BOOK OF THE WEEK: LAND OF SILENCE BY TESSA AFSHAR

Land of Silence is a book written by Tessa Afshar and published by Tyndale House.

In the opening chapter, readers are introduced to the heroine, Elianna, a teenage girl with a younger brother. Elianna is betrothed to Ethan as a result of a mutual agreement between their fathers, who have been friends for as long as she could remember.

Due in part to a fault of hers, Elianna loses her younger brother under unfortunate circumstances and this results in a strained relationship with her parents,  particularly her father.

Subsequent happenings lead Elianna to struggle with self doubt, and the arrival of a Roman Officer, Decimus Calvus, causes a complication in her relationship with Ethan. Things get worse when her menstrual cycle is affected and she begins bleeding regularly and profusely, causing her to become an object of scorn and ridicule in the community. It takes a chance meeting with a prophet in Judea for Elianna to be restored and delivered from the land of silence.

I like the book’s cover as well as its opening chapter. I love how Tessa Afshar takes her time to create book covers with Middle Eastern themes, which form the setting in almost all her novels. The opening chapter is quite poignant and creates a thirst on the part of the reader for more chapters.

The next few chapters come along fine as well, until one gets somewhere around the ninth chapter. From that point, the pace becomes too slow and the story begins to drag. I understand that good stories need to be detailed and to have depth, however, I think the book has way too many details, especially with regards to Elianna’s family business.  I must add though that anyone particularly interested in the production and sale of textile materials like wool and silk will not have a problem with the amount of detail but may be rather captivated by it.

Again, I find some scenes in the book to be overly dramatic, for example; the heroine tends to gasp rather a lot, even at inopportune times. Scenes like this made it a bit difficult for me to connect with the characters.

I think the climax of the book is its strongest point, and it is at that moment readers get to realize that the story is actually based on the hemorrhaging woman described in the bible. This is a testament to Tessa Afshar's writing skills, I think. The fact that she is able to build a story of over 100,000 words, based just on a few lines in the Bible, is a proof of her writing prowess.
Status: Recommended, provided you’ve read a previous Tessa Afshar novel. It’s available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0198UNULS/ref=pd_aw_sim_351_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QBCV5SK6ZVMQQ48MZ6F6

Set for release in August 2018:

Can't wait to read this juicy looking book with the intriguing title. Can you?

Book review: PEARL in the SAND by Tessa Afshar

Pearl in the Sand is the story of a harlot from Jericho city, Rahab, as told in the Bible. Rahab hides two Israelites who have come to spy out the city and, being certain that the city will fall; she makes the spies promise that they will spare her life and that of her family when they eventually take the city. The spies give their word based on the condition that she tie a scarlet thread to her window for easy identification and that all her family members are to be in the house with her when the city is attacked. They refuse to be held accountable for the death of any family member who is not in the house when the city is attacked. Rahab ties the scarlet thread to her window and helps the spies escape from the city.

Later Jericho is attacked by Israel and it falls. Rahab and her family members are rescued from the city and brought to live among the Israelites. She meets  a warrior, Salmon and the sparks fly although they both fight it at first. When they eventually admit their love for each other and decide to get married, there are many obstacles they must overcome such as Rahab’s past, Salmon’s pride and the community’s mistrust of foreigners.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tessa Afshar

Tessa Afshar is a popular author of several novels, such as:

And her 2017 book:

Her books, Pearl in the Sand, Harvest of Gold and Harvest of Rubies, have won awards.

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BOOK

I love it. Many novels based on Biblical characters abound in the market; many, in my opinion are neither here nor there. There are a few that are outstanding, however, and this book belongs to that category. Exciting from start to finish, the book raises thought-provoking questions; one of which I now pose to you, dear reader: 

If the person you love and want to marry was once a prostitute and your family members and friends are aware of it, would you go ahead and marry the person or would you call off the relationship?