A Question of Interpretation: Introducing Stories of Life 2018

By May-Kuan Lim @ACWriters

Storytelling is essentially an act of interpretation, especially when we tell true stories of something that happened to someone.

A CCTV camera records pictures, and a court transcript records words, but neither tells a story in the artistic sense. A story needs something more. It needs interpretation. It needs to answer the question: what joins the plot points? Or, more importantly, who? And why?

In Steering the Craft, Ursula Le Guin writes:

Plot is merely one way of telling a story, by connecting the happenings tightly, usually through causal chains. Plot is a marvellous device. But it’s not superior to story, and not even necessary to it.

In the opening pages of the Bible, we have the plot points of creation, temptation, and the fall. The serpent questions Eve – ‘Did God really say?’ – thus introducing doubt. With naivety, Eve recounts the story, affirming God’s commandment, but the serpent then reinterprets the story to suit his purpose:

You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

The serpent’s version gets some facts right – God doesn’t want you to not eat – but some facts wrong – you will not surely die. Furthermore, the serpent adds a duplicitous explanation as to why God forbade Adam and Eve to eat the fruit – God doesn’t want you to become like him. Eve buys into the serpent’s version of the story, and eats the fruit.

It is only human to long to know if our lives are by design or by chance. If it is by design, we wonder about the identity and character of the designer: good or bad? Kind or cruel? Still invested in us or distant and disinterested? The way we interpret our lived experience affects the decisions we make and ultimately the life we live.

In the Bible, we hear heroes of the faith interpret key moments in their life. When Abraham saw the ram caught in the thicket, he didn’t thank his lucky stars. Instead, he named the place, 'On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.'

While running away from his brother who wanted to kill him, Jacob had a dream. He did not attribute this to stress, but said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.'

When Joseph’s brothers came begging for grain, he did not see this as a chance for revenge, but as evidence of God’s greater purpose, 'God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.'

These stories form the bedrock of our Christian faith. 

They tell us God joined the plot points. For our faith to be living and vibrant and active, we need to know that God still joins the plot points today.

In the 2017 Stories of Life anthology, The Gecko Renewal, I read exactly that. In one of the stories in the anthology, Three Miracles, Hazel Barker records what her Christian mother had said in war-time Burma. 'Last night, while the bombs rained down, Rose sang, Father, we thank Thee for the Night. Her eyes were shut when she thrilled out the hymn. I placed my hand on her forehead. Her temperature had dropped. I knew the crisis had passed.

In Freedom Calls, Shakira Davies recalls an abusive relationship, ‘Then you raised your fists. I knew what was coming, and yet I could feel an unusual strength inside that I drew on. I steeled myself and stared at you, almost daring you to act. You stared at me, drew back your hand, read to punch … but what happened? What did you see? Because you dropped your hands and walked out. I knew at that moment that God had been the one protecting me all my life. I knew at that moment God was protecting his child.’

In A Moving Experience, Jo-Anne Berthelsen poses the question, ‘Could God play a key role in such a practical matter as moving house? What do you think?’

We are Christians most probably because we have seen God’s hand in some aspect of our lives. I am writing today to ask a question:

Would you consider writing up one such story and enter it in the Stories of Life writing competition?

Our website states, ‘We are not looking for devotionals or reflections on bible passages.’ 

That is to say, don’t submit something like this blog post. Rather, tell us your story, with you, the viewpoint character. (You can also write someone else’s story, with his or her permission.) If a person of faith is the viewpoint character, the story will be a story of faith, whether or not bible verses are quoted.

Apart from the AUD4,500 worth of cash prizes, Stories of Life is also a chance to get your story published because all short listed entries will be published in an anthology at the end of the year. Some stories will also be broadcast on Life FM radio in Adelaide and may also be printed in the Eternity Matters column of various newspapers.

To date, over sixty stories of faith and testimony have been published. 2017 runner up, Lisa Birch, noted, ‘One interesting thing about being published in Stories of Life has meant that people in my life who don’t usually read have been really happy to read The Gecko Renewal – and not just my story either. The incidental collaboration with people from all walks of life is refreshing – there really is something for everyone in this anthology.’

At Stories of Life, we want to help Christians tell their stories well. We have numerous writing resources on our website and we are holding a free editing class tomorrow, Thursday, 21 June, at Tabor Adelaide. The first part of the workshop, from 7pm to 7:30pm Adelaide time, will be live streamed on Facebook. Those wishing to attend in person and participate in small group work, please register here.

