My review of Bread of Angels by Tessa Afshar

About the book:

Purple. The foundation of an influential trade in a Roman world dominated by men. One woman rises up to take the reins of success in an incredible journey of courage, grit, and friendship. And along the way, she changes the world.

But before she was Lydia, the seller of purple, she was simply a merchant's daughter who loved three things: her father, her ancestral home, and making dye. Then unbearable betrayal robs her of nearly everything.

With only her father's secret formulas left, Lydia flees to Philippi and struggles to establish her business on her own. Determination and serendipitous acquaintances--along with her father's precious dye--help her become one of the city's preeminent merchants. But fear lingers in every shadow, until Lydia meets the apostle Paul and hears his message of hope, becoming his first European convert. Still, Lydia can't outrun her secrets forever, and when past and present collide, she must either stand firm and trust in her fledgling faith or succumb to the fear that has ruled her life.

My review:

I've read two of Tessa's books prior to this one. Both made my favorites list for that year mainly because I read them practically straight through. As a reader, I want to get lost in a book to the point that I forget I am reading. Tessa's writing is very good.

That said, this story didn't grab me as much as the others. But that may have more to do with the distractions I've had this year than the story itself. This novel features Lydia, a character came from the New Testament, and the other two books featured women from the Old Testament. The author did a good job setting up the New Testament time period and developed the setting so I could relate to the characters. I also saw Paul and his followers through Lydia's eyes. That was well done.  This story was never boring, just different,

I found some parts of this book to be more captivating than others, probably due to my familiarity with the story like the woman that followed Paul and Silas around saying they were servants of the most high God. Like most Biblical fiction authors, Tessa offers a fresh perspective that may cause you to ponder your life and priorities. At any rate, this book is worth taking the time to read if you enjoy Biblical fiction.

Bread of Angels was published by Tyndale Fiction and released in June 2017,

My review of Risen by Angela Hunt

About the book:

A Powerful Novelization from Bestselling Author Angela Hunt
Epic in scope, yet deeply personal, this novelization offers a unique perspective on the story of the resurrection. Roman Tribune Clavius is assigned by Pilate to keep the radical followers of the recently executed Yeshua from stealing the body and inciting revolution. When the body goes missing despite his precautions, Clavius must hunt it down.
His investigation leads him from the halls of Herod Antipas to the Garden of Gethsemane and brings him in touch with believer and doubter alike. But as the body still remains missing, Clavius commits to a quest for the truth--and answers that will not only shake his life but echo throughout all of history. 


My review:

I loved this story. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I wanted to read the book first anyway. It was well-written and made me think about some of the events that happened from other people's perspectives. And the coolest thing about this story was Rachel's part in the Roman's understanding of Jewish history and how it all fits together with the Messiah. I loved how she even thought while making of the unleavened bread with it's stripes and holes and remembering what they meant. Everything tied back to the Messiah and Jesus fulfilling the prophecy that she grew up hearing about from her family's study of the Torah. 

The author says at the end of the book she was not actually part of the movie due to time constraints, but Rachel was in the original screenplay. She was my favorite character. Even though she knew she was living in sin by allowing Clavius to visit her house, she still talked with him about the prophesies of her people and answered his questions when when he came to visit her at night. I found it fascinating how God still used their relationship to open his eyes to the possibility of God coming to earth in the form of a man and redeeming us all. I loved how she shows through his perspective that Jesus was utterly and completely dead, and then when he examined the tomb it didn't look like it was broken into but that something inside the tomb snapped the ropes, etc.  Anyway, I can't wait to see the movie. 

Risen was published by Bethany House and released in December 2015

Faith 'n Fiction Saturdays discusses Biblical fiction.

Today's Topic

One of areas of Christian fiction that is thriving is Biblical Fiction. Biblical fiction, in case you don't know, is when an author takes a story from the Bible and imagines more of the details. Tosca Lee's Havah would be a recent example of Biblical fiction.What I want to know today is how you feel about Biblical fiction. Have you ever read any Biblical fiction? Did you enjoy it? Do you think Biblical fiction helps us to understand people who lived during Biblical times better or do you think that it's unnecessary? Have you ever read any Biblical fiction that offended you?

My answer

I love Biblical fiction especially if it makes me appreciate the scriptures more. It does bug me if it's not Biblically sound, though. Some great examples of Biblical fiction that is inspiring and accurate is Havah by Tosca Lee, The Centurion's Wife by Davis Bunn and Jeanette Oke, the Lineage of Grace and the Sons of Encouragement series - both by Francine Rivers, The Heavens Before by Kacy Barnett-Gramckow, all Biblical fiction by Brock and Bodie Thoene, etc. I just received Michal by Jill Eileen Smith in the mail a few days ago. I read the beginning of this story about three or four years ago before it had been sold to Revell. This is going to be a fabulous read, at least from what I remember.

You can preorder a copy of Michal at Barnes and Noble here...

Pre-order Michal by Jill Eileen Smith

I've never read The Red Tent and don't care to read it.

One book that did bug/offend me was written by Ann Burton and titled, Women of the Bible: Abigail's story. While interesting, the gist of the story came across unlike how David (later King David) is actually portrayed in the Bible. It seemed like she took too many liberties filling in the blanks and just didn't sit right with me. That's the only one I've come across that way.