Genre: Historical Fiction
Recommended.
The intertestamental period is one of my favorites to study, and one that has continued to be mysterious to me. David deSilva has done an excellent job of fictionalizing many of the historical forerunners in a well researched look at the tensions between the Torah-abiding Jewish community and ever expanding Hellenistic world.
There were some slow moments–especially in the beginning as so many characters were introduced so quickly. But once I had the characters and their motivations straight (some of which I was already somewhat familiar with from history, and many others that were completely new to me), the story began to escalate quickly. This is one that gets better as it goes along, and it was well worth pushing through some of the earlier slower moments.
I have a clearer understanding of the Maccabean revolt and the tensions of assimilation after reading this. The thematic issues are also germane for our world today as Christians, Jews, and other religious groups struggle to preserve the important aspects of their identities within an expanding secular world. The dialog at times seemed almost more Christian and/or contemporary Jewish than of the intertestamental time period, but this was not a negative point for me as it emphasized the contemporary relevance and gave me even more to think about. It is not so much light fiction, as it is historically dense, so I recommend this to lovers of history.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Kregel Publications.
My kids do like playing with the dominoes. My five year old (who was four when we received the game a few months ago) said, “Mom, I think this game is a little easy for me.” But he asks to play it nevertheless, and has a good time helping his younger brother, as well as asking many questions about the various characters and pictures.
When Kelli Huddleston’s father and step mother are killed in a car accident, she discovers amongst her father’s things that nothing is as she thought. He had been hiding newspaper clippings and other evidence of a man and his one year old daughter who had been missing after a boating accident and declared dead, and she realizes he had faked their deaths, and that–contrary to the story he had told her of her past–her mother and siblings may still be alive. Set on finding the truth about who she is, Kelli travels from her California home to the South to unobtrusively check out her family as a stranger, and to discover herself all over again.
The second picture is the same day when I arrived back to the hotel in the evening after sunset, and it is thus a little too dark, but shows the new growth well nevertheless. So, although both pictures are unintentionally exaggerated because of the lighting, I think you will get the idea: missing hair, then small spiky new growth! It is because God loves me.
Retired NFL quarterback, Jeff Kemp, shares wisdom and encouragement about facing life’s trials using metaphors and wisdom from his football career and experience. He focuses especially on the biblical principle of gaining a right mindset, which will then influence our thoughts, actions, interactions, and choices. And I also greatly appreciated his wisdom on investing in others and choosing to be team oriented rather than focusing on oneself by consuming.
