My Review of The Messenger (CFBA Blog Tour)

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Messenger Bethany House Publishers (March 1, 2012) by Siri Mitchell
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Siri Mitchell graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she has lived all over the world, including Paris and Tokyo. Siri enjoys observing and learning from different cultures. She is fluent in French and loves sushi.

But she is also a member of a strange breed of people called novelists. When they’re listening to a speaker and taking notes, chances are, they’ve just had a great idea for a plot or a dialogue. If they nod in response to a really profound statement, they’re probably thinking, “Yes. Right. That’s exactly what my character needs to hear.” When they edit their manuscripts, they laugh at the funny parts. And cry at the sad parts. Sometimes they even talk to their characters.

Siri wrote 4 books and accumulated 153 rejections before signing with a publisher. In the process, she saw the bottoms of more pints of Ben & Jerry’s than she cares to admit. At various times she has vowed never to write another word again. Ever. She has gone on writing strikes and even stooped to threatening her manuscripts with the shredder.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Hannah Sunderland felt content in her embrace of the Quaker faith

...until her twin brother ran off and joined the army and ended up captured and in jail. Suddenly Hannah's world turns on end. She longs to bring her brother some measure of comfort in the squalid, frigid prison where he remains. But the Quakers believe they are not to take sides, not to take up arms. Can she sit by and do nothing while he suffers?

Jeremiah Jones has an enormous task before him. Responsibility for a spy ring is now his, and he desperately needs access to the men in prison, whom they are seeking to free. A possible solution is to garner a pass for Hannah. But while she is fine to the eye, she holds only disdain for him--and agreeing would mean disobeying those she loves and abandoning a bedrock of her faith.

With skill and sensitivity, Mitchell tells a story of two unlikely heroes seeking God's voice, finding the courage to act, and discovering the powerful embrace of love.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Messenger, go HERE.

MY RATING

Summer

MY REVIEW

Thought-provoking. Intriguing. Riveting. Siri Mitchell has done it again!

Mitchell does first-person POV brilliantly (as also exemplified in Chateau of Echoes and She Walks in Beauty). But The Messenger has a unique twist - first-person POV for both the hero and the heroine. And it works beautifully!

The American Revolution shakes Hannah Sunderland to the core. A British officer takes over her childhood home. Her new life with extended family - rich, Loyalist slave-owners - challenges her simple way of life as a Quaker. And her twin brother, who had his own reasons for laying aside his pacifist upbringing to fight for the revolutionaries, is suffering in jail.

Enter Jeremiah Jones - a wounded soul with a missing hand who has troubles of his own. And Hannah seems to be the only one who can help him.

Hannah and Jeremiah are wonderful characters to befriend and to watch develop in their understanding and maturity, and their interactions with the complex secondary characters (and each other) provide poignant opportunities for such growth. The setting, centered around the jail, offers a harsh, authentic backdrop to the drama as both of these characters deal with issues of identity, beliefs, and love. The Messenger is a well-told story of a tumultuous time in American history, while still dealing with important, timeless topics.

Mitchell's latest historical romance is deeply satisfying - not to be missed!

*With thanks to Bethany House through CFBA for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.*