The closing date for submissions is 31 July 2018. Winners will be announced at the official launch of the Stories of Life anthology in late October or early November.

About May-Kuan Lim

From 2007 to 2015, May-Kuan Lim wrote a monthly parenting column for The Borneo Post. She would interview experts for the column to answer her own parenting dilemmas. Interviewing people and writing became her way of trying to understand the world. In 2015, she won an Arts SA Emerging Mentorship grant for a narrative non-fiction work on asylum seekers. She is a member of Writers SA and Oral History Australia. May-Kuan blogs at maykuanlim.com.

February New Releases

This Side of Heaven by Hazel Barker (Amour Books, 23 February, 2018)

The Sides of Heaven is the sequel of Heaven Tempers the Wind. Story of a War Child, which was shortlisted in the Australia and New Zealand-wide CALEB Competition of 2017.

Hazel’s memoir is a story of redemption, and is set in Burma during a turbulent period of history. The Sides of Heaven tells us of a family’s endurance, a mother’s faith and a young girl’s traumatic journey through her teenage years.

The protagonist’s goal is freedom, which she willingly relinquishes to dedicate her life to God. Has she made the right choice?

Book Depository

Warrior Bride: Building Women of Strength (Booklocker, November 2017)

Warrior Bride deals with issues women face today from a biblical perspective exhorting women to come up higher in the things of God. Exploring inspiring motivational stories of women from the past in the Word and incorporating testimonies, anecdotes, illustrations and prophecies from NOW women.

Website

ACRBA Tour Chocolate Soldier by Hazel Barker

6 - 10 March 2017

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is Introducing 

Chocolate Soldier

(By the Rhiza Press, 1 October 2016)

By Hazel Barker

About the Book:

London. 1940.

When World War II breaks out and men over eighteen are conscripted, Clarence Dover, a conscientious objector, refuses to go rather than compromise his principles.  Instead he joins the Friend's Ambulance Unit.  From the London Blitz to the far reaches of Asia the war tests Clarence in the crucible of suffering.  In the end, will he be able to hold his head up as proudly as the rest and say, to save lives I risked my own?

One man will stand as God's soldier, not the war's soldier.

About the Author:

Hazel Barker lives in Brisbane with her husband Colin. She taught in Perth, Canberra and Brisbane for over a quarter of a century and now devotes her time to reading, writing and bushwalking. From her early years, her passion for books drew her to authors like Walter Scott and Charles Dickens. Her love for historical novels sprang from Scott, and the love of literary novels, from Dickens. Many of her short stories and book reviews have been published in magazines and anthologies.

Hazel’s debut novel Chocolate Soldier, and Book One of her memoirs Heaven Tempers the Wind, will be released in 2016. Both books are set during World War Two – the former in England and the Far East; the latter in Burma.

For more information, visit her blog on:

http://hazelmbarker.wordpress.com/

Book Review - Triumph: The Extraordinary Story of Louis Zamperini by Janet & Geoff Benge

Authors’ Blurb: 

‘Triumph’ is the gripping true story of Olympian and World War II hero Louis Zamperini who, after a plane crash, endured forty-seven treacherous days on the Pacific Ocean only to be captured by the Japanese Navy. As a prisoner of war for over two years, Louis suffered vicious atrocities at the hands of a brutal guard, yet was able to maintain his unrelenting, steadfast spirit. Through a Billy Graham crusade after the war, Zamperini found the power to overcome the horrific evils of war and forgive through the power of his relationship with Jesus Christ. Louie’s unforgettable story is a testimony of a person’s ability to triumph over any evil, inspiring every reader to hope and live life to the full.

Review by Hazel Barker: 

Triumph is the re-working of two best-sellers – Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken and Louis Zamperini’s Devil at My Heels, but the authors’ main emphasis is on the protagonist’s conversion. The themes are suffering and endurance; the message, hope and forgiveness.
The first four chapters of the book dwell on Louie the petty thief from the age of 7 – 14. With the help of his brother Pete, he changes from a delinquent to an athlete in the next four chapters. In chapter 9, war breaks out. He is drafted into the air force as a bombardier, and starts flying missions over the Pacific.

