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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

What Happens When Injustice Results in Something Beautiful?

by Chautona Havig · Leave a Comment

Rose Among Thornes has shot to the top of my 2022 favorites and while it's early in the year, I doubt anything could possibly unseat it. via @chautonahavig

I fell in love with Terrie Todd’s writing in 2020 when I found Bleak Landing somewhere and listened to every word, unable to tear myself away.  I quickly went from that book to the next, and to the next.  So when Rose Among Thornes was announced, I knew I’d be reading it the moment came out.

I was wrong.  For reasons that make NO sense to me, I didn’t touch it until the other day.  I made it 15% in, had to take a break because of home stuff, and tonight while I was supposed to be doing taxes, I lost myself in the story again.

I want to say Bleak Landing is still my favorite, but I don’t know.  If it is, then it is… but this one is such a close second that you almost can’t tell the difference.  And if Rose Among Thornes is my favorite, then Bleak Landing is an incredibly close second, so… yeah.  Why?

Rose Among Thornes

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

What Happens When Injustice Results in Something Beautiful?

Terrie Todd has done it again. A horrible, haunting, yet beautiful tale full of dichotomies. The rich faith shown and the crises of faith experienced practically glow with authenticity.

I love how each “perfect” character… isn’t as well. Rose resists, accepts, and resists again. At times, she seems too good to be true, and at other times, you can’t help but go, “I get you. I totally get you.” Her faith journey is such a rich, wonderful process to live with her. And if all that weren’t enough, her letters fill your heart with hope and joy.

Though Russell endures a crisis of faith, it didn’t occur when expected. Every time I thought he’d collapse, something bolstered it up until he finally quit relying on THE bolster. Watching his journey back to the Lord–so convicting.

War is horrible and ugly, and this book doesn’t hide any of that.

However, Todd is brilliant in showing it without going too far.

Recommended for lovers of WWII fiction, epistolary novels (this one is only semi-epistolary, but there are elements), and fiction full of faith that strengthens your own. Not recommended for readers who like to pretend that “our side” of the war was blameless.

Rose Among ThornesRose Among Thornes by Terrie Todd

Forgiveness is the deadliest force on earth.

War might be raging overseas, but Rose Onishi is on track to fulfill her lifelong goal of becoming a concert pianist. When forced by her government to leave her beloved home in Vancouver and move to the Canadian prairie to work on the Thornes’ sugar beet farm, her dream fades to match the black dirt staining her callused hands. Though the Thorne family is kind, life is unbearably lonely. In hopes that it might win her the chance to play their piano, Rose agrees to write letters to their soldier son.

When Rusty Thorne joins the Canadian Army, he never imagines becoming a Japanese prisoner of war. Inside the camp, the faith his parents instilled is tested like never before. Though he begs God to help him not hate his brutal captors, Rusty can no longer even hear the Japanese language without revulsion. Only his rare letters from home sustain him—especially the brilliant notes from his mother’s charming helper, which the girl signs simply as “Rose.”

Will Rusty survive the war only to encounter the Japanese on his own doorstep? Can Rose overcome betrayal and open her heart? Or will the truth destroy the fragile bond their letters created?

You can find out more about Terrie Todd at her WEBSITE.

I recommend her other books… Bleak Landing was my favorite.

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 262: Chatting about The Legacy of Longdale Manor with Carrie Turansky
byChautona Havig

Chatting with Carrie Turansky is always fun, but guys, this gal is such a trouper!  But with her newest novel (Split-Time!!!), The Legacy of Longdale Manor coming out, and with it taking place in the Lake District (we were probably there at the same time!!!), I am crazy excited about this book. Listen in to see what a shepherd’s crook has to do with art and two women, a century apart, who both are dealing with daddy issues that only a Heavenly Father can truly help.

 

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

What Heart Issues Connect These Two Troubled Women Together?

Carrie Turansky and I were both in the Lake District in May (we probably overlapped a few days even! AAAK!), and I love the area she wrote about. I actually looked up Langdale Chase (the house that inspired Carrie’s book) as a potential for a book I’m writing in the area. I had decided to move it closer to Ambleside. Isn’t it amazing how two authors can take the same inspiration and write two totally different books?  I love that. 

The faith elements she’s put into The Legacy of Longdale Manor just touch my heart so deeply. Any time you are dealing with a shepherd or fatherhood, I’m all in, and I can’t wait to see what she’s done with it. 

The Legacy of Longdale Manor by Carrie Turransky

Two women–a century apart–embark on a journey to healing, faith, forgiveness, and romance.

In 2012, art historian Gwen Morris travels to England’s Lake District to appraise the paintings and antiques of an old family friend, hoping to prove herself to her prestigious grandfather. While at Longdale Manor, she meets David Bradford–the owner’s handsome grandson–who is desperate to save the crumbling estate by turning it into a luxury hotel. When Gwen stumbles upon a one-hundred-year-old journal and an intricately carved shepherd’s staff similar to one in a photo of her parents, she’s left searching for answers.

In 1912, after her father’s death, Charlotte Harper uncovers a painful family secret she can only confess to her journal. She and her family travel to the Lake District to stay on a sheep farm, hoping eventually to find a home with Charlotte’s grandfather at Longdale Manor, but old wounds and bitter regrets make it a difficult challenge. As Charlotte grows closer to shepherd Ian Storey and rebuilds her shattered faith, she must decide whether she will ever trust in love again.

Learn more about Carrie Turansky and all the goodies for preordering The Legacy of Longdale Manor on her WEBSITE.

Also follow her on BookBub and GoodReads

BakerBookHouse.com has The Legacy of Longdale Manor on sale for 40% off with FREE shipping.  And don’t forget to go get your goodies, too!

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Episode 262: Chatting about The Legacy of Longdale Manor with Carrie Turansky
Episode 262: Chatting about The Legacy of Longdale Manor with Carrie Turansky
September 19, 2023
Chautona Havig
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Episode 257: A Chat with Fantasy Author, N. Ford
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Episode 256: A Chat about Summer in the Spotlight w/ Liz Johnson
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Episode 253: A Chat about Hunting the Witness by Kate Angelo
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