Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
This book is about a young girl Indian girl living in
British occupied India in the 1940s. Vidya loves reading and learning, and
while other girls her age are preparing for marriage, she dreams of going to
college. Tragedy strikes her family, making her dreams seem impossible. Will
she be able to overcome the obstacles in front of her?
After going to India, this was an insightful look at culture
and a particular time period that has shaped modern India. I learned a great
deal about Hinduism and the caste system of India. The book is a young adult
novel and quite predictable, but it was well-written and the story is
interesting.
Harvest of Rubies by Tessa Afshar
Sarah is the cousin of Nehemiah (as in the prophet in the
Bible). She is well-educated and respected as the scribe to the queen, but then
she is forced into an arranged marriage with a man who want nothing to do with
her. Will they grow to love each other?
I will start off by saying that I am generally skeptical of
Christian Fiction, but I had high hopes for this book since the author has an
MDiv from Yale. I appreciated her good use of vocabulary and vivid
descriptions. I really liked the character of Sarah and I could relate to her
struggle with finding her value in what she does rather than who she is. I read
other reviews that said Sarah’s complete lack of feminine qualities seemed
unrealistic, and I would agree on that point. My other frustration with the
book is that there is a sequel. I don’t feel like the book needs a sequel. The
author only needed to add one or two more chapters to tie up a few loose ends.
That being said I still really enjoyed the book, and I plan to read the second
one.
Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar
This is a fictionalized retelling of the story of Rahab
(from the book of Joshua in the Bible). However, this story’s main focus is on
the relationship between Rahab and Salmone.
I have read Unashamed
by Francine Rivers, which is her take on Rahab, and I found some personally
meaningful theological points in that novella. However, I felt like her Rahab
was a little too much of a goody-goody. I found the Rahab in this book much
more realistic. Also, this is a book of more than 300 pages, so the author has
more time to develop the characters and the plot. Furthermore, Unashamed does
not focus as much on the love story between Rahab and Salmone.
Now to focus on Pearl in the Sand. There are some wonderful
quotes in the book, and I loved to see the characters growth in the novel. I
feel like the author had good insight into the difficulties that Rahab and
Salmone would face. Personally, Salmone was not the type of man I would want to
marry (I found him too aggressive), but I think that might be my modern Western
mind passing judgment on an ancient Middle Eastern culture. And Salmone was not
all bad; he was instrumental in bringing healing to Rahab, and I really
appreciated the conversations between them pertaining to her past. I think that
this book could be both really good and really hard for someone who has
experienced abuse.
For both books by Tessa Afshar, I would not necessarily
recommend them for teenagers. They weren’t inappropriate, but they dealt with
content and issues that most teenagers are not ready to handle. They could read
them, but not necessarily fully appreciate them.
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place (Books One and
Two) By Maryrose Wood
“Of especially naughty children, it is sometimes said: ‘They
must have been raised by wolves.’ The Incorrigible children actually were.”
Now, Fifteen-year-old Penelope Lumley, a recent graduate of Swanburne Academy
for Poor Bright Females, has been given the task of civilizing and educating
the children.
These books are light-hearted, fun, and intelligently
written. They remind me of The Series of
Unfortunate Events as the writing style is similar to that of Lemony
Snicket. However, I did not feel like the writing was so similar that Maryrose
Wood was copying Lemony Snicket. The writing has its own voice, and I love the
inclusion of literary allusions. This book would be such a fun read aloud book
to young children, but at the same time it has humor (though not inappropriate
humor) that only adults will appreciate.