His plane crashes when searching for lost airmen over the ocean and his trauma commences. Zamperini’s sufferings as a Japanese prisoner of war are not unusual. What is extraordinary is that he is singled out for torture by his sadistic jailor, ‘the Bird.’ His sufferings are the sum of all the inhumane methods heaped upon Japanese prisoners of war. Apart from the daily beatings, he was subjected to biological experiments, made to perform degrading acts like walking through an overflowing latrine and then made to lick the bottom of his boots clean. Another psychological torture was showing him letters from home, then burning them before he could read them.

The last four chapters of the book are about the aftermath of the war and his tortures. Zamperini’s constant nightmares lead him to the conclusion that his only way of ending them is by killing ‘the Bird.’

Triumph is a great story written in a narrative style with clarity and conciseness. The scene of the attack by Zeros on the B-24 bomber Super Man is vivid and exciting. By the end of the fray, the plane was too badly damaged to repair. It would never fly again.

The book should be stocked in all school libraries. Fast-paced and easy to read with a young Olympic hero, who never gives up, it will appeal to young adults. Triumph especially interested me because many of my friends have relatives who had been imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese. The book left me dissatisfied in the end, however, as I needed to know whether ‘the Bird’ lived to face justice. Was he caught and tried for his offences against Allied prisoners of war? It was not until I saw the movie, Unbroken that my question was answered.

Review by Hazel Barker. 

My memoir, See No Evil: story of a war child, is under consideration by a publisher, and I am now working on its sequel, Hear No Evil: Speak No Evil.

I have also written two, as yet unpublished, historical novels—The Chocolate Soldier: story of a conchie and The Soprano. Both manuscripts have been edited by a Christian editor recommended by Mary Hawkins. Thank you, Mary. 

The former is under consideration by a publisher and the latter is in the polishing stages. They both convey the Christian message of faith and perseverance. I can only hope and pray for their publication. 

You can find me online at http://hazelmbarker.wordpress.com.

Review: Nothing Can Make Them Stumble by Herb Meinel

Book Description

‘Nothing Can Make Them Stumble’ is a remarkable story of intrigue, survival and faith. It has its roots in the Black Forest in Germany, moves to the Middle East and continues in the Barossa Valley in Australia. In a time of social, economic and spiritual turmoil, a small group of people left their homeland of Germany to pioneer a new Christian community in Palestine. They did not stumble when faced with the hardship of the pioneering years, the set back of two world wars and their expulsion from Palestine. In the Barossa Valley they fashioned a new life in peace, security and economic stability.

Review by Hazel Barker

The title Nothing Can Make Them Stumble is a quote from Ps 119:165, and depicts the unshakable trust in God by the author’s grandparents. The family tree drawn up at the beginning clarifies the relationship between characters. The book is not merely a family history; it also contains snippets of the modern history of Palestine and the Barossa Valley.

The rift between the Carmelite Monastery and the colony’s Lutheran Mission Centre on Mt Carmel stimulated my interest. The matter was settled when the German Chancellor, Count Bismark and the Pope in Rome intervened.

Another interesting fact was the White Paper of 1939, limiting Jewish migration to 15,000 per year. It made me want to visit the museum near Haifa to learn more of the Jewish history of the time. I’d been unaware that during World War Two of German Nationals in Palestine were exchanged for Jews in German concentration camps.

The Balflour Declaration of 1917 with its subsequent revision in 1922 was also of great interest to me, and the first-hand account of the American advance into Germany and the family’s faith in Divine Providence stirred me to the core.

The history of German settlement in the Barossa Valley drew me further into the story, because I met my husband, Colin there, while on a tour of the vineyards. God’s ways are indeed wonderful.
Nothing Can Make Them Stumble has been thoroughly researched and edited. The book is well-documented with footnotes and photos. The writing is easy to follow and, at times, similes such as ‘gardens were like outstretched arms bidding a warm embrace to all who came to visit them’ add colour to the writing.

I encourage all those who wish to broaden their outlook to read the story of the Stoll/Meinel family and learn about the history of places they lived in during the last one and a half centuries.

About Hazel Barker

Hazel Barker was born in Mandalay, Burma and grew up in Rangoon. She came to Perth, WA, during the days of the White Australia Policy, and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Diploma of Education and a Diploma in Theology.

She gained the Redlitzer prize for her short story, Hunger, which was published in the Redlitzer anthology. Two of her short stories were also published in the 2013 in the Carindale Writers’ Seasons anthology, and, early in 2014, she won the Omega Narrative Hook Competition. Hazel has taught English and History at High Schools in Perth, Canberra and Brisbane. She now lives in Brisbane with her husband, where they grow vegetables, roses and orchids, and enjoy reading, writing, bushwalking and opera.

