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A review by shammons
The Amethyst Heart: Newly Repackaged Edition by Penelope J. Stokes
4.0
I've read a couple of other books by this author before, so when I saw this one on the "bargain" shelf at my local Christian bookstore, I picked it up. I didn't really know what it was about or what to expect. You can check at Amazon and read the blurb about the book, but suffice it to say, I really really liked it! I'd probably give it 4.5 out of 5, but chose 4 stars here with their rating system.
Perhaps one reason I really enjoyed this book is that it's set in (fictional) Cambridge, Mississippi. Now, if you're from my part of the country, you'll get a big kick out of that. Cambridge is a college town, with a university there that also has a law school. Funny, but we have a town in my state called Oxford, Mississippi that meets that description. It always gave me a little giggle when they called the town by name.
The book opens with 93 year old Amethyst Noble learning that her only son is in financial trouble and wants to move her into a nursing home and sell the family home. Amethyst ends up taking her great granddaughter "hostage" (the girl gets a kick out of her grandma acting eccentric and agrees to stay) and tells her son that she has a shotgun and is not going to be removed from her home. The story goes from there as Amethyst relays the story of her family, the Noble family, back to pre-Civil War times. She tells the story of her grandparents, Silas and Pearl, her parents and her own life to her great-granddaughter. It is a wonderful story and really swept me into it. It's about race relations, our country's history, all bound up into one family's struggle in the rural South in the 1800 and 1900's. There's wonderful examples of faith, love, nobility, loyalty, grace and forgiveness in this book, and there's even a little Scripture thrown in for good measure. My kind of book :)
I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it if you enjoy a blend of Christian fiction, historical fiction and an interest in the racial issues in our country throughout history.
Perhaps one reason I really enjoyed this book is that it's set in (fictional) Cambridge, Mississippi. Now, if you're from my part of the country, you'll get a big kick out of that. Cambridge is a college town, with a university there that also has a law school. Funny, but we have a town in my state called Oxford, Mississippi that meets that description. It always gave me a little giggle when they called the town by name.
The book opens with 93 year old Amethyst Noble learning that her only son is in financial trouble and wants to move her into a nursing home and sell the family home. Amethyst ends up taking her great granddaughter "hostage" (the girl gets a kick out of her grandma acting eccentric and agrees to stay) and tells her son that she has a shotgun and is not going to be removed from her home. The story goes from there as Amethyst relays the story of her family, the Noble family, back to pre-Civil War times. She tells the story of her grandparents, Silas and Pearl, her parents and her own life to her great-granddaughter. It is a wonderful story and really swept me into it. It's about race relations, our country's history, all bound up into one family's struggle in the rural South in the 1800 and 1900's. There's wonderful examples of faith, love, nobility, loyalty, grace and forgiveness in this book, and there's even a little Scripture thrown in for good measure. My kind of book :)
I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it if you enjoy a blend of Christian fiction, historical fiction and an interest in the racial issues in our country throughout history.