tissue box handy!

By the same author:  Thorn in My Heart, Fair is the Rose, Whence Came a Prince, Grace in Thine Eyes

Recent Reads {Emma}

I finished several books over the past week or two, but am behind on blogging about them. Here we go:



Emma by Jane Austen - this is the heroine Austen herself believed that no one would like except herself. As with Fanny in Mansfield Park, I did find that I liked Emma quite well. She is spoiled and complacent, and a bit snobbish, but is generally kind-hearted and gracious, even if she is often hiding her true opinions behind her impeccable manners and consciousness of her place in society. She is beyond patient and generous with her father's eccentricities as well. The entire novel takes place within the confines of Highbury, with only references to other locales. Emma herself has never travelled outside of Highbury, not even to the nearby Box Hill which the characters visit near the end of the novel (with some disastrous results). The subtle humour throughout gives the novel its charm and movement despite its limited action.

By the same author:  Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, The History of England, Mansfield Park

Recent Reads {The Lost Shipwreck of Paul}

The Lost Shipwreck of Paul by Robert Cornuke - Bob Cornuke's experiences in Ethiopia while seeking the Ark of the Covenant included a shipwreck in a storm on Lake Tana.  His reflections on that harrowing experience led him to consider Luke's account in Acts of the storm that wrecked the ship carrying the apostle Paul and other prisoners to Rome.  Luke was a very accurate historian and gave many details about the journeys of Paul, and some very specific information about this particular shipwreck on the island of Malta.  Cornuke's research led him to speculate that the anchors thrown from that ship might still rest on the ocean floor near Malta, and this book is the chronicle of his investigation.  As in the other related books, he unravels the clues just like the detective he once was; and the account mixes scholarship, history, and Biblical insight with a dose of adventure.  He examines the possible beaching sites where the shipwreck might have occurred, and follows up with several Maltese divers when he discovers that Roman-era anchors have been brought up from around the reef where the shipwreck must have occurred.  Another exciting and eye-opening read from Cornuke!

By the same author:  In Search of the Lost Mountains of Noah, In Search of the Mountain of God, In Search of the Lost Ark of the Covenant

 

Related DVD: Mountain of Fire

Recent Reads {Grace in Thine Eyes}

Grace in Thine Eyes by Liz Curtis Higgs - Like the trilogy that precedes it, this novel is both a delight and an agony to read.  It is delightful because of the rich settings and beautiful imagery, compelling characters, and a storyline that draws you in and keeps you turning pages until the very end - and wishing there was another chapter.  But that same storyline is full of tears and tragedy, because it parallels the story told in the Bible of Jacob's daughter, Dinah.  Higgs reworks Dinah's story in a Scottish setting, and the main character is the daughter of Jamie and Leana McKie. Davina is mute as a result of an accident in her childhood, but she is also a loving young woman and a very talented fiddler.  Jamie arranges for her to spend a summer with relatives and while she is enjoying her time there, she catches the eye of a young nobleman who doesn't act nobly.  At least at first.  Davina's faith and capacity for mercy and forgiveness are sorely tested, and the faith and grace of her family and friends as well.  As I read, I found myself 'knowing' what would happen to a certain extent, at least if Higgs was going to be faithful to the story in Genesis, and not wanting to read a story so sad, but even when brought to tears, I felt that Davina's story was full of hope and faith, and as the title suggests - emphasizes the beauty of grace.

By the same author: Thorn in My Heart, Fair is the Rose, Whence Came a Prince

Recent Reads {The New Answers Book 1}

The New Answers Book 1 - Ken Ham, General Editor - Finally acquired the updated edition of The Answers Book and read it through! It is excellent - part Science textbook, part theology treatise, yet not at all boring or "too technical" for an average reader. At times it seemed repetitive, because so many of the answers overlap, but each chapter's answer is complete for the relevant question. This means that if you just look up the response to a question like whether dinosaurs evolved into birds, you will be able to complete information without needing to refer to every other chapter in order to get the full picture. The last chapter "How Can I Use This Information to Witness?" is one of the most important to read, in my opinion, because it addresses the worldview issue that we face. If we who are Christians claim to believe in the God of the Bible and believe in Jesus Christ for our salvation, we must also believe that the Genesis accounts of Creation and the worldwide flood of Noah's day are true. I think this particular chapter is worthy of 'required reading' status for all Christians.

Recent Reads {The Call of Zulina}

 



The Call of Zulina by Kay Marshall Strom - This historical novel is about Grace, the daughter of an English sea captain and an African princess, set in West Africa in 1787.  Grace runs away from the family compound to avoid an arranged marriage, and starts to find out more about her family's business - that her parents capture and trade slaves.  She is held for ransom and imprisoned in the fortress of Zulina, where her father holds captured slaves.  Grace has to make difficult choices and display great courage and leadership as she becomes involved in a slave revolt.

This was the first novel by Strom for me, although she is apparently a prolific writer.  I found that I was probably two-thirds of the way into the book before becoming really emotionally invested in the outcome of the story.  At that point, I couldn't put it down!  There are some unexpected plot twists that Strom saves for the end, and only a hint at the possibilities of a love match for Grace instead of the arranged marriage she escaped from.  This is the first of a series, so it appears Strom has saved the romance part for a future installment.   Of interest to me - in the Acknowledgements, Strom says that Zulina is based on a slave house in Senegal, and Grace's parents are modeled after an English/African couple she learned about while researching her biography of John Newton.  At first I wasn't sure I would want to read the next in the series, but now that I've finished the book, I think I will look up the second book sometime.

Recent Reads {Mansfield Park}

 

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - I'm not sure why it took me so long to read this, except that I find Austen's writing requires me to absorb it more slowly than some other novels.  Mansfield Park is the story of Fanny Price, the daughter of a rather poor family, who is brought to live with her wealthy relations at 10 years old.  Her cousins generally take little notice of her, and her Aunt Norris is continually reminding her of how grateful she ought to be and how little deserving she is any favour.  As a consequence, Fanny is lonely and mostly withdrawn.  However, one of her cousins, Edmund, does take it upon himself to see to Fanny's comfort and treats her with respect and kindness.  As may be expected, Fanny falls in love with him.  But "happy ever after" is interrupted by the arrival of the Crawford brother and sister in the neighborhood.  Henry Crawford eventually pursues Fanny, to her great dismay; and Edmund believes himself in love with Mary Crawford.  The entire family at Mansfield Park is thrown into turmoil in some way by the Crawfords, and Fanny is apparently the only one that observes their character flaws.  Of course, in the end, Edmund does see his own love for Fanny and they do marry.  Austen saves the happy ending for literally the last couple of pages of the book.

 

In reading Peter Leithart's analysis, I was a little surprised to realize that Fanny has not been well-liked by readers! I did like her - she was a bit humorless, and seemed quite satisfied to allow things to happen to and around her, but I thought her sweet and generous, and admired her steadfast sense of morality and faithfulness.  Leithart points out the ways Austen makes use of the contrast between characters - activity and idleness in their extremes with Lady Bertram and Aunt Norris; acting roles and vocational callings with the Crawfords and Edmund and Fanny; and the worldliness of London and the peacefulness of the country.

By the same author:  Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, The History of England