Title: Saints &
Sailors (The Dunbridge Chronicles #4)
Author: Pam Rhodes
Pages: 272
Year: 2015
Publisher: Lion Fiction
Neil Fisher has the bright idea to
take a Christian cruise, visiting landmarks of famous saints of the early
church. He has invited members from his
current church family at Burntacre as well as members from his 3-year stint as
curate at Dunbridge. The all comes
together for a nine day cruise. While on
board, a praise choir is assembled by none other than the author herself! I thought that was a clever twist of the
author, putting herself in as a character in the story. As the cruise gets underway, readers are
treated to lovely descriptions and faith-filled moments as we visit some of
these historic sites. The relationships
between various people unfold, making for a book I couldn’t put down.
I liked everything about this
story with the exception of the homosexual interaction between two minor
characters in one brief scene. There
were no graphic details, but I didn’t see the need for this in the story. Other than that aspect, the book was a
tear-jerker in spots and had me applauding and laughing in other spots. Neil and Claire try to keep the peace between
Iris and Harry as well as their old and new church families. Betty, Sheila and Marion were terrific! I enjoyed catching up with some of the
familiar characters from Dunbridge while being introduced to new characters
from Neil’s current church family. There
were couples on the cruise with marriage troubles. One person returned to the spot he had landed
on D-Day more than seventy years earlier.
He had never returned because the memories were too painful, but now at
the age of 91 he returns with his son and grandson at his side to share his
memories of that day. Another woman
returns to see her family after a 24-year estrangement, but has no idea what
the outcome of this meeting will be. The
subplots were woven together to form a nice, cohesive story and the writing was
well done.
My rating is 4 stars.
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