Split Sense by Barbara E. Brink

Split Sense is the first Christian Fiction of this type that I remember reading.  I have read theology, autobiographical stories of faith and devotional material, but I have not read explicitly Christian fiction. The closest I have come would be allegorical fiction books rooted in the Christian story; for example, the Narnia Series. What struck me as I read this book is that a novel needs to have a very strong story line to carry the “it is important to be saved message” so that it does not hit the non-initiated reader between the eyes and become all they see. Fortunately for readers of Split Sense, Barbara E. Brink is an exceptional story teller.  I can understand why Split Sense won the 2011 Grace Award. 

Split Sense tells the story of twins who are separated at birth. They are part of an experiment by a corrupt Pharmaceutical Company. The girl is presumed dead, but secretly rescued by a doctor who was being blackmailed by representatives of the Pharmaceutical Company. The boy is raised by a company employee who loves Zander like his own son and struggles to protect Zander from his bosses.  Both children develop exceptional abilities that bring them to the attention the corrupt board members who want to use them in their struggle for political power.

I am giving Split Sense five stars, not because I agree 100% with the theology behind it, but because Barbara E. Brink’s story telling is outstanding.  Barbara has written a wonderfully engaging book. 

When Butterflies Cry by Ninie Hammon

When Butterflies Cry is the second book I have read by Ninie Hammon and it will not be the last. Ninie Hammon has an incredible gift with language. For example, a line from the second page says, “But the smile that started on Andy’s face melted like wax beneath a candle flame.”  Can’t you just see that smile disappear?

The book When Butterflies Cry is based in Wales, Vietnam and West Virginia. An event in time pulls them all together.  An unknown girl shows up at the door. She has been badly beaten by someone but no one reports her missing. A few days later a shell-shocked soldier comes home from the war in Vietnam to find his brother making moves on his wife. Meanwhile, above their home the dam built to hold back toxic waste from coal mining is about to let go.

In Ninie’s book she talks about the United States Bureau of Mines, the agency that is supposed to exercise regulatory control over the mining industry. She says that in practice, the USBM was more of an extension of the industry than a watchdog. I found this particularly interesting because in the Canadian province I live in we have recently had a dam give way that contained toxic sludge from the Mount Polley mine.  One of the reasons why this happened was poor government oversight.  The buzz-word here is self-regulating, The Mount Polley mine spill was  an example of where that policy leads. There were no towns beneath the massive spill that happened in BC, but there was a pristine wilderness which up until now has boasted the largest run of sockeye salmon.

I would highly recommend Ninie’s book.  It is not so much a social commentary as a wonderful story of love and loss and what it means to be family. There is enough drama in this book to keep a reader missing sleep to keep on turning pages until they have finished a remarkable book.

The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett

The Edge of Eternity is the third book in the Century Trilogy which begins prior to the 1st World War and takes the reader through to the end of the Cold War. Ken Follett’s characters give readers front row seats into the events that shaped the 20^th century. The books are not only great literature in that they make the reader care about the lives of fictional characters, but the books are also well-researched and serve as an historical overview. While many of us are aware of the events that Ken Follett covers, he takes us in for a closer look and deepens our understanding of the events that have shaped our lives.

One of the streams that Ken Follett follows is the impact of racism in the United States and the Civil Rights movement that fought to change that. I found this helpful in understanding the racism that I see at work in the United States today.

Ken Follett ends his book with a prologue on the election of Barak Obama as if to say look how far we have come in this century. Unfortunately, the election of Barak Obama did not mark the beginning of a new age of tolerance, but has brought the racism of many Americans to the surface. No other president has been treated so disrespectfully and shamefully as Barak Obama has been. Americans up to now have always treated their president with more respect than we Canadians often show our prime minister. In the past, even if Americans disagreed with their President they have been respectful of the office of President. 

I would love for Ken Follett to write a sequel to this century trilogy sometime in the future.  I would love to see the time we now live in through his eyes.