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Shadowed in Silk Christine Lindsay 9780976544494 Books

Download As PDF : Shadowed in Silk Christine Lindsay 9780976544494 Books

Shadowed in Silk Christine Lindsay 9780976544494 Books

I was thrilled to get a review copy of Shadowed in Silk, Christine Lindsay's compelling new epic novel. It reminded me of a few big screen movies like Australia, Jodie Foster in The King and I and Out of Africa. Christine has written a powerful and engaging novel that transported me to the streets of India; and mingling in it's diverse rich culture. I felt as if I had stepped off the ship with Abby and Geoff Richards and onto the dock, of Hotic India. Christine's words paint vivid pictures that allow readers to experience the sites, sounds, scents and vibrant colors of India.

I liked how this author had the reader see Gandhi and experience the peaceful demonstrations he tried to put on. Christine captures this countries rich history, culture and customs, interwoven with a sweet love story. It's a passionate story of a woman who loves Jesus and is committed to being His hands and feet to the children in the orphanage and the children of India at a high personal cost.

I liked the intensity and richness of her characters and their relationships with each other and their struggle with God, in doing the right thing. Abby is a woman who is determined to make her marriage work, even though it's been a few years since she heard from her husband, Nick. She's thankful that Geoff Richards stepped up and has said he'd make sure she and her son would get home safely, since her husband, Nick was no where to be found.

Geoff Richards is a wounded solider, who loves the Lord with all his heart, and feels the need to look after Abby and her young son. He can't imagine a soldier that would treat his wife like this. Geoff is a protector in the story. Protector of Abby and her son and the men he served in the military. He stayed a respective distance from Abby. He realized that Abby hadn't a clue about this culture. She was in more danger than she knows. Things changed since she last lived in India.

Not only does this author capture the essence of the country with it's intense humidity, spicy scents, and sounds which all add to the dimension of the novel, but she also penned a page-turning suspenseful drama, with engaging characters that kept me up late at night wondering what would happen next. I had to know about these characters, the spies, gun smuggling, pride and prejudice within the culture, it all fascinated me. It gave me a peek into the horrific slice of history she wrote about with the heart and soul of the people and of that time.

Days after reading this story, the characters and their flight will stay with you. I loved how she naturally wove the spiritual thread into the story-line. It was real, and believable. I highly recommend this beautifully written novel, against the backdrop of India in 1900's. This novel reads as if a well-seasoned author with many books under her belt wrote it, not as the debut novel it is for Christine. It's a brilliantly written and a emotionally compelling read! Can't wait to read what she writes next.

The Book Club Network [...]


Tags : Shadowed in Silk [Christine Lindsay] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Winner of the American Christian Fiction Writers' Genesis Award for Historical. Winner of The Grace Award for Adventure Action Epic,Christine Lindsay,Shadowed in Silk,WhiteFire Publishing,0976544490,Literature & Fiction,Christian - Historical,FICTION Christian Historical,Fiction - General,Religious & spiritual fiction

Shadowed in Silk Christine Lindsay 9780976544494 Books Reviews

I read the description of this novel and was slightly put off, I'd never been particularly interested in British India nor its early twentieth century imperialism. But I had read the sample on and was very impressed with the depth of the authors historical detail and her writing style. Both were exceptional and it was hard to resist buying the novel. Even at a higher price it is worth it. The main characters, Abby, Geoff, Miriam, Eshana and a host of other secondary characters were well fleshed out. Each had depth, consistency and real human flaws. Even many secondary characters came to life, not just cardboard people stuck in a scene as with other authors.

The history too came to life under the author's hand. While she was adept at weaving the facts and figures of real British India of 1918-1919, I found her intriguing detail pulling me to the history texts time and again, wondering about Reginald Dyer, for example, and the political turmoil of the times. The author stuck to her story line and introduced detail in fine fashion by only giving the reader the tidbits that directly related to the characters and their lives. But it whetted my appetite for more information. I say this to applaud her writing.

The only very minor thing I could note as a distraction was the use of Indian terms hard to understand. Silly me, this reader forgot that many authors put a glossary up front. I used Google however. And the context was easy to follow in most cases. My fault really but occasionally it seemed distracting. On the other hand, many terms were unavoidable due to the times and the culture as well as the fact that all the characters were familiar with the culture, so the author couldn't insert an unnecessary explanation into the story.

In summary, it was the story of Abby, who is an American, the daughter of a British General and an American mother, both deceased when the story begins. Abby and her son, Cam, a toddler, are returning to India, her home when she was a girl. She is rejoining her husband, Nick, a British lieutenant, whom she married while he and she were in England. On the boat over she and Cam are befriended by Geoff, a British major. We briefly meet and get to know Miriam, who is Geoff' s spiritual mother, a wonderful Indian woman who runs a mission for the rescue of "temple women" (as another reviewer mentioned, shades of Amy Carmichael, a real missionary whose story can be read in Elisabeth Elliots work about her, "A Chance to Die"). Nick is nowhere to be found when they arrive and Geoff helps her reunite with her husband. The ensuing months are filled with intrigue and both hardship and growth for both main characters as Abby tries to reconnect with Nick (who seems less-than-enthusiastic about their marriage) and Geoff, who is charged by his commanding officer with trying to sleuth out missing rifles and a possible Russian spy as well as dealing with Indian riots and other India civil upheaval of the time. The primary event of the Jalianwala Bagh massacre of the time, the outrage of the Indian people against the very well described British indifference and British atrocities and attitude of superiority were interwoven with Abby as she deals with her failing marriage, her motherhood of Cam, her love for the Indian culture and life and her relationships with the Christian women of the mission on the one hand and the British memsahibs and sahibs, many of whom displayed the British arrogance of the times, on the other. At the same time Geoff, a widower, who has other demons in his life from wartime in France (recently returned from a bloody battlefield), is also trying to reenter his military life but feels drawn to help Abby and Cam in their struggles.

