Title: House of Mercy
Author: Erin Healy
Pages: 384
Year: 2012
Publishers: Thomas
Nelson
Note: I received a
complimentary copy for an honest review of this book. The opinions shared in this review are solely
my responsibility. Other reviews can be
read at http://seekingwithallyurheart.blogspot.com/
. Also follow me on Twitter
@lcjohnson1988
As I
was beginning this book, like all other books I read, I was wondering what the
point of the story is. What is it that
an author is trying to communicate to his/her audience? We readers, reviewers or bloggers are part of
that audience and we are as varied in our opinions as authors are when they
write a story. Have you read about a
particular event in history in a novel by one author, and then found another
author who wrote fiction based on the same event, but the stories are vastly
different? The more authors I am getting
to know and books I am reading, the more my eyes are opened to the variety of
stories published.
House
of Mercy is a novel that actually captured my attention by the picture of a
horse running free at the beginning of a new day. As the story begins we find a family running
a nonprofit ranch for the glory of God.
The name of the ranch is the Blazing B, which has been in the family for
five generations. Abel is the father of
three children with his wife Rose. Were
there other children? The men working on
the ranch seem to Beth to have been there since she was born. Her older brother, Levi, dislikes her
immensely as well as the way his father runs the ranch. Levi wants it to be profitable instead of
working long hours for what he considers nonsense reasons. Beth’s younger brother, Danny, is tenderhearted
like their Dad and is closer to Beth than Levi.
Thoroughbred
horses are being boarded temporarily at a nearby ranch. Beth takes a saddle from a ranch hand so a
family can try and save their horse by selling the silver on the saddle. There is a gift of healing that runs in Beth,
but where did the gift come from? Roses’
dad returns to her life, yet you wouldn’t believe how it comes to be! Many will read this well-told story and get
out of it different ideas or themes, liking the fictional story or not. I came away with an understanding of the God
who knows my name for real. Through all
that the characters experience, one theme presents itself strongly: God
knows us well. His goodness comes in
ways we may never understand or be able to explain. Our ways of “fixing” wrongs in our lives
aren’t necessarily His. Why? I believe as the author paints the picture
through this novel that His ways include more than we will ever comprehend.
What
will grab your heart and mind as you read it?
Well, the only way to answer that question is to read this for yourself
and find out!
My rating is 4 ½ stars.
