A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers (Book #1 in the Mark of the Lion series)
Read: for February book club, and my friends Hannah, Brittney, and Esther highly recommended the whole series (Tyndale House, 515 pages)
Rating: 8 out of 10 (finished 2/3/10)
Synopsis: A Voice in the Wind takes listeners into a richly imagined ancient Rome in the midst of its great decline. This heart-stirring tale of a young slave girl, torn between her love for a handsome aristocrat and her faith in God, transcends genres with its awe-inspiring power and emotional intensity.
General Impression: Over the years, I’ve shied away from Christian fiction. I think it’s because I read some fairly craptastic Christian fiction back when I first became a Christian ten years ago. I remember thinking it was sappy and overwraught and that the characters made me kind of want to vomit. I did read Rivers’ Reedeming Love around that time, and found it to be a phenomenal book (I highly recommend it). I’m not sure why I haven’t read more of Rivers since then. Anyway, my book club picked this as its February selection, and internally I sort of cringed because the cover is all soft focus and scripty font. But I do trust the opinions of my friends, and those who had read it said it was one of the best books they’ve ever read. So I dove in.
And floundered a bit. It really took a significant portion of the book to get into it. But once I got caught up in the story (and figured out how to differentiate between all of the Roman names), I flew through it. I read the last couple hundred pages in a day or two. I ended up really investing in the characters. Normally I find myself rolling my eyes at characters who are overly noble and self-sacrificing, but somehow Rivers managed to write Hadassah — who is probably the least selfish character I’ve ever read — without her becoming trite or pious or annoying. I spent the whole book thinking, Oh, if I could only be more like Hadassah! Her quiet faith and servant’s heart were so inspiring. She has quickly become one of my favorite characters in literature. The other characters are compelling as well — Marcus, the handsome young aristocrat who aches for some other life; Julia, the self-serving daughter who is only after her own selfish pleasure; Phoebe, their mother, who puts her faith in stones; and Atretes, the warrior ripped from his home country and trained to fight in the arena. They were all excellently written and I fond myself captivated by their stories. Once I got past the initial introduction of the characters, the story moved quickly and I learned A TON about ancient Rome and the surrounding areas. Rivers did a commendable amount of research for this book.
And then I got to the end, said, “AHHHH!” and immediately started the second book in the series.
Pros: stunning characters, themes that will sock you in the gut, fantastic writing, and it is incredibly well researched.
Cons: Took me too long to get into it. Every once in a while, I felt like Rivers was subliminally saying, “I know soooo much about history!!”
Other books I’ve read by Francine Rivers: Redeeming Love, An Echo in the Darkness (review to come)
Other Blogger Reviews: My Friend Amy (read the first chapter here)
Nice review! I didn’t know that there was a genre called ‘Christian fiction’. I haven’t heard of Francine River or ‘A Voice in the Wind’ before, but the description of the period and some of the fundamental questions that the story raises look quite interesting. Will add to my ‘TBR’ list.
Christian fiction is really a bunch of different genres that all have Christian themes. I could be Christian romance, Christian sci-fi, Christian historical, etc. :)
That is interesting! Which is / are your favourite book(s) in Christian fiction?
I forgot to say one more thing. The cover of ‘A Voice in the Wind’ is really lovely!
I think Redeeming Love is my favorite, but it’s fairly girly. :) I also like Ted Dekker’s Circle trilogy — Black, Red, and White (I actually haven’t read White yet — it’s on hold at the library). I haven’t read all that much Christian fiction, actually. But as I read more, I’ll review them. :)
I loved these books but I read them a long time ago. I’ve thought to go back and reread them but I haven’t yet because let’s be honest, who has time for that?
No kidding — I don’t reread often. There are far too many new books out there that I want to read!
Cori, you gave me a new word – craptastic! I love it! I am on the same page with you about Christian fiction and Francine River’s books speak to me too. I just picked up her newest book Her Mother’s Hope and it is so compelling.
Thanks for your writing. I enjoy reading and your thinking.
Ooh, that book looks good! I’ll add it to my to-read list. Thanks for the recommendation!