This is a romantic, Christian novel. How, you ask? You will have to read it. I thought the outcome might become predictable, but, while you can already see what might happen, the details were well-done.

One reviewer seemed to note the end was a little too quickly wrapped up. I both agree and disagree, but couldn't exactly pinpoint how to describe it. My personal issue was more the fact that some of the scenes with the villain and Abby seemed to follow a slightly predictably melodramatic outline. But Abby' s strengths (crack shot) belied that at certain points. She had her definite flaws and the inner struggle she showed were well described but she also had a steel backbone. Geoff too, his inner struggles with what was essentially a judgemental attitude as a follower of Christ as well as with PTSD were very realistically portrayed.

For believers, the Christian element was extraordinarily well meshed with history and character development. Nothing was "preached" at the reader, it was all lived-out in the lives and struggles of Miriam, Eshana and Geoff . The two women exuded the love of Christ and Geoff grew as he struggled with his own failings. I personally thought Eshana was too perfect but the scriptural wisdom of "he who is forgiven much, loves much" being evident in her life was believable. She was not complete as a character BUT I already knew from reading summaries of the other two novels in the series that she has her own story, told elsewhere, and the author only included enough detail in this first novel to make her character believable.

All in all I'd say 4.5 stars. Since I am inherently conservative in my stars, I rounded to 4 but I might come back, it's probably worth 5.
This book took me by surprise.

I didn't read the blurb, preferring instead to go into the book "blind." It was a bit of a difficult book for me to get into - rather confusing. In fact, there were several times that I nearly went and read the blurb just so I could try and make sense of what was going on.

After I got into the book though? I was totally caught up in the time period and setting. Books that include wars are horrifying, but so enlightening to me. I want to shove them in people's faces while yelling about how history repeats itself and to watch out.

This book was stomach-turningly sad without adding (what I consider) unnecessary details. Everything felt so real, so vivid. So beautiful and sad and manipulating all at once. The characters felt real, and the did things they shouldn't have done, and messed up, and grew, and reacted in ways that I was sometimes frustrated with, but that made sense.

The main character did some stuff that was really not good, but the way the author portrayed it was a way that I really appreciate - no sugarcoating or okaying wrong things. And the reasoning the character had made way too much sense. (Meaning, it was really well written.)

I'm not sure who I would recommend this book to because there were some things - violence, unfaithfulness, abuse, etc... - but, it was all written in a way that I was okay with, even though it was very sad.

Overall this book captured my attention and made me want to study more about that time period. I'm very impressed. It was quite hard to put the book down.
I was thrilled to get a review copy of Shadowed in Silk, Christine Lindsay's compelling new epic novel. It reminded me of a few big screen movies like Australia, Jodie Foster in The King and I and Out of Africa. Christine has written a powerful and engaging novel that transported me to the streets of India; and mingling in it's diverse rich culture. I felt as if I had stepped off the ship with Abby and Geoff Richards and onto the dock, of Hotic India. Christine's words paint vivid pictures that allow readers to experience the sites, sounds, scents and vibrant colors of India.

I liked how this author had the reader see Gandhi and experience the peaceful demonstrations he tried to put on. Christine captures this countries rich history, culture and customs, interwoven with a sweet love story. It's a passionate story of a woman who loves Jesus and is committed to being His hands and feet to the children in the orphanage and the children of India at a high personal cost.

I liked the intensity and richness of her characters and their relationships with each other and their struggle with God, in doing the right thing. Abby is a woman who is determined to make her marriage work, even though it's been a few years since she heard from her husband, Nick. She's thankful that Geoff Richards stepped up and has said he'd make sure she and her son would get home safely, since her husband, Nick was no where to be found.

Geoff Richards is a wounded solider, who loves the Lord with all his heart, and feels the need to look after Abby and her young son. He can't imagine a soldier that would treat his wife like this. Geoff is a protector in the story. Protector of Abby and her son and the men he served in the military. He stayed a respective distance from Abby. He realized that Abby hadn't a clue about this culture. She was in more danger than she knows. Things changed since she last lived in India.

Not only does this author capture the essence of the country with it's intense humidity, spicy scents, and sounds which all add to the dimension of the novel, but she also penned a page-turning suspenseful drama, with engaging characters that kept me up late at night wondering what would happen next. I had to know about these characters, the spies, gun smuggling, pride and prejudice within the culture, it all fascinated me. It gave me a peek into the horrific slice of history she wrote about with the heart and soul of the people and of that time.

Days after reading this story, the characters and their flight will stay with you. I loved how she naturally wove the spiritual thread into the story-line. It was real, and believable. I highly recommend this beautifully written novel, against the backdrop of India in 1900's. This novel reads as if a well-seasoned author with many books under her belt wrote it, not as the debut novel it is for Christine. It's a brilliantly written and a emotionally compelling read! Can't wait to read what she writes next.

The Book Club Network [...]