Title: The Calling of
Ella McFarland
Author: Linda Brooks Davis
Pages: 376
Year: 2015
Publisher: Mountainview Books
My rating is 5+ stars.
What a captivating and thrilling journey it has been in this
historical novel! There are many themes
one could glean such as trusting the Lord with vengeance, not worrying about
the speck in one’s own eyes while there is a plank to be removed first,
redemption, trust, love and hope. The
story tells about family life in the early 19th century with the
suffragette movement and the ruin brought to many lives through alcoholism and
lawlessness.
The faith of the McFarland family is steady and the
foundation the parents taught to their children and grandchildren firm. While not all members embraced it or
understood it at first in the tale readers will see the trust placed in the
Lord, the decision to love another above self and prayer being a major comfort
in life not just when trails come. The
trails that Ella endures throughout the book touch the heart and draw the audience
further into the book as the plot thickens.
I loved how the author had two sets of parents who loved
their children, prayed for them and had to watch with broken hearts the choices
they made. Yet, both sets of parents
realized the responsibility for making their choices was on the shoulders of
their grown children, and the friendship was strengthened. I enjoyed how the plot reveals how God uses
things in our lives to bring us to a point of understanding Him along with His
work in the lives of those around us.
I am astounded that this novel is a debut novel as it read
more of a story from the pen of an author of experience. The author shares her love of reading and how
family history was passed down through the generations. While the story contains a couple antagonists
it is really the remarkable redemption in the hearts and lives of characters
that portrayed both the good and evil that can be within the human heart. I
loved how the author describes the reality in many ways of a person who follows
the Lord including when bad, heart-breaking or evil experiences touch their
lives.
I really cannot wait to see what will proceed next from this
new author. She has gained a dedicated
follower from this reader for sure!
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