The Ringmaster's Wife

     The 1920's, from London to New York, from the perspective of an English Lady and, contrarily, a working woman in the states. The Ringmaster's Wife flits back and forth in perspective between Lady Rosamund, a young lady who abandons her home and arranged marriage in order to thrive in the world of circus life, and Mabel, a simple girl with big dreams that she carries around in an old cigar box.

     The circus has always been a fascination of mine, from the flying acrobats and showy displays of the Cirque de Soleil, to the run-down rides in a forgotten town, or even the sinister settings of stories like Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury). Cambron winds the fascination of the circus lights and the excitement of the Roaring '20s into a descriptive and emotional narrative, with a sense of mystery, intrigue, and suspense.

     In The Ringmaster's Wife, she opens with a curious prologue, and from there on we are introduced to various different sides of different lives. Mabel displays a willingness, perseverance, and belief in dreams. Her story starts simply, on a farm, surrounded by siblings and chores and a quiet life. Lady Rosamund strives for much of the same, with confidence, independence, and a talent for knowing her own mind, but she comes from a rich family in high-class London and a lifestyle that she as good as throws aside for the pursuit of freedom. The question is if that freedom will prove to be more than either of them bargained for.

     --Elise--

For more information on The Ringmaster's Wife by Kristy Cambron, visit our website here.

Unashamed: Healing Our Brokenness and Finding Freedom From Shame

Shame: a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.

     In Chapter One of her book, Unashamed, Heather Davis Nelson makes an important distinction: “Guilt is associated with actions while shame taints your entire identity.” She quotes Brené Brown to explain that “the majority of shame researchers and clinicians agree that the difference between shame and guilt is best understood as the difference between ‘I am bad’ and ‘I did something bad’.”

     Guilt is as simple as a natural response to wrongdoing, where you know what you have done is wrong. On the other hand, shame is better described as:

“The feeling that we have missed the mark according to our own standard or our perception of someone else’s standard for us. Shame keeps us from being honest about our struggles, sins, and less-than-perfect moments. Fear of shame drives us to perfectionism in all areas of our life, so that there would be no imperfection to be noticed and judged. Shame is what we heap on others when they fail us.” (p.20)

     Shame burrows into your very being and instills in you this sense that everything you do and say – your very existence – deserves punishment. It is a waking purgatory for every wrong you have ever committed. Realizing this, we must therefore come to the conclusion that shame is wrong, and this is what Nelson wants to instill: shame is wrong, and damaging, and rooted in brokenness. The only true way to curing this disease is through the hope of Jesus Christ, who covers our shame like God covered Adam and Eve in the garden. Nelson returns to this image several times throughout her book as a beautiful picture of what Christ can do for our brokenness.

     Unashamed is a message of hope, of finding "healing [for] our brokenness and freedom from shame". The book is organized into nine sections, aside from the introduction on what shame is and the conclusion that ties together the shame-free destiny available to all of us. The sections she addresses include body shame, performance shame, and shame in marriage, parenting, and the church. Each section features discussion and reflection questions at the end, in order to ease the reader into response. Aside from blaring fundamental truth from the loud speakers, Unashamed invites the reader into the beginnings of healing - this being, first of all, the realization that everybody struggles with shame in one way or another.

     I am in no way shame-free as a result of reading Unashamed, but I am more acutely aware than ever of what differentiates shame from guilt, and what areas of my life might be tainted by the former. Nelson helps the reader identify in their own life the kinds of things that they struggle with in shame, and identifying those elements is one of the keys to healing.

     --Elise--

     For more information on Unashamed by Heather Davis Nelson, visit our website here.

Risen (DVD)

     My dad taught grade nine social studies some years ago, before he changed professions. I never saw socials as my favourite class in school - some years, in fact, I downright despised it. But recently, the history of things has grown in value in my mind. Pair that with a good couple hundred pages of detailed, researched fiction, and I am a happy reader. From Iscariot by Tosca Lee, to the Dangerous Beauty series by Angela Hunt, I have a growing adoration for historical fiction.

     Angela Hunt also contributed to the novelization of the recently released DVD, Risen. Normally, I would default to reading the book. But I happened to have sooner access to the DVD this time, and at high recommendation from my parents who saw it in theatres, so I will be reviewing the DVD here today.

     A little change from routine.

     Roman military Tribune Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) is tasked with solving what happened to the body of Jesus, the Nazarene. With the help of his aide, Lucius (Tom Felton), Clavius enters a kind of investigation on what happened to the body, under the assumption that certain zealots stole it in order to spread rumours about a risen Messiah and cause an uprising in Jerusalem. The resurrection, as told through the eyes of a non-believer.

     This movie was utterly fascinating, and so, so well done. The investigation holds Calvius' career and his favour with Pontius Pilate in the balance. The evidence does not point where he wants it to, and this Jesus who is supposed to be a mad zealot or something nonsensical is starting to be a real possibility. It becomes an obsession. A fascination. And he is forced to abandon his aide and logic when he sees the risen Jesus with his own eyes. The story turns into a journey with the apostles, chasing after the teacher, Lord, Messiah, and the Tribune does not know what he should believe.

     --Elise--

For more information on the movie Risen, visit our website here.