Book Review: Suzannah's Gold by Carol Preston

By Hazel Barker

Book Description

Suzannah Casey was just twelve years old when she was transported to the Australian colony from Ireland. Though devastated by her circumstances, she was grateful to be given an opportunity to start a new life on the Goulburn Plains with ex-convict, George Oakes. However, Suzannah could never have imagined the trauma and loss that lay ahead of her. She must find the faith and courage to overcome abuse, abandonment, religious bigotry and her own yearnings in order to discover what is more precious than gold.

Review by Hazel Barker

Suzannah's Gold is a smorgasbord of women’s fiction, family saga and historical fiction. The author uses excellent dialogue and vivid characterization. She delves into the main characters’ minds and we get a sense of their deep loyalties or hostilities and hatred.

Mary Anne springs to life with her Irish accent, her flirtatious behaviour, her bigotry and hypocritical ways. Adversity brings out the best in her and the reader sees remarkable character growth.

The protagonist, Suzannah, on the other hand, follows her conscience regardless of the consequences on her own happiness. She is intrinsically good: long-suffering, kind and forgiving, and faces no spiritual struggles. I found her too good to be true even though she was based on the author’s great-great-grandmother.

The book has been well-researched and its 309 pages are crammed with descriptions of drought, fires and floods. The description of the fire sets the scene realistically. It is vivid and quickens the pace. Although faithfully mirroring the early history of Australia, the frequency of births, sicknesses and deaths is repetitious. The number of characters causes confusion.

There are two rape scenes in the story—the first from the point of view of a child-witness. The second rape scene is well-written and depicted in all its horror without being offensive to the reader. Unfortunately, errors in the grammatical use of the word ‘lay’ interrupt the story and diminish the pleasure of reading. Readers should, however, add to their knowledge of Australian history and better understand the sufferings and strength the pioneers experienced.

Suzannah’s Gold with its theme of Christian charity, faith and forgiveness delivers a message with a strong ending:

‘Come to Me you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’

Book Review: View from the Faraway Pagoda by Robert and Linda Banks

Review by Hazel Barker

Book Description

View from the Faraway Pagoda: A Pioneer Australian Missionary in China from the Boxer Rebellion to the Communist Insurgency by Robert and Linda Banks (published by Acorn Press, 2013) describes the life and service of an inspiring woman, Sophie Newton, the grand-aunt of Robert Banks, whose desire to serve God led her to the forefront of missionary work in south-east China from 1897 to 1931. She lived through the tumultuous events of the Boxer Rebellion and Nationalist Revolution, as well as warlord conflicts and early communist uprisings.

Sophie spent her life empowering women through establishing schools and training Christian workers, as well as opposing the opium trade and challenging the practices of foot binding and infanticide.

Drawing on a wide range of family journals, personal letters, official records and newspaper reports, this story describes how the conviction, sacrifice and compassion of one single-minded woman can make a real and lasting difference to a community.

Robert and Linda Banks have worked in churches, universities and other educational institutions. Robert has taught in history departments and theological colleges and written several award-winning books. Linda has been a teacher, pastor and chaplain. Together they have produced a range of creative Christian resources.

Review by Hazel Barker

The story opens with an excerpt from The Sydney Morning Herald, August 1895. Due to the recently installed cable system, it reaches the ears of Australians, with life-changing consequences for the protagonist, Sophie Sackville Newton. She longs to serve the Master, but her father’s death delays her departure as family responsibilities require her to wait.

Early the following year, the Church Missionary Association accepts her, and, after undergoing six months of training, she joins a little band of missionary sisters and embarks for China.

Besides spreading God’s message to the Chinese, Sophie and her co-workers endeavour to stop such practices as foot-bind, opium addiction and the disposal of unwanted babies. She writes that Chinese fathers squeeze the little ones through openings in miniature round towers specially built for the purpose.
Sophie suffers from migraines despite prayers to remove her affliction. She lives in fear of her life during the Boxer Rebellion, when ruffians attack mission stations. The inmates are hacked to pieces, set alight or skinned alive.

Even during her leave back in Australia, she does not rest, but spends her furlough speaking about China and raising money for the CMA.

Sophie Newton dedicated 34 years to the cause of Christ in China.

The pagoda which inspires the title of the story, no longer exists. Its ruin lies half-way between the village where Sophie first resided and the provincial town that later became her home in China.

