Simplistic, feel-good fare.
The third installment of Evans’ Christ-centered drama about a woman who is redeemed through submitting to God and forgiving her husband.
As the novel opens Jade and Max Benson’s marriage is just about over. Max is in rehab (again) for prescription-drug abuse and Jade is at their home in Tennessee, raising Max’s 2-year-old lovechild Asa (right before their wedding, Max had a fling with his ex-fiancé Rice, issuing forth Asa, now with Max since Rice’s death in a plane crash a few months prior). Jade has fallen in love with Asa but is wondering if she can ever trust Max again. When he returns, Max is a changed man—clean, committed to Jade and recommitted to living a life in Christ. Just one little thing—he wants to leave Tennessee and the prestigious law practice he’s inherited to coach high-school football in small-town Texas. He is asking Jade to leave behind her friends and the successful vintage-clothing store she’s built, as well as their home and the comfortable life of a lawyer’s wife, but they feel this is what God wants them to do. Why God wants Max to coach high-school ball remains unclear, and it is suspicious that God’s will and Max’s childhood dream are conveniently aligned. Initially, life in Texas, where those Friday Night lights are a serious concern, is disastrous. Max fires assistant coaches, loses games and infuriates the town, all of which alienates Jade. But that’s not all Jade has to worry about—more pressing issues emerge on the way to the resolution.
Simplistic, feel-good fare.Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-59554-491-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2011
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
