hautecouturemedia

I don’t read much Christian fiction; I find that all too often, the message gets in the way of the story, and a book can quickly degenerate into preaching. I hear great preaching every Sunday, so I don’t need mediocre preaching disguised as a story. Every once in awhile, however, I find a book that has a good message embedded in a good story. A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers is such a book. Several decades after the events of the first Easter, the Christian church is slowly growing. Many of the early Christians are Jews, like Hadassah and her family. Hadassah’s father was raised by Jesus from the dead, and he has made it his mission to tell his story to as many of Jerusalem’s Jews as he can. But the Jewish people have rebelled against their Roman overlords one time too many. The Romans sack Jerusalem, destroying the Temple and killing many Jews, including Hadassah’s mother, father, brother and sister. Hadassah herself is sold into slavery to a family in Rome. The Valerian family is wealthy, but unhappy. Decimus, the father, is dying slowly from a sickness. His son, Marcus is only concerned with making money, and daughter Julia just wants to have some fun and excitement. Can Hadassah overcome her fear and share her Good News with her owners? Will the Valerians be able to find true happiness? I enjoyed the historical setting, and Rivers gives a large number of accurate historical details to make the setting even better. A few times, her word choice was jarringly modern, but for the most part, the story fit my knowledge of the times of the early church. The characters were all interesting, and while Hadassah could have been a perfect heroine, Rivers did a good job of making her believable and realistic.

2023-02-13 02:44