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Author: Pearl Ada Pridham
Pearl lives on scenic Vancouver Island in Canada. If she's not writing on her website or working on a manuscript, she may reading or cooking or walking with her dog on a beach. Her past lives have included raising two sons, and education and careers in fields of Bible, Childcare, Psychology & Counselling, and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Here’s a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Matthew 11:19a
Venice is a party place. It’s also a place that celebrates Jesus. There are over 100 churches in Venice. All kinds of people from around the world visit Venice, eating and drinking together and visiting churches , observing amazing artwork depicting the history of humanity and Christianity.
Jesus loves people. All kinds of people. Despised people. Ordinary people. He didn’t attempt to hang out with the rich and famous. He didn’t care that people judged him for eating and drinking and who he associated with.
Jump in and celebrate with Jesus. Enjoy people. Have a meal and a drink with them. Praise God together for creating us and loving us all.
Medical missionary meets special forces captain in an African jungle. He kills to save her from a terrorizing warlord. That’s the mix.
Cynthia Myers, the missionary doctor, is first repeled by, then attracted to Captain Rick Norton. They’re on opposite sides of the fence; her side being love and mercy, his killing the enemy.
The author successfully explores the boundaries between the two. Must they stay on opposite sides, or is there a way they can meet in the middle? Is killing ever justified? Is there a place for Christian warriors to kill enemies?
Hallee Bridgeman, via the soul-searching heroine, clarifies these issues in the minds of readers. She speaks from first-hand knowledge as the wife and daughter of warriors. I personally found it helpful in sorting out my own stance.
Are they just too different?
Bridgeman also brings out the dichotomy between values and ways of thinking in different cultures and classes of people. The heroine struggles to find a place to fit in when she returns to America. Will this medical missionary resolve her own prejudices and acknowledge her love for Captain Rick Norton?
At the back of the book, the author provides a list of thought-provoking questions for a book club. This will surely lead to interesting discussions.
She also shares recipes for delicious-sounding home made hamburgers and potato chips, the favorite foods of the main characters.
I’m glad I chose this thought-provoking novel from the ones Revell offered me to review. Beautiful cover, too. Thank you, Revell.
when the morning glory blooms isn’t about morning glories. But they do thread through this novel. The morning glories represent life and seeds of life.
It’s about Single Mothers
The novel centres around unwed mothers from the 1890s to present times. Starting from the point of view of the mother of a teen mom in 2012, it jumps back and forth between that family and their friends, a young pregnant single woman in 1951, and an elderly woman telling her story of starting a home for unwed mothers in the 1890s. It’s interesting to see what has changed over time and what has stayed much the same.
The author
Cynthia Ruchti is an acclaimed author and speaker, and is now an agent with Books & Such Agency as well. I met her online a year ago when I attended the American Christian Fiction Writers Zoom conference, and I asked for an interview regarding the novel I’ve been working toward getting published. I didn’t know at the time that she had also written a novel centred around a teen mom. I’ve been meaning to read it ever since she told me about it. What a privilege and honour to have had that opportunity to communicate with her. Of course my first-time, as yet unpublished novel cannot compare with hers. But I so appreciate her feedback and tips, and am glad now to have read her novel along the same theme.
Sort of the same, but not exactly (as the saying goes)
when the morning glory blooms portrays lives of single mothers over three eras, whereas my novel sticks to the contemporary experiences of one particular teen mom. Both include the mother of the teen as one of the ‘pov’ (Point of View) characters, but in her novel the teen mother is not a pov character, whereas in my novel she is the Main Character. Both of our books portray the stress the family goes through, and the sometimes hypocritical reactions of the church.
While my novel begins with the Main Character as an adult reflecting back on her teen years, then goes back to tell her story, when the morning glory blooms jumps back and forth between three time periods and stories throughout the book.
I love desciption in a novel. Cynthia Ruchti uses many similes in this story to make the writing vivid. I’m not so adept at that; my description is pretty straightforward. Perhaps I need to use more similes, but they tend to throw my thoughts off the storyline.
