Return to Me (The Restoration Chronicles)

Lynn Austin's historical novels are so very excellent. They are true to Scripture. They help me to see that the Old Testament prophets are normal people like us, with problems and frustrations. Her books really help me to know God better and trust Him more. And they are so well written! Return to Me fleshes out the prophet Zechariah and his times. I went back and read the books of Zechariah, Haggai, and Nehemiah. Her novels are taken right out of the Old Testament, but makes the characters come alive.

Overall, the general plot was pretty good. It's historical fiction from a time that isn't really written about much, and the author does a good job making the time seem interesting. It also provides a point of view that isn't really discussed much (the Bible tends to gloss over the stories of the common people, especially if they didn't go along with the majority), and that was interesting. It was nice to see the person of Zachariah and his family more fully fleshed out.

THAT SAID

The book really reads like it's two separate novels: There's the story of the building of the temple , and there's the story of Dinah, Yael, and the others who have to come to terms with the fact that they're giving up everything and returning to Judah, and don't feel right about it. When I got to the point in the book where Dinah and Iddo's conflict was resolved, it felt a little bizarre, because up until then, that felt like the central conflict in the novel...and there was still a third of the book to read. I thought that there had to be something else still to happen between the two, but no. It didn't seem as though the two major plots were entwined together very well.

Also, the book is very obviously written about Jewish people from a modern Christian perspective. Now, there isn't necessarily anything wrong with that, per se, (and for the record, I'm Christian, not Jewish), but every once in a while, there would be a reference to something that would jolt me out of the setting. For example, Jews of the time would not have referred to Gentiles -- they would have used the Hebrew word goyim in reference to non-Jews. And the ritual observation of a bar mitzvah came out of the Middle Ages -- in the 5th century BC, it was just a term that indicated that the boy had come of age. It almost felt as though the author just took what she knew about modern Judaism and combined it with how the people of Palestine spoke in the New Testament, rather than fully researching the actual era itself.

But again, the overall plot was interesting, and it didn't seem overly preachy in tone. So if the modern references don't bother you like they did me, give it a shot.

Excellent Biblical fiction. Scriptures are given at the back of the book so it is easy to compare the Biblical account with the story, "Return To Me." Lynn Austin stays true to the historical description of the Jewish deportation and restoration. What her book does--is make the Bible's record come alive. As a reader of this book, I felt their pain in their loss of home and nation--then I felt their hope and joy in their resoration.

Another fabulous ready by Lynn.

Absolutely hard to put down once I opened it! Exciting and enlightening and, most importantly, holds true to Biblical Scriptures.