A smooth and ultimately redemptive Christian historical tale.
An injured English nobleman assumes a new identity under the care of a ministering angel.
Celich’s richly atmospheric debut novel opens in the early 1800s with a funeral: The third earl of Hartwell has suddenly died, and one of those standing in the rain as he’s installed in the family vault is his heir, William Devreaux. William’s sadness is compounded by two things: First, he seethes with the knowledge that his father scorned his wastrel gambler’s life in London. And second, he’s tense with guilt because his father almost certainly caught his fatal illness from his visiting son. The combination makes inheriting Ashbourne Park a nightmare that the young fourth earl is desperate to escape. But when he and his horse are caught in a storm and accidentally ride off a cliff, William is badly injured. He wakes up in a strange place, being watched over by a group of concerned, kindly strangers in a Staffordshire village. The band is led by a compassionate young woman named Charissa Armitage, who initially infuriates William by praying devoutly for his full recovery. His leg injury is severe enough to keep him bedridden for weeks as the unexpected guest of the religious woman, her aunt, and Sir Godfrey Scrivener, the owner of the estate, who has every intention of making Charissa his wife. Confronted with this world so different from both the one back at Ashbourne and the one he left behind in London, William suddenly yearns for a new start, deciding to concoct a false name and background. Celich skillfully draws out the story of William’s coming to a new understanding of himself—and his growing attraction to Charissa’s simple faith. The novel’s Christian undertones are subtly done, and the author does a wonderfully accomplished job of incorporating her research about the Regency era without ever making it heavy-handed. Her concentration is far more weighted toward the sparring personalities of her main characters, who are very convincingly sketched. Readers of Regency romances should find a welcoming world in these pages and hope Celich writes another novel soon.
A smooth and ultimately redemptive Christian historical tale.Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-973600-82-4
Page Count: 282
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
Hoffman (The Red Garden, 2011, etc.) births literature from tragedy: the destruction of Jerusalem's Temple, the siege of Masada and the loss of Zion.
This is a feminist tale, a story of strong, intelligent women wedded to destiny by love and sacrifice. Told in four parts, the first comes from Yael, daughter of Yosef bar Elhanan, a Sicarii Zealot assassin, rejected by her father because of her mother's death in childbirth. It is 70 CE, and the Temple is destroyed. Yael, her father, and another Sicarii assassin, Jachim ben Simon, and his family flee Jerusalem. Hoffman's research renders the ancient world real as the group treks into Judea's desert, where they encounter Essenes, search for sustenance and burn under the sun. There too Jachim and Yael begin a tragic love affair. At Masada, Yael is sent to work in the dovecote, gathering eggs and fertilizer. She meets Shirah, her daughters, and Revka, who narrates part two. Revka's husband was killed when Romans sacked their village. Later, her daughter was murdered. At Masada, caring for grandsons turned mute by tragedy, Revka worries over her scholarly son-in-law, Yoav, now consumed by vengeance. Aziza, daughter of Shirah, carries the story onward. Born out of wedlock, Aziza grew up in Moab, among the people of the blue tunic. Her passion and curse is that she was raised as a warrior by her foster father. In part four, Shirah tells of her Alexandrian youth, the cherished daughter of a consort of the high priests. Shirah is a keshaphim, a woman of amulets, spells and medicine, and a woman connected to Shechinah, the feminine aspect of God. The women are irretrievably bound to Eleazar ben Ya'ir, Masada's charismatic leader; Amram, Yael's brother; and Yoav, Aziza's companion and protector in battle. The plot is intriguingly complex, with only a single element unresolved. An enthralling tale rendered with consummate literary skill.
Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4516-1747-4
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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