We all got here through pregnancy
Since the beginning of time, pregnancy has been how the earth is populated, whether within the parameters of marriage or not. Every one of us has made mistakes and needs God’s grace. Unwed mothers and their babies particularly need the help and support of the church and their families. I recommend reading when the morning glory blooms to gain an inside view of such situations.
If you live here in Nanaimo and attend First Baptist Church, you can borrow when the morning glory blooms from the library. I asked if they had it, so they ordered it. Thank you Juanita.
For followers of the Bible, there are a few pills that are hard to swallow. At least for strong-minded individuals. Romans 13 is one of them.
What? We must subject ourselves?
Written at a time in history when the countries around the Mediterranean were subject to the Roman Empire, many likely objected to their rule and the taxes they imposed.
Yet, the chapter goes on to say more. Since governments are actually appointed by God, we incur his wrath by not respectfully submitting to them.
Romans 13, The Amplified Bible
But the government is no good
It may at times be hard to believe that God himself has appointed and put in place those in government who we find ourselves subject to. But it says here that we must respect their authority to avoid God’s wrath. Strong words. God wants us to live as principled people, because we represent him to the world.
We must follow the example of Jesus, who respected and honored the rulers of the day, even paying the taxes they demanded of him.
The Roman Empire was not a democracy. They had conquered the surrounding countries. People were treated unfairly, often cruelly, and taxed heavily.
Hey, what about my rights?
Things are different now, aren’t they? We now vote in governments and have ‘freedom of speech’. Yes, even an obligation to speak out for what is right.
So let’s exercise our rights, bearing in mind these verses. That governing authorities have been appointed by God, for his own reasons. And we, as his followers, represent him. Speak and act with respect and honor. Pray for our rulers. Not just for their sakes, but also for our own.
With all the things going on in today’s world, it certainly can’t be easy to be in government. Rather than respect and honor, they are subject to daily ridicule, even threats, in the name of ‘freedom of speech’. But this is not principled behavior for followers of the Bible. Bear in mind that whether or not we agree with them, the authorities are appointed by God.
The Last Way Home tells the story of Eli Ross, an NHL hockey player who returns home to Prince Edward Island after more than a decade away.
It’s complicated. Why had he never returned, even for a visit, before now? I don’t want to spoil it for readers by giving away reasons.
Will his brothers and mother accept him? He doesn’t expect them to, but he has nowhere else to go.
And then there’s Violet Donaghy, a young lady who, he finds, his family has taken under wing as a family member. She’s cold to him, and extremely secretive. Which he can’t blame her for. After all, he’s not telling anyone his own secrets either.
No sooner does he arrive home, than a disaster occurs, and he decides to prove his integrity by pitching in to help. Helping Violet is like trying to help a snarling cat. But he ignores the snarling and persists. You’ll have to read it to see how that goes.
Plot and Writing Style
The plot seems to fit into a Prodigal Son trope. Both Eli and Violet carry a lot of angst resulting from years of hidden guilty feelings.
Despite his unrelenting efforts, Eli seems to be stuck on a train headed for doom. Will he be able to ditch it in the end?
The story is compelling, but it took me reading on a ways before I began to really like it. Revell asked me for an honest review, so here you have it. To be honest, I’m wondering whether authors these days are trying so hard to ‘show’ rather than ‘tell’, or to stay in a ‘deep point of view’, that the reader is left feeling a bit boggled at times. For example, instead of simply saying that a character felt anxious, we read that her stomach hit the floor. The first time this happened in the book, it took me a while to figure out whether it was literal or a figure of speech. And that was just the start. Both main characters really had problems with their stomachs dropping, hitting the ground, sinking or twisting.
The Last Way Home causes one to rethink secrets along with Eli and Violet. Is divulging them the best thing to do? Or could it cause more harm than good?
Learn more about the author and her books at LizJohnsonBooks.com.
Read other reviews of The Last Way Home on Goodreads by clicking here.
