Well, I was sent these books last year for review (not with a specific deadline), and I’d been avoiding them as I haven’t really found much Christian fiction I like, and the title Babe’s Bible grated somewhat, and the cover art gave the sense that they’d be a bit Mills & Boon like…
Well, there’s definitely some romance in the first book, which I’ve just read this morning, but it’s not M&B! In the middle of clearing out the house, I decided to have a read of the first couple of chapters to see what I thought of it … and I read the whole book! I need to put down the other two, as I have other things to do, but knowing that several of my friends had thought the same thing …
The book has as it’s central character, Grace, who’s in her first curacy, and her friendship with Chloe, the youth-worker, who has just had an affair with the vicar, which has had a range of ramifications. So – we start with adultery, and in seeking to understand this, Grace refers to her Bible, and the story of the woman charged with adultery, and creates a fictionalised account of Lila (the woman charged with adultery), making very clear the man’s part in the adultery. As the book continues, weaving stories between the past and the present, we get to see Lila’s friendship with Mary, the woman who poured perfume on Jesus. What I really loved, knowing that this is fictionalised, but coming from the perspective of someone who’s ordained (and therefore had extensive theological training), is that we really get to see the – often well known – stories of Jesus, through the perspective of women – something we often don’t see in the Bible.
The book deals with difficult topics including unfaithfulness, porn, abortion, sexual abuse, rape, healing, poor church leadership, busyness (the Mary we see is Martha’s sister), angelic visions, speaking in tongues, barrenness, and at one point something reminded me of Saying Goodbye. There’s lots to chew on, and lots of well-woven storylines. I’m glad I gave it a chance, as it’s always good to find new ways of re-engaging with Bible stories (why do you think I’ve worked with bigbible.org.uk for so long!)
This book was provided to me courtesy of Darton, Longman & Todd in exchange for an honest review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
One reply on “[REVIEW] Babe’s Bible: Gorgeous Grace @DLT_Ed”
Interesting. Now partway into the third book (yes, I read fast, especially fiction), definitely getting more charismatic, but combined with Anglo-Catholicism, as the stories weave between Grace in her first incumbancy as she takes on a role dealing with human trafficking, grows the church to 200+ through Alpha, and the early apostles and their determination to spread the gospel whatever the cost – and we see the true human cost that isn’t always seen in our understanding of the Bible.