Tandem Cottage by Carrie Fancett Pagels

May4

So Beautiful

Tandem Cottage by Carrie Fancett Pagels is a most charming contemporary Christian novel that I adored. It is the third book in the Mackinac Cottages series but can be read as a stand-alone.

Carrie Fancett Pagels always writes fabulous stories that are close to the heart of God. We see that life can be hard but God is always good and God is always faithful. We can lean on Him and trust Him through all the seasons of life. “She might not be able, but God was.”

God gives us opportunities. “There are no coincidences just God incidents.” Nothing in life surprises God. Whatever we are going through, He is already there. He provides instances where we can lean on Him and trust His leading. When life is hard and makes no sense, press into God, recognise His hand on our lives. “Choices… God was providing.” God provides choices to help us. We can choose whether to accept or not.

We learn about the importance of music. “Good praise music…that’s something that helps get me through… life.” Music can lift us above our circumstances and draw us close to the heart of God.

Within the tale, a character is suffering from grief. “Grief… You could be laughing one moment and crying the next.” Grief brings a mixture of emotions. Guilt and grief go hand in hand. God wants us to live free. He wants to take our grief and guilt and pain, and exchange them for His care and love. “None of us is perfect. But God extends grace.” Grace. We don’t deserve it. We cannot earn it. Grace is a gift from God, paid in full by the blood of Jesus on the cross.

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The Girl Who Dared To Dream by Diney Costeloe

May3

Going Against The Grain

The Girl Who Dared To Dream by Diney Costeloe is a marvellous historical novel and the first book in a fabulous new series entitled Girls Who Dared. I cannot wait for subsequent books.

The setting is London in 1912. The world is teetering on the edge between the old and new order. Girls have always been seen as the weaker sex but leading lady, Mabel Oakley is all set to prove her critics wrong! She knows her own mind and is able to break out of the traditional mould, not being afraid to speak up. She has her dreams too.

We see that in order to beat the system; one has to stand against it. Nothing will stand in Mabel Oakley’s way of her desire to have more education than was usual for a girl – until one fateful day when dreams must be laid aside.

The upper classes still flaunt their wealth and their opinions. The reader glimpses a life below stairs where not only do the upper classes rule, but the servants have a pecking order too. We witness the awful conditions for the young female servants, who are taken advantage of.

There is no welfare state. Following an accident to the breadwinner, all family members must get a job including the youngest, a thirteen-year-old boy.

There may not be much money, but there is a lot of love.

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The Dolce Vita Divas by Maddie Please

May3

The Ghosts Of The Past

The Dolce Vita Divas by Maddie Please is a most delightful contemporary novel that I read in just one sitting.

Maddie Please has created a wonderful, light-hearted read about second chances and really living life whatever your age.

All the characters are over sixty. They prove that age is no barrier to having fun. “I used to think life had passed me by and then I realized it hadn’t… Take every chance you get.” We need to grab life with both hands. We are never too old to re-write our story and to have a good ending – even an eighty-five-year-old knows how to live life. After all age is just a number.

The action is in the first person from the lead characters point of view. We get to know her intimately. Her life has been full, raising children but her first love has never left her heart. After her husband of many years left her (before the book opened), she realizes that now is the time to make some life changes.

A holiday in Capri with a friend, and in memory of another friend, offers new possibilities.

The landscape is in glorious technicolour compared with grey England. The reader can ‘feel’ the warmth and ‘see’ the vibrant colours.

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The House At River’s Edge by Rachel Burton

May3

One Last Beautiful Summer

The House At River’s Edge by Rachel Burton is a powerful dual timeline that I just could not put down. I read it in just two sittings, pausing only to sleep!

The two time periods are 1914-1919, and 1997. The chapters alternate as we follow a family through the first World War years, and again after a long-lost photograph is found. Along with the characters, we have questions about the ancestors of a family. All is not as we first thought.

The summer of 1919 was the final summer of freedom. “I hold on to the memories of that summer.” With the advent of war, lives would be changed forever. A generation of young men left enthusiastically for war. Many never returned. Those who did, had often left their minds on the battlefields. “When I sleep, I’m back there, in the trenches.” We see the devastating effects of shell shock. “They can talk about peace and armistice as much as they like; he knows he will never find peace again.” People often suffered from shell shock for the rest of their lives.

We witness the heartbreaking results when a loved one dies. “Death doesn’t care about those who are left behind.” Characters know they will never love again like they did, making decisions to support each other.

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