Broken but loved, this ornament is a gift from my son . It represents his love to me. But alas, the tail broke off some time ago. I glued it back on, but later it broke off again. Then it sat in a drawer for several years, until yesterday I got it out and glued it back together again. You can see where it broke, but I put it back out where it can remind me daily of my son who I love.
We are all like this ornamental bird, broken but loved. God our Father and Creator loved each one of us from the beginning. No one is perfect. We’re all broken. But he sent Jesus to redeem us and restore us to himself.
Romans 3:23-24 (The Amplified Bible) says: Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives, all are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is provided in Christ Jesus.
I’m so glad God loves me that much. In spite of my foibles, big mistakes, stupidity, brokenness and shame, he loves me. Jesus has redeemed us, and by faith in him we are restored to a right standing with God.
I wish I could undo the stupid things I’ve done, but I can’t. Yet God loves me anyway. And you too. Broken but loved.
Remember that song ? Today as I read my Bible I was reminded of God’s love, which He has continually blessed us with throughout history. We just need to open our eyes and see it. God opened the eyes of the apostle Paul, who spread the gospel of God’s love to the world.
I [Paul] stand here testifying to small and great alike, asserting nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses declared would come to pass; that the Christ, the Anointed One, must suffer; and that He, by being the first to rise from the dead, would declare and show light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. Acts 26:22-23 (The Amplified Bible)
Paul was making his defense before King Agrippa and the prominent citizens of Damascus. He had been falsely accused by Jews who didn’t believe in Jesus, and wanted to kill Paul.
Paul himself had previously persecuted Christians, until Jesus spoke to him personally one day out of a blinding light.
Jesus appointed him as a witness to both Jews and Gentiles “to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may thus receive forgiveness and release from their sins and a place and portion among those who are consecrated and purified by faith in me.” (verse 18)
The Gospel of God’s Love Keeps Spreading
Paul had been given the astounding privilege of spreading the amazing message of the gospel to the world. Those who tried to kill him only helped further the gospel by giving Paul the opportunity to testify before Roman authorities and prominent people.
This same gospel message still reverberates around the world –a message we all personally need–to be forgiven and accepted and loved by God. Jesus made it possible–praise God! He turns sinners into saints by making us right with Him. Who wouldn’t want that?
This kindness is definitely complicated! Miriam Toews, in first person narrative, describes the life of a teenage girl in a Canadian Mennonite community.
Please don’t assume all Canadian Mennonite communities are like this one. It’s not at all the same as the small prairie town that my mother grew up in, which is largely composed of Mennonites.
A Bit of History
The Mennonites are a people group with an interesting history. Basically, they are followers of Menno Simons, who, in 1536 broke away from the Catholic church during the Protestant Reformation. He lived in Friesland, an area around the border of Holland and Germany. The Mennonites later migrated to Russia (now Ukraine), and later escaped as refugees to Canada and other parts of North and South America.
Canada has many Mennonite communities, and churches. The different communities have evolved in various ways–some are very strict in resisting change, while others embrace change just like any other Christian group.
The Mouth is a Power-hungry Cultish Leader
a complicated kindness depicts a small prairie community dominated by one cultish leader of their one Mennonite church. This man, who the main character Nomi Nickel calls The Mouth, controls the people of the town. At least so it appears.
The book reads like a diary written by Nomi. We learn from it that although The Mouth manages to control much of what goes on, he cannot control people’s hearts and minds. Rather than this cultish control creating a peaceful community isolated from the rest of the world, it rips apart families and hearts and lives.
I noticed years ago that deception is most effective when mixed with truth. That’s how people get caught up in cults. Lured in by truth and goodness, they find themselves entrapped by power-hungry leaders. The Mouth is this kind of a leader. Please know that not all Mennonite groups or churches have this type of leaders. Menno Simons did not start a cult.
Underneath it all Lies a Complicated Kindness
Nomi, as a teen, realizes and resents the trap she lives in. Her dream is to escape to New York. However, as her teen years progress through the depressing gradual loss of everything meaningful to her, she also realizes the undercurrent of a complicated kindness that also exists here. Maybe she’ll stay after all.