Delilah

     Samson and Delilah. Delilah and Samson. Stories we think we know. It always fascinates me, how someone can take these told and re-told stories and twist them into something I had never imagined before.

     In her Dangerous Beauty series, Angela Hunt has portrayed the ladies of the Bible, Esther and Bathsheba, and now Delilah, in an exceptional form of art and historical fiction. In the other two renditions, books, I know that I gushed about the incredible roller coaster of emotions that Hunt took me through. Delilah carries a different kind of feel.

     The first few chapters portray a young woman, headstrong, healthy and mostly well-off. And then a rapid decline, spurred by the death of her step-father, into abuse at the hands of her monstrous step-brother. Imprisonment in their home, a cruel separation from her mother - the only other person she knows in Gaza since they moved from Egypt. This story of Delilah is cruel and heart-wrenching, perhaps no more or less so than Esther or Bathsheba, but Delilah's response to this life that continues to rob her felt very different to me. Less emotional. More  calculated, even cold and distant at times. Her life is driven by the instinct for survival and she is very much alone through those initial, crucial hardships. She learns to fend for herself, occasionally receiving generosity at the hands of strangers, but for the most part she feels very much secluded in her struggle. It is her against the world, and she adopts that outlook to the very end.

     And who can blame her?

     A point that I think Hunt is trying to make - and if not, it's a point that I very much appreciate through her series all the same - is that it is very difficult to deal out judgement when you know the whole story, from all sides. It is very difficult to label someone as a bad person if you know exactly what they've been through.

--Elise--

For more information on Delilah by Angela Hunt, visit our website here.

Visual Theology

      Exploring what you really believe, Tim Challies and Josh Byers bring basic theology, presented in understandable text and colourful diagrams. They have a Periodic Table of the Books of the Bible, graphs, flow charts, Venn diagrams, and all-around great illustrations.

     As someone who doesn't read much non-fiction, I've always found the theology books rather intimidating, and occasionally wordy. Challies and Byers make theology more approachable, and for the visual learner, so much easier to tackle and remember. The illustrations and colour make every point stick that much more.

     Tasteful, and creatively done!

--Elise--

For more information on Visual Theology by Tim Challies and Josh Byers, visit our website here.

I Feel Insufferior

     This is a wonderful little book about truth. And about lies. It's about identifying the lies that you have grown to believe, been led to believe, or let yourself believe, and it's about renouncing these lies for the truth of who you are in Christ.

     "As I pondered the word [my daughter] used - insufferior - I immediately realized I knew exactly how she felt [...] It is a combination of all of these fears - inferiority, insecurity, inadequacy, and insufficiency - adding up to low self-esteem."
     --I Feel Insufferior, Chapter One, page 1--

     These feelings are rampant in society and around the world. They are an overwhelmingly common thing. We are constantly comparing our appearances, our words, our actions and our lives with everything and everyone around us. And it is destroying us from the inside.

     Melody Metzger holds a Masters in Therapeutic Counseling. Her book I Feel Insufferior introduces step-by-step help in overcoming the issue of insufferiority in your own life. She wants you to know that you are not alone, you are not helpless, and there is hope. She demonstrates how you can speak truth into the lies you're believing and she provides strategies for replacing the lies with truths. In this book, she sits across from you, counsels you, advises you, and guides you in the battle for your own mind.

     And what a battle it is.

     One of the things I especially liked about the format of this book was the way she organized the chapters, and placed the self-help/question sections at the end of each, rather than scattering them throughout the book like some authors do. Each chapter takes a different focus on issues with inferiority and inadequacy, followed by a section for self-help, strategies, and response exercises. It would be great for a group session or study dealing with issues of self-esteem, as well as for an individual exercise in self-healing. Her words are interspersed with excellent scripture and biblical truths to help you through the process - the beginning of healing.

     I am in no way saying the Metzger's book will erase insecurities from your life. She can only offer as much help as you are willing to accept, and there's only so much you can give anyone through the written word. I Feel Insufferior is most definitely a start, and a very good one.

--Elise--

     For more information on I Feel Insufferior by Melody Metzger, visit our website here.

The Choosing

     I think I read Rachelle Dekker's first novel a lot more critically than I usually would for any other author off the shelf. She's the daughter of my favourite Christian Fiction author. I expect great things from her.

     In The Choosing I did find that unique blend of spiritual and physical turmoil that Ted Dekker always captures me with, and some of the inner issues have similarities, but Rachelle's writing voice is still very distinct from her father's. Not to mention her setting and characters.

     She introduces a post-apocalyptic world that made me reminisce The Hunger Games and Divergent series, but with a different kind of a twist: a heavily patriarchal society, wherein a woman's worth is determined by the man that Chooses her in the Choosing ceremony that is held every year for those of age. Children go through lessons and classes all through childhood and into early adulthood, all with the purpose of being chosen. And those that are not fade into society as labour workers with little worth and no more than a fixed schedule of tasks to their name.

     Dekker follows Carrington, a young girl of decent social standing with all of the traits for being Chosen, but when it comes to the ceremony she's left behind, along with the rest of the worthless members of society. She can find no clear reason why she failed. The Choosing is about her transition into life as a Lint worker, cut off from her family and all that she grew up knowing, and her journey to discovering true worth.

     --Elise--

For more information on The Choosing by Rachelle Dekker, visit our website here.