Written in an academic style, the book is well-documented and meticulously researched with maps, photos and a bibliography. It makes an excellent record of a missionary’s life. In my opinion, most readers prefer a light refreshing read rather than a narrative style. Written as a creative non-fiction, View from a Faraway Pagoda would appeal to young adults as well, and could be used in schools to set a shining example to the youth of today.

Born in Burma, Hazel migrated to Perth over forty years ago, and completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Western Australia. She obtained her Diploma in Education at the University of New England and taught at high schools for several years. Hazel completed her Diploma in Applied Theology in 1992.

Her story Hunger, an excerpt from her memoir See No Evil: story of a war child, was short-listed for the 2013 Redlitzer Writing Competition and published in the 2013 Redlitzer Anthology and two of her short stories, The Seasons of Life and A Year in India, appeared in the Carindale Writers’ Group Seasons’ Anthology, 2013.

Hazel now devotes her time to writing, reading, gardening, bushwalking, and attending classical opera. You can find more about Hazel at her website. 

Book Review: After Darkness by Christine Piper

By Hazel Barker

It is early 1942 and Australia is in the midst of war.

While working at a Japanese hospital in the pearling port of Broome, Dr Ibaraki is arrested as an enemy alien and sent to Loveday internment camp in a remote corner of South Australia. There, he learns to live among a group of men divided by culture and allegiance.

As tensions at the isolated camp escalate, the doctor's long-held beliefs are thrown into question and he is forced to confront his dark past: the promise he made in Japan and its devastating consequences.

Review by Hazel Barker

After Darkness by Christine Piper is a story of conflicting loyalties and an emotion-packed novel of grief and guilt, where secrets hover like shadows over the book.

The protagonist’s actions display his inner sensibilities. This was first brought to my attention on page 45 when Dr Ibaraki hears of Japan’s bombing of Broome, while in an internment camp. He worries over his Australian friends back there. Surely they would have evacuated. The uncertainty made me feel sick, he thinks, glad for the pocket of darkness that hid his tears.

When Ibaraki worked in a laboratory in Japan, he was haunted by images of blistered skin and a child’s black fingers – the results of Japanese experiments on the Manchurians.

The author’s terse prose is honest and compelling. Chevalier describes the methods used by the Japanese in their tests on humans, and specimens are brought the Japan in jars. The description of the severed head of a human experimented upon is particularly gruesome but it depicts the evil of biological warfare.

The protagonist says, ‘I felt stained by my association with the laboratory.’ He longs to explain his actions and reveal his work to his wife but refuses to break his pledge of secrecy and continues his loyalty to his Emperor, with dire consequences.

Poignant scenes are scattered throughout the book. The theme of empathy for human sufferings and the desire to help those in need is prevalent in the book, which has been thoroughly researched.

I particularly enjoyed After Darkness because as a young child during the Japanese occupation of Burma I also suffered from their experiments on the population. I recommend this book as an eye-opener on the horrors of war – especialy germ warfare.

Hazel Barker was born in Mandalay, Burma and grew up in Rangoon. She came to Perth, WA, during the days of the White Australia Policy, and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Diploma of Education and a Diploma in Theology.

She gained the Redlitzer prize for her short story, Hunger, which was published in the Redlitzer anthology. Two of her short stories were also published in the 2013 in the Carindale Writers’ Seasons anthology, and, early in 2014, she won the Omega Narrative Hook Competition. Hazel has taught English and History at High Schools in Perth, Canberra and Brisbane. She now lives in Brisbane with her husband, where they grow vegetables, roses and orchids, and enjoy reading, writing, bushwalking and opera.

Book Review: The Last Runaway by Tracey Chevalier

Author’s Blurb

The stunning new novel from the bestselling author of Girl With a Pearl Earring. Honor Bright is a sheltered Quaker who has rarely ventured out of 1850s Dorset when she impulsively emigrates to America. Opposed to the slavery that defines and divides the country, she finds her principles tested to the limit when a runaway slave appears at the farm of her new family. In this tough, unsentimental place, where whisky bottles sit alongside quilts, Honor befriends two spirited women who will teach her how to turn ideas into actions.

Review by Hazel Barker

The Last Runaway is a fast-paced enjoyable historical novel, and a perfect mix of page-turning plot and characters. The book imparts a succinct and informed account of the underground railway and of the lifestyle of Quakers during the 1850s. It is an emotion-packed novel of homesickness, grief and guilt, written in a taut, lucid style.

