My review at the end. Enjoy!
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Messenger Bethany House Publishers (March 1, 2012) by Siri Mitchell
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Siri Mitchell graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she has lived all over the world, including Paris and Tokyo. Siri enjoys observing and learning from different cultures. She is fluent in French and loves sushi.
But she is also a member of a strange breed of people called novelists. When they’re listening to a speaker and taking notes, chances are, they’ve just had a great idea for a plot or a dialogue. If they nod in response to a really profound statement, they’re probably thinking, “Yes. Right. That’s exactly what my character needs to hear.” When they edit their manuscripts, they laugh at the funny parts. And cry at the sad parts. Sometimes they even talk to their characters.
Siri wrote 4 books and accumulated 153 rejections before signing with a publisher. In the process, she saw the bottoms of more pints of Ben & Jerry’s than she cares to admit. At various times she has vowed never to write another word again. Ever. She has gone on writing strikes and even stooped to threatening her manuscripts with the shredder.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Hannah Sunderland felt content in her embrace of the Quaker faith
...until her twin brother ran off and joined the army and ended up captured and in jail. Suddenly Hannah's world turns on end. She longs to bring her brother some measure of comfort in the squalid, frigid prison where he remains. But the Quakers believe they are not to take sides, not to take up arms. Can she sit by and do nothing while he suffers?
Jeremiah Jones has an enormous task before him. Responsibility for a spy ring is now his, and he desperately needs access to the men in prison, whom they are seeking to free. A possible solution is to garner a pass for Hannah. But while she is fine to the eye, she holds only disdain for him--and agreeing would mean disobeying those she loves and abandoning a bedrock of her faith.
With skill and sensitivity, Mitchell tells a story of two unlikely heroes seeking God's voice, finding the courage to act, and discovering the powerful embrace of love.
If you would like to read the first chapter of
The Messenger, go
HERE.
Pattie's Review:
I really enjoyed this novel. It combines Colonial history and spy intrigue novel elements; throw in a Quaker heroine, a war-wounded, battle-weary hero, and a few
thee's and
thou's, and you have
The Messenger.
I have found myself moving away from historical novels lately, but because I really enjoyed Mitchell's contemporary fiction and her historical
A Constant Heart, I had confidence I would like this one. When it didn't follow the second-person-style narration of
A Heart Most Worthy, instead offering alternating chapters between the two main characters, I knew I'd like it.
I think I might have finished it in just a day or two if I hadn't had to take time away from the book for things like cooking dinner, and grading papers. (Don't you hate it when life gets in the way of a good book?!)
Overall, I recommend this book for those who have any interest at all in Colonial America, the search for God, the Quaker faith, or Siri Mitchell's books. You will not be disappointed.
