Mesu Andrews

Dear Readers,

How is it that no matter how hard you try, good books fall through the cracks and don’t get read.  Love’s Sacred Song by Mesu Andrews is one of those books.  I meant to read it right after a came out as I was so excited to see it.  Her first book was the one I picked for my favorite last year which made me want to read this one.  Things just kept coming up and I never got a chance to read it.  Thankfully that has changed.

I can remember wondering about what type of woman it would take to make Solomon write such a beautiful love poem to her.  Solomon is rich beyond belief, has more wives than days of the year and is considered by most to be the wisest man to ever live.  So why was that one woman the one he wrote about?

When Israel’s beloved Warrior King dies, his son Solomon inherits a kingdom that is at peace outside its borders, but there is turmoil inside.  The northern tribes feel like they have been insulted and are ready to march on Jerusalem.   Arialah’s father, Jehoshaphat, is sure that he has the solution.  His daughter as a treaty bride, but what does a simple shepherd’s daughter know about living in the royal palace?

I know I have mentioned this before, I love these books that put faces on people from the Bible.  Sometimes we forget those in the Bible had real needs and wants.  They were people who had faults and problems, even when they were a King and very wise.   What was Solomon like as a young man?  What was it like to step into his father’s shoes after he passed away?  What was it like to be king when you knew your brothers wanted you dead?  

I could go on and as with the other Biblical fiction I know this is not a factual story, just one based on the stories the Bible tells us and the speculation based on some historical facts.  But it does help me remember that they are after all human.

Happy Reading

Mesu Andrews

Dear Readers,

This is one of those books that you need to read all the way to the end before you pass judgement on it.  You must also read the Author's note at the end of the book.  You may read it before you read the book, but it does give away several storylines and I personally wouldn't like that.  I recommend Author's notes all the time as it really gives you a peek into what the author was thinking or why they did the book.

Love Amid the Ashes by Mesu Andrews is a very good story.  It does have a storyline that I am a bit uncomforable with.  She wrote the story of Job, but she also included as a main character Dinah, Jacob's daughter.  If you don't know who she is, she is a young lady in the Bible who is raped and then her brothers kill her rapist who had fallen in love with her.

I know that the traditionally held thought on Job is that he was alive before Abraham.  There is also a thought that he might not even be a real person, but just an example to us all.  I have to say that I understood that and I guess I pretty much accepted that.  It was part of this story that I had a problem with and yet I didn't.

Job returns from a visit to his Uncle Jacob and that night his children, wealth and business are wiped out by raiders and storms.   He loses his children to a building collapse.  His wife blames him and his God and quickly so do other people.  There are only a couple who stand by his side to help him through the grief and to tend to the sores that develop over his body.

This is from the Bible story that we know.  He does lose everything.  He does develop sores and he does stand firm in his beliefs in God. That you can find in the Bible, but some of it you can't. 

I talked to a couple of guys here at the store and asked them questions about it.  One is uncomfortable with Biblical fiction all together, they both were not excited to hear that Mesu had put Dinah into the story of Job. They both have studied the Bible or are studing the Bible in college.  So I do trust what they have to say. 

With all that said, I want to say this is a good book.  I did have some issues with things she did, but I also understand where she got her information from.  It makes for an interesting read and once again shows us that God's greater plan is not always what we have planned. 

Happy Reading