The author delves into the main characters’ minds and gives a sense of the intrigue, deep loyalties and hatred of each character. Honor Bright jeopardizes her marriage for the sake of her convictions, a milliner forgets herself to help others, and an ex-slave risks her own freedom to rescue her children from slavery. Jack Haymaker is long-suffering and patient; his patience and forgiveness are much to be admired. Even the antagonist Donovan has some redeeming points.

The book depicts the struggle between good and evil and reveals the weaknesses and strength of human nature. The Last Runaway could be listed among Christian books but for the fact that the author writes a ‘bedroom scene’, where the protagonist loses her virginity in the cornfields of Ohio. I considered the scene indelicate though not obscene. It is unsuitable for young adults.

About Hazel Barker

Born in Burma, Hazel Barker migrated to Perth over thirty years ago, and completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Western Australia. She moved to Canberra in 1971, and married Colin. She holds degrees in education and nutrition, a diploma in theology, and has had excerpts from her books published in two anthologies. You can find her at her website, http://hazelmbarker.wordpress.com/.

Book Review: Past Imperfect by Winfreda Donald

Review by Hazel Barker

Author’s Overview

Freya is the middle child and odd-one-out in the close but dislocated Dunbar family in Australia. When Freya meets soul mate Alexander Marcou at High School in 1976 her thwarted efforts to forge an identity amid secrets and gaps in the family history lose their urgency. Fate intervenes and the pair are suddenly oceans apart - Freya helping Gramma in Scotland. They make the best of a lengthening separation by studying to prepare for their travel adventures around nursing, teaching and flying. 

But destiny hasn't finished with them. Malevolent forces swirl under their radar to part them permanently. Bewildered and betrayed, both grieve deeply in disbelief. Eventually Alexander marries. Scarred by her experience with Alexander, Freya shies clear of commitments. Superficially serene, the questions simmer and identity issues trouble her again. Immersion in work is a forlorn but effective way to suppress dreams of a lost future. 

In the 1990s while undertaking nursing research, Freya meets Reg Prentiss an Australian IT expert. After their professional friendship transforms to a whirlwind courtship, they marry and head for a new life DownUnder. Determined to set the past aside, Freya commits to this marriage and the children she and Reg plan to have.

Review

Past Imperfect is the first book in the Long Shadows Series. It is a brilliantly conceived plot, which lets the action unfold, and culminates in an unexpected climax.

The Prologue seems unnecessary and fails to add meaning to the story until page 63, when it is revealed that what Freya had witnessed as a child had been a vision. The author intersperses action with dialogue, and every now and then waxes into a lyrical style.

Although written with clarity, the debut novel tends to have too much detail at times, and pace slows down a bit. The author handles the various points of view, but lapses into head-hopping on pages 95 and 96. The characters’ motivations and feelings are clearly revealed, making them believable but the love scenes are stilted and minor errors in editing detract from the reader’s attention.

The warm and wonderful letters between the two parted lovers are a delight to read. Like Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd, romance readers will keep biting their nails, wondering when the twain will meet.

I recommend Past Imperfect to those anxious to follow the characters and witness the mystery and suspense unfold with each successive book. 

Book Review: Waking Up in Heaven by Crystal McVea

By Hazel Barker

Publisher’s Summary

The remarkable story of a woman, plagued with guilt and skepticism, dramatically changed by the nine minutes she spent in heaven.

"God let me see me through His eyes. And in that instant I knew that God had always loved me, through all of those dark and difficult years when I doubted His existence, through every crisis and every heartbreak that made me turn away from Him more. I knew, in that instant, that His love was endless and boundless, and that if He loved me so much, how could I not love myself?"

For most of her life, Crystal McVea was a skeptic whose history of abuse and bad choices made her feel beyond the reach of God--who questioned if God was even real. She had all but given up hope. Then came December 10, 2009--and the moment that changed everything.

For nine minutes that night, Crystal went into full respiratory arrest. She was unconscious and unable to breathe on her own, unaware of the crisis happening around her as the hospital staff rushed to save her life. Crystal doesn't remember the trauma or losing consciousness; she just remembers waking up in heaven, next to God.

Waking Up in Heaven invites readers to witness the relentless pursuit of God in a life that was broken and seemingly beyond hope, an awe-inspiring account of love, forgiveness, and redemption, and the healing power of God's presence.

