JustListen Reviewer Tour: Love Amid the Ashes by Mesu Andrews

Welcome to the JustListen Reviewer Tour for Love Amid the Ashes by Mesu Andrews hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Love Amid the Ashes

Series: Treasures of His Love #1

Author: Mesu Andrews
Release Date: November 19, 2019

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction

People often think of Job sitting on the ash heap, his life in shambles. But how did he get there? What was Job's life like before tragedy struck? What did he think as his world came crashing down around him? And what was life like after God restored his wealth, health, and family?

Through painstaking research and a writer's creative mind, Mesu Andrews weaves an emotional and stirring account of this well-known story told through the eyes of the women who loved him. Drawing together the account of Job with those of Esau's tribe and Jacob's daughter Dinah, Love Amid the Ashes breathes life, romance, and passion into the classic biblical story of suffering and steadfast faith.

My Review 🧡

I am pretty leery about historical fictions that take their core premise from the Bible, but when I do give a Biblical historical fiction a chance, it is normally by Mesu Andrews, thanks to her obvious devotion to bringing Biblical stories to life. I finally had the opportunity to listen to her first book Love Amid the Ashes on audiobook, which focuses on Job, a Biblical character that is very well known for having his life taken away from him, and his faith tested, but what brought him to that point? How did he endure such excruciating strife, and what was his life like afterwards?

In Love Amid the Ashes we get to see Job's life played out, but told from the point of view of Dinah, a woman known in the Bible as Jacob's only daughter, and the woman that was obsessively pursued and raped by Shechem (reference Genesis 34). I enjoyed learning more about Dinah, seeing her life played out in a realistic way, and the love between her and Job.

Being true to "fiction" in historical fiction, there were liberties taken as far as the story in comparison to what we know from the Bible, and I have to admit that they were numerous, and several I did not agree with, but I believe that is based on personal preference, and doesn't take away from the Biblical account. Having the author's note at the end to explain her reasonings for taking certain liberties did help tremendously.

What bothered me more than anything was the simplicity. I felt like the whole story was "skin deep," not digging deeper into the characters and their motivations, which was bothersome to me, as I hungered to connect more with them, especially Dinah. The story itself was intriguing, but where is the emotion?

As far as the audio narration, Lisa Larsen did an incredible job! Her soothing voice had me gripped to the story from the beginning, and helped me make it through some tough work days, allowing my mind to get lost in the time of Job while handling mundane tasks.

All in all I enjoyed this audio experience, and though there are some issues with the story itself for me personally, I would still recommend a listen. I do believe Mesu Andrews has only gotten better in her writing over the years but, even at the beginning, you can see that she has a gift for storytelling, and truly did bring Job's story to life.

My Rating: ★★★

BOOKS IN THIS SERIES

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mesu grew up with a variegated Christian heritage. With grandparents from the Pilgrim Holiness, Nazarene, and Wesleyan Churches, her dad was a Quaker and mom charismatic. As you might imagine, God was a central figure in most family discussions, but theology was a battlefield and Scripture the weapon. As a rebellious teenager, Mesu rejected God and His Word, but discovered Jesus as a life-transforming Savior through the changed life of an old friend.

The desire for God's Word exploded with her new commitment, but devotional time was scarce due to the demands of a young wife and mother. So Mesu scoured the only two theology books available--children's Bible stories and her Bible. The stories she read to her daughters at night pointed her to the Bible passages she studied all day. She became an avid student of God's Word, searching historical and cultural settings as well as ancient texts and original languages.

Mesu and her husband Roy have raised those two daughters and now enjoy a tribe of grandkids, who get to hear those same Bible stories. Mesu's love for God's Word has never waned. She now writes biblical novels, rich with spiritual insight learned through fascinating discoveries in deep historical research.

Her first novel, Love Amid the Ashes (Revell)--the story of Job and the women who loved him--won the 2012 ECPA Book of the Year in the Debut Author Category. Her subsequent novels have released with high praise, shedding light on some of the shadowy women of Scripture. Love's Sacred Song (Revell, 2012) tells the story of the beloved shepherdess in King Solomon's Song of Solomon. Love in a Broken Vessel (Revell, 2013) tells the story of Hosea and Gomer and is the final stand-alone novel in the Treasures of His Love Series. Her fourth novel, In the Shadow of Jezebel (Revell, 2014) tells the fascinating story of Queen Athaliah and the courageous Princess Jehosheba.

The Treasures of the Nile series (Waterbrook/Multnomah, 2015-16) included The Pharaoh's Daughter and Miriam and spanned Moses' life from birth to the Exodus. Her 2017 release, Isaiah's Daughter (Waterbrook/Multnomah), begins the Prophets and Kings series and explores the life and ministry of the prophet Isaiah and the tumultuous days of Judah under kings Ahaz and Hezekiah. But its focus is on the woman Hephzibah--a fascinating character in Jewish legends. OF FIRE AND LIONS, Book #2 in Prophets and Kings (WaterBrook/Multnomah), released in 2019 and tells the familiar childhood stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the technicolor detail of grown-up research and awareness of Babylon's splendor. 2020 holds #3 in the P&K series and the conclusion to Hephzibah's story, ISAIAH'S LEGACY, when Andrews introduces King Manasseh to her readers and describes the most wicked king of Judah's stunning prodigal story.

Mesu writes in their log cabin tucked away in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. Her best friend is an American Staffordshire Terrier named Zeke, who keeps her company on long writing days. Zeke also enjoys watching movies, long walks in the woods, and sitting by the fireplace on rainy days.

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*I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this audiobook which I received from the author/publisher through JustRead Tours. All views and opinions are completely honest, and my own.