When I received my review copy for the book tour of Return to Me by Lynn Austin, it struck me that the cover was amazingly beautiful in an ancient sort of way.

While the summary was sent to me before the book review option, I didn’t really read it thoroughly enough to remember what the story was about.  In comparison to other Christian historical fiction novels, which tend to be like a grilled chicken salad, this book was as meaty and satisfying as Thanksgiving dinner.  Austin skillfully wove Biblical characters and events into her novel while keeping it interesting and fresh.  My heart broke as Iddo relived, again and again, the nightmare of the fall of Jerusalem.  I’ve read that section of the Old Testament dozens of times and even share that period of history with my students as part of our social studies curriculum.  Still, it had never occurred to me to reflect on the impact on real peoples’ lives.  It must have been such a period of unspeakable horror for the Israelites!    It also made me empathize more deeply with similar situations in the modern world, such as the current political strife in Syria.   Also, even my Old Testament Prophets class in college didn’t help me connect the dots between the various Biblical characters the way that Return to Me did.  Imagining the prophet Zechariah as a child was not difficult at all in Austin’s world.

So many Godly truths are revealed in this book, too.  It was a very uplifting experience.  One section in particular really struck home with me.  On page 370, Zechariah admits to his grandfather that he doesn’t feel that he’s actually found God yet, even though he moved to a new land to find him.  His grandfather explains that finding God isn’t always a thunder-and-lightning experience.  Sometimes God speaks to us through a babbling brook or a whisper of wind instead.  I really needed to hear that message.  Return to Me was a blessing for me and I hope that you’ll take the time to read it, too.