Book picks similar to
The Shape of Illusion by William Edmund Barrett


christian-fiction
historical-fiction
religion
fiction

Refiners Fire Pack, #1-3


Lynn Austin - 2004
    Each book in this powerful Civil War trilogy from award-winning novelist Lynn Austin's powerful Civil War trilogy offers a unique and shattering perspective on the conflict while exploring the deep affect the war had on the faith of a nation.

A Liverpool Lullaby


Anne Baker - 1998
    Joseph Hobson is a bullying man and Evie isn't the only one who lives in fear of her father's violent temper. Then one day a bedraggled woman enters the shop and dies on the premises. Evie is shocked to discover she was in fact her mother, whom she had been told was dead. Why had her father lied to her? What secret was he trying to keep? One thing's for sure, Evie can't take much more from him and when she catches the eye of local lad Ned Collins they plan to run away to begin a new life together. But even when she has escaped and has started a family with Ned, Evie has a long way to go before her happiness is secured...

The Princess


Lori Wick - 1999
    In the Land of Pendaran, Shelby Parker lives a humble but good life. Her special qualities are eventually noticed by the king and queen of the House of Markham, who seek a new wife for their widowed son, Prince Nikolai.To uphold the tradition of their country, Shelby and Nikolai agree to an arranged marriage. But while Nikolai is a perfect gentleman in public, he remains distant at home, leaving Shelby to wonder what is in his heart. Will the prince ever love her as he did his first wife? Can the faith they share overcome the barriers between them?

The Last Sin Eater


Francine Rivers - 1998
    All that matters for Cadi Forbes is finding the one man who can set her free from the sin that plagues her, the sin that has stolen her mother's love from her and made her wish she could flee life and its terrible injustice. But Cadi doesn't know that the “sin eater” is seeking as well. Before their journeys are over, Cadi and the sin eater must face themselves, each other, and the One who will demand everything from them in exchange for the answers they seek. A captivating tale of suffering, seeking, and redemption.

The Barefoot Girl: A Novel of St. Margaret, Patroness of the Abused


Catherine Monroe - 2006
     Fifteen-year-old Margharita is toiling in her family's meager field when a handsome gentleman rides in with a proposal of marriage. After only a few words with her father,Master Domenico Vasari tears Margharita away from the family she cherishes and the farm boy she loves-and hauls her off to a foreign, violent life, full of strangers and strange customs. At the Vasari castle, she is given powders, perfumes, and gowns of silk. But for these fineries Margharita pays a dear price. Vasari beats her, viciously and without warning, even when she becomes pregnant. So Margharita begins to pray, fervently and furtively, to the Blessed Mother and Saint Mary Magdalene. For her safety, for her unborn child, and for the starving masses surrounding the castle walls. Only then does the Virgin Mother reveal Margharita's fate to her-and why she will forever be known as the Barefooted One.

The First Stone


Bodie Thoene - 2011
    Scrolls" Series is a SPECIAL EDITION, DIRECTOR'S CUT of 'JERUSALEM SCROLLS' from the Thoenes' popular "Zion Legacy Series"**The voices inside her whisper, Forgiveness?Yes, for them, but never for you.…The story of Mary Magdalene, in her own wordsAs the harsh Jerusalem winter of 1948 wears on Rachel Sachar, beautiful holocaust survivor, prays for some word from her husband Moshe who vanished in the secret tunnels beneath Jerusalem. Then one night a stranger named Eben Golah arrives with a message from Moshe and the translation of the ancient diary of Mary Magdalene. Like Rachel, Mary was a beautiful child. Everyone said so. Tragedy struck, everything changed in Mary’s family. Her dreams of love and children of her own abruptly ended. No amount of wealth or male companionship can bring Mary what she really longs for, nor can they stop the voices calling, “Finish it! You have no reason to live. No hope…” But might there be a second chance…even for someone like her? Secretly, she wonders…2,000 years separate the tragic stories of Mary Magdalene and Rachel Sachar, and yet their lives lead to Yeshua of Nazareth in Old Jerusalem. Will these women find freedom and forgiveness? Or will Yeshua cast the first stone? This is Mary’s story, from her own diary, as translated by Jewish Haganah fighter and scholar Moshe Sachar in 1948, as he prepares to emerge from his hiding place in the secret library under besieged Jerusalem.DISCOVER THETRUTHTHROUGHFICTION™BODIE & BROCK THOENE(pronounced Tay-nee) have written more than 60 works of historical fiction. Their novels have sold more than 20 million copies and have won eight ECPA Gold Medallion awards. The Thoenes divide their time between London and Nevada.

Three Little Ships


Lilian Harry - 2005
    As each boat ferries exhausted men from the beaches to the waiting ships, under incessant fire from enemy aircraft and in a sea awash with debris and bodies, the men are unknowingly united by a powerful driving force—the urgent need to find one man, brother or son, who matters more to them than anyone else. Each of these missing men has a family, a wife or a sweetheart at home who is anxiously waiting for news—and one sweetheart in particular is determined to play her own part in the rescue.

To Comfort A King


Debbie Gilliland - 2013
    Also left behind is Abishag’s betrothed, Joseph, who has already waited many months to claim his bride. Now, he must wait until Israel’s king no longer needs her. Torn from the comfort of her small village, Abishag is thrust into a world of unfamiliar customs, royal expectations, and palace intrigue. She is greeted suspiciously by the king’s concubines, warmly by Queen Bathsheba, and reluctantly by King David himself. Adonijah, the king’s son, is bitter over his father’s choice of Solomon as Israel’s next king. He determines to ruin Abishag to prevent her from being given as a prize to Solomon at their father’s death. Suffering personal losses, as well as scorn from much of the royal court, Abishag begins to question God’s goodness in placing her in the king’s service. Can she find someone there who understands that one who comforts the king is in great need of comfort herself? Will Abishag’s time with the king end in despair or joy?