Waking Up in Heaven is the story of Crystal McVea, the day she died for nine minutes, went to heaven, and stood before God. In this remarkable autobiography, Crystal shares her experience of walking with God towards the gates of heaven - a place so full of light and love that she did not want to leave. But Crystal was miraculously revived and came back to consciousness in a hospital room surrounded by doctors, nurses and her own mother. Previously a sceptic with a dark, troubled past, Crystal's encounter with God made her a believer. In Waking Up in Heaven, Crystal toggles back and forth between her experience in heaven and her life story, both the good and the bad, in the hope of spreading God's message of love and redemption.

Review by Hazel Barker

Waking Up in Heaven is a redemptive story depicting God’s love and patience. Crystal McVea writes about God chasing her in one of her bleakest moments – something He does time and time again. She also states, ‘It was God taking the very things the enemy used to try and destroy me – anger, bitterness, self-hatred – and instead saving me and showing me He is real.’

The story is a faith-enriching one and relates her near-death experience but barely touches on what the title leads us to expect – Heaven itself although the author does feel God’s presence. The book is disappointing for those drawn to it in the hope of sharing her experience of Heaven.

I read the book because my brother also had a near-death experience and saw lights. He heard heavenly music and felt peaceful. Unfortunately, the vision didn’t bring him closer to God. Perhaps someday…

The author asserts that the medical profession attribute such phenomenon to lack of oxygen and that when the heart stops beating, the brain loses oxygen and can trigger memories of the past, and bright lights appear. Whatever cynics may say, if such an experience leads to conversion, then surely it’s due to God’s mercy.

The story tends to bore the reader because of the continual switching back and forth in time and the constant repetitions. Despite its drawbacks, Waking Up in Heaven has many interesting sections on child molestation and sexual abuse. Reading the book may warn us of dangers facing younger members of our family.

You can find out more about Hazel Barker at her website. 

Book Review: Captive in Iran by Maryam Rostampour & Marziyeh Amirizadeh

Review by Hazel Barker

Publisher’s Summary

Embark on a chilling journey inside one of the world's darkest and most dangerous places: Evin, the notorious Tehran prison. Here, prisoners are routinely tortured, abused, and violated. Executions are frequent and sudden. But for two women imprisoned for their Christian faith—Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh—this hell on earth was a place of unlikely grace as they reflected God's love and compassion to their fellow prisoners and guards. Against all odds, Evin would become the only church many of them had ever known.

In Captive in Iran, Maryam and Marziyeh recount their 259 days in Evin. It's an amazing story of unyielding faith-when denying God would have meant freedom. Of incredible support from strangers around the world who fought for the women's release. And of bringing God's light into one of the world's darkest places-giving hope to those who had lost everything, and showing love to those in despair.

My Review

The book takes readers on a journey into an Iranian prison, giving a haunting description of the horrors and humiliations experienced by women of all ages. Captive in Iran focuses on the personal sufferings of each inmate and shows how the word of God touches them.

What struck me was the writers’ steadfast refusal to hate their persecutors, and the love and kindness they showed to their fellow sufferers. Their rejection of persuasions to compromise their Christian beliefs and their patient proselyting among the prisoners and even their captors is much to be commended.

The idea that many of the inmates were ready and willing to convert to Christianity but held back for fear of torture and death was an eye-opener.

Captive in Iran is a candid account of life in a country where one is not encouraged to speak to God heart-to-heart in one’s own language, where women are beaten and abused by their husbands, and where blood is spilled in the name of God if one converts to Christianity or if one induces another to convert.

The book is a factual account of events and is certainly not an entertaining one. Towards the end, I even found the number of characters and their foreign-sounding names rather confusing.

I recommend Captive in Iran to all those who desire to know something about the treatment of Christians in countries like Iran, and anyone who is enthused with missionary fervour for the conversion of souls to Christ.

What are your thoughts of the book based on this review? Is it likely to appeal to you?

Review by Hazel Barker. My memoir, See No Evil: story of a warchild is under consideration by a publisher, and I am now working on its sequel, Hear No Evil: Speak No Evil.

I have also written two, as yet unpublished, historical novels—The Chocolate Soldier: story of a conchie and The Soprano. Both manuscripts have been edited by a Christian editor recommended by Mary Hawkins. Thank you, Mary. The former is under consideration by a publisher and the latter is in the polishing stages. They both convey the Christian message of faith and perseverance. I can only hope and pray for their publication.