Angie's Take: Wow! The emotion in the first few pages catapult you into the story. Incredible description and well-developed characters from the very first page. The topic immediately fascinated me because I've always wondered how anyone could share a spouse if they weren't raised in a community that saw it as normal. I can understand when that's all a person knows. But to enter it from the outside is a mystery. This book explores that question and the slide into acceptance of things a person doesn't fully believe regardless of religion.
Throughout history, human beings have used power and control to manipulate and get their own selfish desires fulfilled. The sadness is in those they hurt along the way. Concerns get brushed aside as nonsense. The targeted are made to feel small, silly, and inferior while the truth is twisted to induce guilt or pressure. Make a person appear untrustworthy, incompetent, and worthless so you appear wise, in control, and worthy. Feeling bigger, more important, and garnering admiration becomes a self-administered drug addiction. You need more and more. It's ironic that this drug of narcissism isn't only a male affliction. But once the addiction to entitlement and self-importance starts, it's one of the most insidious and difficult to overcome.
Often people couch a selfish desire behind a seemingly "godly" one. We see it in the overly sweet behavior that sits on the surface while steely determination maneuvers below. We see it in conversation that wields that odious "Christianese"--a conversation dotted with all the right Christian words to weave a net and capture the unsuspecting. Yet you can walk away from a conversation like that and know something just didn't add up right. It feels oily.
That's the hard part of discerning God's voice from man's. It's why some people are easily swayed and others are hardened against Christianity. Neither has studied the truth and so can be either tricked or angered because they don't know the genuine from the counterfeit. The only true weapon against manipulation of mind and spirit is the true word of God. Knowing it and being in relationship with God helps with recognizing counterfeits, even Christian counterfeits of any religious denomination or church. Really look at what's happening on the surface and below the surface of the character's lives in The Sister Wife. Diane Noble has deftly played out this age old addiction and even the trap of sliding into acceptance through tiny choices each day. I'm looking forward to the other books in this series because this author has gone much deeper into human character and spiritual issues than I've read in a long time yet she presents an entertaining read. Now that's talent!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
With more than a quarter million books in print, Diane feels incredibly blessed to be doing what she loves best—writing the stories of her heart.
For the last three years Diane has been honored to be lead author for the popular Guideposts series, Mystery and the Minister’s Wife (Through the Fire, Angels Undercover), and has recently returned to writing historical fiction. She is currently writing book two of her new historical series, The Brides of Gabriel. Book one is The Sister Wife.
Diane’s hometown is Big Creek, California, a tiny village nestled in the rugged Sierra Nevada back country. As a child, Diane’s older brother Dennis fueled her creative streak by entertaining her with his own gift of storytelling. Growing up without TV and iffy radio reception, Diane became an avid reader, inhaling more than one hundred novels—both YA and adult—in a single year by the time she reached seventh grade. Her passion for reading continues to this day. Now empty nesters, Diane and her husband live in the Southern California low desert, near a place known for the lush and beautiful gated communities of the rich and famous.
ABOUT THE BOOK
What if the man you loved told you God wanted him to take another wife? What if that woman was your best friend?
Set in the heart of the earliest days of a new nineteenth-century sect known as the Saints, The Sister Wife is a riveting account of two women forced into a practice they don't understand, bound by their devotion to Prophet Joseph Smith.
When Mary Rose marries Gabriel, neither of them could foresee how quickly the community would turn to the practice of plural marriage. Devastated when Gabe is faced with an order from the Prophet to marry her best friend, Bronwyn, Mary Rose tries to have the faith to carry through with the marriage.
But can she really be married to the same man as her very best friend? Can Mary Rose and Bronwyn face betraying both their husband and their God to do what they feel is right?
If you would like to read the Prologue and first chapter of The Sister Wife, go HERE.
Watch the book video!
5 comments:
What a great review!!! I loved the book as well and thought it was a honest look at polygamy without the raunch.
Well said Angela! I couldn't have said it better if I tried!
Thank you, Tina and Andi. I really enjoyed this book and felt she did some great research. I've actually been to Nauvou and Salt Lake and several of the places on the Mormon Trail with my family in tracing the history of our nation. It's amazing how the variations of our lives weave together the history of our entire nation.
I love the study of religions. I keep finding how people are people and so easily swayed with power and control. I think Lucifer has that problem and it's such an intoxicant that it's easy to fall into the trap.
Blessed you were here, ladies.
Angie
Wow, great review! Honest, well-thought out and I think you hit the nose on the head. It makes me very sad that Mormons have been lied to about their history. I hope to read this book soon.
Thanks, Julia. And now the video portion is more manageable since one of my blogging friends told me how to make it fit better. I hope you all do read this one. It's excellent just for the content alone.
Angie
Post a Comment