The Gresham Chronicles

It's ironic that lisa chose to read some inspirational fiction this past month, as that was my choice as well! Great minds think alike, eh?

I read Lawana Blackwell's trilogy The Gresham Chronicles: The Widow of Larkspur Inn, The Courtship of the Vicar's Daughter, and the Dowry of Miss Lydia Clark. These books could also be classified as historical fiction, as they are set in the late 1800's. In the first book, you are introduced to Julia Hollis. A young widow from London, who by financial hardships, was forced to move herself and her three children to the quaint little village of Gresham. It chronicles her quest to build a new life for herself, and in the process, find new love.

The second book tells the tale of the town vicar's daughter, Elizabeth Phelps, and her own quest for love, which she finds in the arms of one she (and her father) fought so hard to forget. The third book leaves you with Lydia Clark, who thought she was content with being a school mistress AND spinsterhood, but finds she wants more when her desire for true love is awakened by a man whose affections lie with a different woman.

Pretty much all of these characters, along with a slew of less prominent ones, exist in the background of all the books in the series with interesting sub plots that constantly shift from one loveable character to the next. The writing was descriptive, but not overly flowery. The stories stick to the doctrine of faith that if you put your trust in God, He will show you the best path in life to walk (which isn't always the one we think it should be). Blackwell is not preachy, but she gets her message across. It seems to me that there is something in these stories for a wide range of age groups. Possibly YA and up. My favorite character was probably the owner of Gresham's general store, Mr. Trumble, who spews malapropisms constantly. I'm glad I gave this genre a chance, I really enjoyed the series!

Inspirational Fiction

Okay, okay, I'm back. I have been reading, really I have. I just haven't blogged about it. All the books I read this month fall into the library's Inspiration Fiction genre. I have never really ventured into this genre. I did listen to the whole Left Behind series over the years. I thought I should, it was so big a number of years ago. But other than that, not much else.

So for this project, I wanted this month to try a broad range of titles. The world of inspirational fiction is changing, growing to demonstrate people living an inspirational life within the more gritty experience of the real world today. The titles I have read this month definitely represent this trend.

In The Shunning by Beverly Lewis, a young Amish girl struggles with the restrictions of her life while preparing for her marriage to the bishop. Interesting look at a part of society that I don't know too much about. The story was, however, a little forced and contrived for my taste. A little too obvious in parts and way too much reliance on miraculous coincidence.

At Home in Mitford, the first in Jan Karon's Mitford Series, introduces the reader's to Father Tim, the village rector, overwhelmed by the daily life and demands of the parishioners he loves so much. It is a quiet and quaint story of the goings on in a small town. An interesting glimpse for a city girl, like me.

The Negotiator by Dee Henderson is the first in the O'Malley Series. This series was first recommended to me a number of years ago by my mom. The O'Malley's are a group of 7 high achieving siblings. They were all orphans in the same orphanage who adopted each other, choosing a new surname in the process. Each book in the series centers on one sibling and their coming to faith in the midst of a very turbulent world. In this book, Kate, a hostage negotiator, finds her faith in the midst of a horrible airplane crash and the crushing health news of a loved one.

Thr3e by Ted Dekker was a typical thriller. It actually kept me guessing for the majority of the book. The ending, which I won't reveal, violated some of the tenants of psychiatric medicine as I understand it (but then maybe I just don't know). The main character is a seminary student, however, the faith in this book was more so an examination of the constant struggle between good and evil. This book is definitely a crossover between inspirational and mainstream thrillers.

I think that there's one more book on my list to read, but I haven't gotten to it yet. I'll comment on it later if I can work it in.