The Gargoyle


Andrew Davidson - 2008
    As the book opens, he is driving along a dark road when he is distracted by what seems to be a flight of arrows. He crashes into a ravine and suffers horrible burns over much of his body. As he recovers in a burn ward, undergoing the tortures of the damned, he awaits the day when he can leave the hospital and commit carefully planned suicide—for he is now a monster in appearance as well as in soul. A beautiful and compelling, but clearly unhinged, sculptress of gargoyles by the name of Marianne Engel appears at the foot of his bed and insists that they were once lovers in medieval Germany. In her telling, he was a badly injured mercenary and she was a nun and scribe in the famed monastery of Engelthal who nursed him back to health. As she spins their tale in Scheherazade fashion and relates equally mesmerizing stories of deathless love in Japan, Iceland, Italy, and England, he finds himself drawn back to life—and, finally, in love.He is released into Marianne's care and takes up residence in her huge stone house. But all is not well. For one thing, the pull of his past sins becomes ever more powerful as the morphine he is prescribed becomes ever more addictive. For another, Marianne receives word from God that she has only twenty-seven sculptures left to complete—and her time on earth will be finished.

Apostle Paul


James Cannon - 2005
    Eventually he became the leader of the movement that delivered the social and moral authority of Christianity to a pagan world. His quality of mind and ability to exhort and persuade, his personal commitment to ethical conduct and values, and his courage and indefatigability made Paul one of the continuing forces in the progress of Western civilization.

The Girl With No Home


Sheila Newberry - 2016
    Jerusha believes she has finally found the security she has always craved. But then disaster strikes.Kent, 1904.Two years after the sudden death of her husband, Jerusha is alone once again. But the arrival of the enigmatic Joe Finch, a traveller seeking work on the farm and a home for his daughter, sets Jerusha's life on a new path, giving her hope for her future.Has Jerusha found her happy ending at last, or will she be forever destined to lose the ones she loves?

Rumors of Eden


Kathy Frias - 2010
    But young Madai, a descendant of the tribe of Japheth, had a burning fire within him that demanded action. So he left his home in the north to search out the truth. Was the great father-God real? Had Eden existed? Were rumors of Noah and the great flood true? Madai had to know. He crossed the great Brine Sea, braving serpents, monsters and all manner of evil. Follow the adventures of Madai as he discovers the secrets of Genesis. Go with him to the ark. Meet the great patriarchs of old through the power of story! Watch the Bible come alive as you travel back thousands of years to a primal time in history when the world was still young! 300 years after the flood, God was a rumor, a fading whisper. But God is more lasting than rumor, and his hope and truth more powerful than evil.

Eve


William Paul Young - 2015
    Eve will destroy harmful misconceptions about ourselves.From the author of the 25-million copy bestseller The Shack comes a captivating new novel destined to be one of the most important and talked-about books of the decade.When a shipping container washes ashore on an island between our world and the next, John the Collector finds a young woman inside--broken, frozen, and barely alive. With the aid of Healers and Scholars, John oversees her recovery and soon discovers her genetic code connects her to every known human race. She is a girl of prophecy and no one can guess what her survival will mean...No one but Eve, Mother of the Living, who calls her daughter and invites her to witness the truth about her story--indeed, the truth about us all.Eve is a bold, unprecedented exploration of the Creation narrative, true to the original texts and centuries of scholarship, yet with breathtaking discoveries that challenge traditional misconceptions about who we are and how we're made. As The Shack awakened readers to a personal, non-religious understanding of God, Eve will free us from faulty interpretations that have corrupted human relationships since the Garden of Eden.Eve opens a refreshing conversation about the equality of men and women within the context of our beginnings, helping us see each other as our Creator does--complete, unique, and not constrained to cultural rules or limitations.Thoroughly researched and exquisitely written, Eve is a masterpiece that will inspire readers for generations to come.

At Home in Mitford


Jan Karon - 1994
    In these high, green hills, the air is pure, the village is charming, and the people are generally lovable.Yet, Father Tim, the bachelor rector, wants something more. Enter a dog the size of a sofa who moves in and won't go away. Add an attractive neighbor who begins wearing a path through the hedge. Now, stir in a lovable but unloved boy, a mystifying jewel theft, and a secret that's sixty years old.Suddenly, Father Tim gets more than he bargained for. And readers get a rich, provincial comedy in which mysteries and miracles abound.- Includes new Readers' Guide to group discussion or personal reflection- Includes a new introduction by Professor Dale Brown, a friend of Jan Karon.

A Mother's Song: A Story of the Orphan Train


Cleo A. Lampos - 2013
    Pregnant with their third child, Deirdre works as a washerwoman at the hotel's laundry. If Sean works at all, he drinks his paycheck at the pub. When he is killed in an accident at work, Deirdre is devastated. She gives birth to another son, but cannot work at the laundry. The oldest son lives on the street as a newsie. Rather than let Ava Rose and her baby brother starve to death with her, she signs for them to be put on an orphan train. This orphan train takes these youngsters to Nebraska to Claudine, who has suffered multiple miscarriages. Will the adoption provide the safety and opportunity that Deirdre hopes? This researched story of two mothers and the child who loves both is heart wrenching.It is a poignant tale of hope and courage against unfathomable odds for a better life free from prejudice and poverty.