The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip features an indomitable woman, who through her generous spirit of love, instigated and inspired many others.
Woven into the story is the poignant history in the late 1970s of the immigration of a large group of Laotian refugees to Kansas City.
The author cleverly pieces into this novel the points she is trying to get across through the life-changing experience of reporter Aidyn Kelley as she interviews Clara Kip.
Reading it will cause you to ponder many things about life. How turning your desires over to God can open doors to unexpected blessings for yourself and others. How death is only a step in the continuation of life. And much more.
Personally Relatable
I can personally relate to most everything in this book. I’ll just share a few instances. As a writer I can relate to Aidyn. And I can relate to many of Mrs. Kip’s experiences.
She, in the process of her own death, showers God’s love on another person in the hospice. The detailed descriptions of the end of life in the book brought to mind the same things my late husband went through. He passed into heaven exactly two years ago today. Like Clara Kip, he was quite a character, also refusing a wheelchair and walking around on his own until he fell so many times that he was confined to his bed. He joked with staff and friends, and even had me bring his guitar so he could entertain them with hymns. Sadly, his ability to do so only lasted a couple of days.
Clara Kip inspired the immigration and integration of Laotian refugees. In the 1980s the church I was a member of sponsored refugees from Viet Nam. Now in 2022, my church is in process of sponsoring refugees from war-torn Ukraine. We are gearing up to help them with housing and provisions as well as English and spiritual nourishment.
Hopefully I’ve given you enough of a taste of what The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip is about to interest you, without giving away too many spoilers. My thanks to the publisher for sending me the paperback version to review. I’m glad I chose it.
Click on the Links
Revell has an on-line book club now, called Beyond the Book, where you can discuss books with authors and readers. Find it at facebook.com/groups/RevellBeyondtheBook.
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Authentic History Portrayed in a Dual Timeline Novel
The Paris Library
The Paris Library is based on the actual American Library in Paris. The author worked there as Programs Manager in 2010. She now divides her time between Paris and Montana, the other setting in the book.
The story is effectively written as a dual timeline novel. Young Lily, growing up in smalltown Montana, is fascinated by the mysterious Odile, the widow next door. They become fast friends, and Odile’s story of working in the Paris library during WWII emerges. Amazingly, the dedicated staff and volunteers kept the library open throughout the war. The Author’s Note at the end of the book fills in more details about the real people she based the characters on, plus other facts about the library that she didn’t include in the story.
The Personal WWII Within Each of Us
The Paris Library is about so much more than history, though. It’s about relationships–family, friends, lovers. Coworkers and community. Betrayal and forgiveness. The power of the tongue, for good and for evil. Most of us reading The Paris Library have not lived in the centre of a major war. Although the blatant evils of war are obvious, we often fail to see the evil in ourselves, caused by just a few words of betrayal that slip out of our mouths unintentionally. The war opened Odile’s eyes to her own guilt, and she is able to pass on the awareness to Lily before she ruins her own relationships.
I was lucky to find The Paris Library in a little free library on the roadside. Thank you to whoever left it there. Such a worthwhile read.
Follow where the road bends. You can have a different life. That’s the advice Norah gave Quincy, but could she do that herself? Here she was, engaged to someone she wasn’t in love with, in order to save her farm. It was all she knew, and she loved it there. It held happy memories of her parents. But alone, she found it impossible to maintain.
This is the first book by Rachel Fordham that I’ve read, and I’ll definitely read more. The characters are well defined; the main characters are refreshingly human and likeable, the villains despicable. The plot twists and turns and bends like the road in the title.
The characters, plot, and setting would lend themselves to a series. I wonder what happens next in the lives of secondary characters, and in the growing establishments in the setting of the book.
