Love Amid the Ashes by Mesu Andrews Series: Treasure of His Love #1
Published by Revell on March 1, 2011
Genres: Fiction / Christian / Historical, Fiction / Christian / Romance / General, Fiction / Religious, Fiction / Romance / General, Fiction / Romance / Historical / General
Pages: 416
Format: eBook
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Readers often think of Job sitting on the ash heap, his life in shambles. But how did he get there? What was Job's life like before tragedy struck? What did he think as his world came crashing down around him? And what was life like after God restored his wealth, health, and family?
Through painstaking research and a writer's creative mind, Mesu Andrews weaves an emotional and stirring account of this well-known story told through the eyes of the women who loved him. Drawing together the account of Job with those of Esau's tribe and Jacob's daughter Dinah, Love Amid the Ashes breathes life, romance, and passion into the classic biblical story of suffering and steadfast faith.
Mesu has yet to write a book I didn’t love. Not only does she weave the story in such a way to draw you in and make the Bible feel alive but the sheer amount of research she does to get there really does make it all so real. While her ability to tell a story is top tier and she would be amazing in any genre she chose to write that she chose Biblical Fiction is another level. There’s no just sitting down to tell the story, there’s research and cross reference and so much more that goes into accurate Biblical Fiction. Anyone can decided to sit down one day and write about Job. Not anyone will do the research and the work to stay true to the truth of the Bible while making the story come alive. Mesu does just that for me every single time.
Purely based on life right now I chose to ‘read’ this by audio book. I don’t have a lot of ‘reading’ time but I’m wide open for listening time. And that decision is probably what put me a little off the rails for this one. The narrator was a bit too smooth for this story and it was easy to lull into what I was hearing without necessarily absorbing what I was hearing. While I enjoyed that she inflected into the dialogue with her tone I found myself lost more often than not on who was speaking, what was happening, and why it was all in play. I’m all in now since I’ve already queued up the entire series in audio format and I’ll do my best to not lull out.
Job. We are all probably somewhat familiar with the story of Job. We’ve all said or heard said that someone has the patience of Job. But outside of knowing the story, the trials he went through because of his faith and his refusal to deny his faith, do we really understand Job. The tendency, for all of us, is to just check out – give up when things get hard. Just put it in the corner to figure out later – if ever. Of course we all know that never works but it’s easy right. Job didn’t check out he preserved on despite the abject loss he experienced. Not just the obvious with family and wealth but also his health. Not only did Job suffer for his faith but those around him were punished for his faith. Yet they stuck with him, stood by, and did the best they could with the circumstances they had. I think in the times we live, as a Christian, we should all dig deeper into Job and what worked. We know what doesn’t work we do it all the time, but I think truly getting a fictional account that reads so very accurate to what happened makes me think more about my responses to difficult times. Now I have to figure out how to apply it.
About Mesu Andrews
MESU ANDREWS is a Christy Award-winning, best-selling author of biblical novels and devotional studies whose deep understanding of and love for God’s Word brings the Bible alive for readers. Her heritage as a “spiritual mutt” has given her a deep yearning to both understand and communicate biblical truths in powerful stories that touch the heart, challenge the mind, and transform lives. Mesu lives in Indiana with her husband Roy, where she stays connected with her readers through newsie emails, blog posts, and the social media we all love to hate. For more information, visit MesuAndrews.com.
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