EFR REVIEWS

  BECOMING MRS. LEWIS In a most improbable friendship, she found love. In a world where women were silenced,  she found her voice.   From New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan comes an exquisite novel of Joy Davidman, the woman C. S. Lewis called “my whole world.” When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis—known as Jack—she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford don and the beloved writer of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters. Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, finding a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy.  In this masterful exploration of one of the greatest love stories of modern times, we mee...

HAVING BEEN AN ACCOMPLICE ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ Many of the poems in this collection focus on themes of new relationships / intensity of developing crushes, infidelities, even motherhood. There's also a fair amount of nature references / metaphors that get worked in. The poems in Part 2 seem darker in tone, sometimes even a little angrier, quietly so. A few of the poems are written with an almost medieval legend flair, scenes of modern day relationships held up to imagined bold kings, steely queens, brave knights, a kingdom challenged. One example of this being "The Bride Queen": Now I'm starting to have a more provincial sight.Married woman queen, bride queen, queen of two lands that must be managed, the rest can go to hell. Queen in a kimono, queen scrubbing the tub, queen of a shopping cart haughtily choosing what to buy, queen of an erotic little family, queen of scattered underthings, queen of the hairs on the floor, queen of a plate of chops, queen of deux,...

LETTERS FROM SKYE A sweeping story told in letters, spanning two continents and two world wars, Jessica Brockmole’s atmospheric debut novel captures the indelible ways that people fall in love, and celebrates the power of the written word to stir the heart.   March 1912: Twenty-four-year-old Elspeth Dunn, a published poet, has never seen the world beyond her home on Scotland’s remote Isle of Skye. So she is astonished when her first fan letter arrives, from a college student, David Graham, in far-away America. As the two strike up a correspondence—sharing their favorite books, wildest hopes, and deepest secrets—their exchanges blossom into friendship, and eventually into love. But as World War I engulfs Europe and David volunteers as an ambulance driver on the Western front, Elspeth can only wait for him on Skye, hoping he’ll survive.   June 1940: At the start of World War II, Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, has fallen for a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Her mother warns h...

NICOLO ZEN This richly-detailed historical novel from master storyteller Nicholas Christopher features an unforgettable hero: Nicolo Zen is all alone in 1700s Venice, save for his clarinet, which a mysterious magician had magicked, allowing its first player to perform expertly. Soon Nicolo is a famous virtuoso, wealthy beyond his dreams. But he can't stop wondering if he earned the success or if it's due to the magician's spell. So he has the spell removed to test his own talents and capabilities. And throughout it all, he continues to think about the girl he met in Venice, what she might be doing and if she's safe from harm.  With a guest appearance by composer Vivaldi, and brimming with fascinating period details, this is a compelling coming-of-age story full of universal themes teens will instantly recognize. The love story will conjure memories of Romeo and Juliet, perfect for teens who love stories set in other times, but without a paranormal storyline (as...

ENDLESS CHRISTMAS An award-winning novelist’s heartwarming story about family and love lost, found, and finally truly revealed at Christmas. Christmas takes a very different turn when the guests of honor break up instead of announcing their engagement. Trapped with his family, they learn that love looks different than either imagined. Both in their eighties, Dodie and Wilson Binder celebrateevery Christmas as if it were their last. This year, their grandson Micah is planning to ask his girlfriend, Katie, to marry him so they can celebrate with the whole family. But things go very wrong when she says "no." Now they are stuck. Too many people, too much snow, and too little room should be a recipe for disaster. But sometimes too much is just enough. Especially when it's Christmas.   ** NOTE: My review for Endless Christmas is a repost from  November 2015. ★ ★ ★ ★1/2 Note : I was originally asked to be part of the blog tour for this book, which ...

THE WAR PRAYER  Written by Mark Twain during the Philippine-American War in the first decade of the twentieth century, The War Prayer tells of a patriotic church service held to send the town's young men off to war. During the service, a stranger enters and addresses the gathering. He tells the patriotic crowd that their prayers for victory are double-edged-by praying for victory they are also praying for the destruction of the enemy... for the destruction of human life. Originally rejected for publication in 1905 as "not quite suited to a woman's magazine," this antiwar parable remained unpublished until 1923, when Twain's literary executor collected it in the volume Europe and Elsewhere. Handsomely illustrated by the artist and war correspondent John Groth, The War Prayer remains a relevant classic by an American icon. ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ Set during the Phillipine-American War, The War Prayer is a brief fable, presented in a poem-like form,...