Freshwater: The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

Freshwater

Located in the wilds of Wyoming, the name Freshwater was chosen as a Western analogy to Christ. Just as He is the Living Water, and we must have Him to have eternal life, any desert dweller knows the importance of fresh water to life, both for self, and the nourishment of crops or livestock. By taking nourishment in God and His word, we strengthen our own relationship with Him, our faith, and the quality and abundance of our fruitfulness.

Our keystone verse is from Jeremiah, Chapter 17, Verse 8: "For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see whenSave heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

The fruit that we speak of is mentioned in Galatians 5:22
"²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, ²³Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

And the heat could be anything we experience that might test our faith in God; trials and tribulations, relationships, anything that focuses our love and attention anywhere but on Him...

Friday, June 21, 2013

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

The Bronze Horseman (The Bronze Horseman, #1)
by Paullina Simons

I have to give it a five, because the book was so passionate, so beautiful, so vivid, that it drew me in and I wasn't able to put it down until I finished.

I couldn't actually write about this book immediately after finishing it because it was such an emotional thing. I felt bereft when I'd finished the last page and actually kept flipping through the end pages because I couldn't believe it was really over!

I'm afraid if I share a true review of the book that it will be a major spoiler, but I will tell you it was a powerful novel that made me laugh, that made me hope, that made me cry, and that made me smile, all the way through. If you read this, you will find yourself emotionally invested in the characters and you will have to live the story through to the end.

As far as I know, this is a very historically solid account of WWII Russia during Hitler's invasion, especially the siege of Leningrad. It was horrific and amazing to live through it with the characters, to know the extent of what the people of Leningrad had gone through.

For my PG readers, there is some "descriptive language" farther on in the book, but if you are a history buff, this will be a great read for you, because it is phenomenal.