Thursday, August 8, 2013

Harvest of Gold Reaps Great Reading!

 Harvest of Gold  -     
        By: Tessa Afshar
Harvest of Gold, written by Tessa Afshar is the story of Sarah, a Jew and cousin to Nehemiah (rebuilder of the wall in Jerusalem) and Darius, a Persian and one of the King's elite soldiers. In an arranged marriage, the two struggle through numerous episodes of misconceptions and miscommunication to learn to live together.

I don't often read “Biblical fiction,” choosing instead to focus on mysteries or books set between the Civil War and WWII, so I approached the novel with some trepidation. I need not have worried. Vivid descriptions of attire, settings and customs deftly drew me into the time and place of the novel. Sarah and Darius are both a complex combination of stubbornness, pride and insecurity; characters with whom I could easily relate. The story moves forward briskly but not in a rush. Intrigue, suspicion and suspense are introduced when a plot to assassinate King Artaxerxes is uncovered.

Underlying the entire story is the theme of God's unswerving love to each one of us - how He reaches down to meet us where we are and walk with us every step of life's journey. The book gave me a lot of food for thought without being preachy. I highly recommend it. What books have you read that struck such a strong chord with you?

--Linda Matchett

6 comments:

  1. I haven't read "Biblical fiction" before. Thank you for the recommendation!

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  2. If you're really interested in reading books by this author, book one of this series, Harvest of Rubies, is currently free at amazon. Here's the link for anyone interested: http://www.amazon.com/Harvest-of-Rubies-ebook/dp/B007VO7PTW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1375971873&sr=1-1&keywords=harvest+of+rubies+by+tessa+afshar

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  3. This is a very arresting book cover. I'd be interested in who did the cover.

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  4. Thanks for the post Linda. I'm not naturally drawn to Biblical fiction, but whenever I've read one I've been pleased.

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  5. Tessa also has a stand alone book about Rahab called Pearl in the Sand.

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