Iain Macfarlane

This is very good story-telling unmistakeably from a woman, and very welcome for all that. There is an interweaving of the Biblical narrative with a present day one with very believable characters that I cared about. I thought the way the Gospel stories were linked together with some fictional characters was very creative and skilled, and certainly made me look at those stories in a new light. The story-telling is told from an Evangelical Charismatic tradition which is inevitably given to the ‘happy endings’ of redemption, ones we don’t always see in life. However, from that perspective this is about as real it gets with some gritty exploration of sexual violence and shame from a woman’s perspective. It’s a good read in itself, but it would also work in a book club or Bible study group particularly for women. The author has clearly intended to make the Bible more relevant to C21st life, and she largely succeeds. I could see Christian married couples benefiting from reading this too, and my copy will be going to one.