Beautiful places, challenging thoughts, critical reviews
This is the second of many in Victoria Twead’s Old Fools series. Having sold up everything in the UK, Vicky and Joe have relocated to a tiny village in the Spanish mountains. We hear of their adventures with colourful residents and furry friends.
Continue reading “Football, fun and furry friends”
Philo, the son of a fisherman in first century Tyre, is traumatised by his sister’s sinister illness. When his father drowns, the family is thrown into poverty. Only little Ione provides a ray of sunshine.
Continue reading “Peek below the surface”
Donna Fletcher Crow’s epic historical masterpiece brings to life the mystical Glass Isle of Glastonbury with its imposing Tor. In each era, the ruling monarch and a key spiritual leader are highlighted. As conflicts rage, we follow the wavering spark of faith in Jesus Christ and the icons that assure its continuity.
I’ve been thinking about Jesus’s promise to his followers:
My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. (John 10:10)
To whom does that apply? And where are the people who enjoy this rich and satisfying life?
Continue reading “What’s going on in the world?”
Another fascinating tale set among the tensions between the Catholic authorities and the Huguenot recluses in southern France during the seventeenth century reign of the Sun King Louis XIV.
This second book in the The Huguenot Trilogy introduces new aspects: romance and the dangers and vicissitudes of flight to the relative safety of the Protestant neighbour countries.
Continue reading “Will their stars bring them to Eden?”
“Call of Freedom” by Paul C. Monk continues the saga of the Huguenot family Delpech. Having fled the oppressive dragonnade in France to find refuge in Ireland, in 1699 the family decides to brave a dangerous sea crossing and seek a new life in New York.
Continue reading “History through the eyes of New World settlers”
As a child, Isobel looks on in horror as the Earl, Lord Langton, executes his father’s murderer in the yard of her father’s manor. At least, he reluctantly spares the traitor’s nephew, Thomas Lacey, whom Isobel recognises as her friend and intended husband.
In fifteenth century Yorkshire, landed gentry and their clans vie for power. Which king will they support? For the Earl, as well as Isobel’s father, Sir Geoffrey Fenton, it is clear: Edward, Duke of York, though not a strong character, is the rightful heir to the throne.
Continue reading “Female tenacity facing injustice”
In his inimitably prosaic manner, Phinn recounts the life of an ordinary boy, who met some extraordinary people, and the journey he was able to embark on as a result of the many doors opened for him in his early life.
Continue reading ““Mine was a very happy childhood””
Have a look at other people’s favourites at Shepherd.com.
Continue reading “Lost child in the chaos of war”The assassin crouched in the tangled undergrowth, his finger and thumb stiff in position around the wheel-lock pistol. His gaze was fixed upon the highest point of the castle. He was ready, had been so since first light.
He had made his confession and prayed for deliverance. He had laid his offering at the grave in the woods of the previous châtelaine, a pious and devout Catholic lady murdered by Huguenot vermin. His soul was pure. Shriven.
He was ready to kill.