Love Amid The Ashes by Mesu Andrews; 2011; $14.99; 407 pages; Revell, Grand Rapids, MI;978-0-8007-3407-7; Checked out from Multnomah County Library, Troutdale; 3/3-3/6
Why did I pick this up? The author is going to be at a meeting held at the bookstore and I wanted to see what she wrote in her debut novel.
What is the story? This is a retelling of the story of Job from the Old Testament as seen through the eyes of Dinah, a daughter of Jacob and sister of Joseph. It is an interesting take on the story that starts before the story in the Bible and continues beyond the end of the story as told. It is an epic tale and contains everything one would expect in a biblical epic.
Did I like it? Yes, after an initial slow start it began to get better and became very engaging.
Grade-B
What is with the title of the review? There used to be a TV show hosted by Walter Cronkite that I remember as being a program that recreated historical events as if you were there. That is what this book is like, taking a historical event and fleshing it out.
I’d love to see more of these, like Francine Rivers “Mark of the Lion” series. The story of Job lends itself to stage and perhaps screen adaptation. I’ll put this on my reading list.