Thought-provoking
As I read, I found myself rehashing the choices I’ve made at the twists and turns in my own life. As the characters struggle between secrecy and honesty, holding back and being forthright, I wonder how my own life might have been different had I shared from my heart rather than putting up fences. The path of life is very tricky, isn’t it?
At the end of the book there’s a list of questions for readers that would make an interesting discussion for a book club. Even just by myself, I found them thought-provoking. Could I be brave enough to change my life by following where the road bends?
Thank you to Revell for sending me this beautiful book to give my honest review. I’m so glad I chose it. Be the first to hear about new books from Revell. Sign up at RevellBooks.com/SignUp.
Meet author Rachel Fordham at RachelFordham.com.
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You shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark; and in the ark you shall put the testimony [the ten commandments] that I will give you. Exodus 25:21
It strikes me that the mercy seat was placed above the 10 commandments.
The 10 commandments (found in Exodus chapter 20) are very good–given from God who loves us and wants us to live in a good way. But we continually fail to live up to even those few commandments.
So God, in his love for us, puts the mercy seat above the commandments. He goes on to say that at the mercy seat he will meet with us, and speak intimately with us.
Who wouldn’t want to sit there on that seat between two angelic golden cherubim spreading their wings of protection overhead, with God sitting next to us and speaking intimately with us.
Wow! From the beginning God showed his understanding, love and mercy for us people who he created. We are so in need of mercy all the time. Thank you so much God!
An Associate in a prestigious New York law firm, Kyle isn’t where he wants to be. He followed in his father’s footsteps to become a lawyer. But his father practices in a small town and chose the career because he had a heart for helping ordinary people. He’s generous with his time and charges only what his clients can afford.
Kyle wants to even take a low-paying position with a charitable organization for a year or two.
But past mistakes now have him caught in a trap. Basically just too much ‘partying’ as a college student. Suddenly he’s being accused of rape. Not only him, but several of his college room mates as well. It’s not the young woman herself holding threats over him, but a group of thugs who seem to be FBI. The intrigue starts there, but I won’t spoil it for you by telling you any more.
An associate position in a prestigious New York law firm may make Kyle rich, but what about his soul?
John Grisham’s books are always interesting and full of intrigue. Plus readers learn a lot about the workings of the American legal system. Possibly a lot you’d rather not know. Hidden failures and corruption. Learn, be aware, and use caution! Grisham writes from the standpoint of being a former lawyer himself. His books are an entertaining education for the general public.
Check out his website at www.jgrisham.com
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You shall not revile God [the judges His agents], or esteem lightly or curse a ruler of your people. Exodus 22:28
Disrespect for authority is rampant these days. What has become of respect? As a child in the 1950s I was taught to respect my elders, teachers, pastors, police, and anyone in a position of government.
People in such positions fulfill a purpose in society–to represent God in guiding us with principles and keeping us from being wronged.
Yes, often they are wrong–sometimes even evil.
But the fact is that they ARE in a position of authority. How they got there may also be right or wrong. Nevertheless, we ought to esteem them and pray for them rather than reviling and cursing them.
We must pray that they make good decisions, God-honouring and wise. We can speak out to address issues in many ways these days–by writing to the authorities directly or by posting on social media. Yes, certainly address issues, but do it with respect.
Bear in mind that they are actually God’s agents. When you feel like cursing them, pray for them instead, that their decisions and judgements will be godly.
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There are over 100 churches in Venice. All kinds of people from around the world visit Venice, eating and drinking 
together and visiting churches 
, observing amazing artwork depicting the history of humanity and Christianity. 
from Romans 12. It doesn’t come naturally.
. It represents his love to me. But alas, the tail broke off some time ago. I glued it back on, but later it broke off again. Then it sat in a drawer for several years, until yesterday I got it out and glued it back together again. You can see where it broke, but I put it back out where it can remind me daily of my son who I love. 
Needs Now…
? Today as I read my Bible I was reminded of God’s love, which He has continually blessed us with throughout history. We just need to open our eyes and see it. God opened the eyes of the apostle Paul, who spread the gospel of God’s love to the world. 
