The House Girl by Tara Conklin

"Virginia, 1852. Seventeen-year-old Josephine Bell decides to run from the failing tobacco farm where she is a slave and nurse to her ailing mistress, the aspiring artist Lu Anne Bell. New York City, 2004. Lina Sparrow, an ambitious first-year associate in an elite law firm, is given a difficult, highly sensitive assignment that could make her career: she must find the “perfect plaintiff” to lead a historic class-action lawsuit worth trillions of dollars in reparations for descendants of American slaves.

It is through her father, the renowned artist Oscar Sparrow, that Lina discovers Josephine Bell and a controversy roiling the art world: are the iconic paintings long ascribed to Lu Anne Bell really the work of her house slave, Josephine? A descendant of Josephine’s would be the perfect face for the reparations lawsuit—if Lina can find one. While following the runaway girl’s faint trail through old letters and plantation records, Lina finds herself questioning her own family history and the secrets that her father has never revealed: How did Lina’s mother die? And why will he never speak about her?

Moving between antebellum Virginia and modern-day New York, this searing, suspenseful and heartbreaking tale of art and history, love and secrets, explores what it means to repair a wrong and asks whether truth is sometimes more important than justice."

Reading about the underground railroad has always fascinated me. Conklin goes back and forth from the 1850's to 2004. When reading the chapters in 2004, I found myself wanting to get back to the 1850's. 

Conklin also fascinated me with the relationship of Josephine and Lu Anne. I found myself wondering if there were actually many slaves and owners that had a relationship like they did. I hope so. I always feel so helpless when reading about the slaves. 

The story line is very good but the book dragged for me in a few places. I did like it though and would recommend it.

"Tara Conklin is a writer and lawyer currently living with her family in Seattle, WA. Most recently, she worked as a litigator in the New York and London offices of a corporate law firm but now devotes herself full-time to writing fiction. Prior to law school, Tara worked in a variety of jobs in a variety of locales. She dealt cards at a casino in Costa Rica, planned events at a press center in Moscow, taught English at a school in Madrid and waited tables at a hotel in Montana.  Her short fiction has appeared in The Bristol Prize Anthology and Pangea: An Anthology of Stories from Around the Globe. Tara was born in St. Croix, USVI and grew up in Massachusetts. She holds a BA in history from Yale University, a JD from New York University School of Law and a Master of Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School (Tufts University)."

From her website that you can find here:  http://www.taraconklin.com/ 

The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn

I read "The Harbinger" a couple of months ago and have hesitated to do a review because I'm not sure I can do this book justice.

"Is it possible... 

That there exists an ancient mystery that holds the secret of America s future?

That this mystery lies behind everything from 9/11 to the collapse of the global economy?

That ancient harbingers of judgment are now manifesting in America?

That God is sending America a prophetic message of what is yet to come?

Before its destruction as a nation, ancient Israel received nine harbingers, prophetic omens of warning. The same nine harbingers are now manifesting in America with immediate ramifications for end-time prophecy.

Hidden in an ancient biblical prophecy from Isaiah, the mysteries revealed in The Harbinger are so precise that they foretold recent American events down to the exact days. The revelations are so specific that even the most hardened skeptics will find it hard to dismiss or put down. It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood thriller with one exception... IT S REAL.

The prophetic mysteries are revealed through an intriguing and engaging narrative the reader will find hard to put down. The Harbinger opens with the appearance of a man burdened with a message he has received from a mysterious figure called The Prophet. The Prophet has given him nine seals, each containing a message about America s future. As he tells of his encounters with The Prophet, from a skyscraper in New York City, to a rural mountaintop, to Capitol Hill, to Ground Zero, the mystery behind each seal is revealed. As the story unfolds, each revelation becomes a piece in a greater puzzle the ramifications of which will even alter the course of world history." Back of book

I didn't read this book in a day or two. It took me awhile. I thought it was very well written, keeps your attention - because of the subject matter - but I did get bogged down once in a while.

It can be a life changing book. It compares America to the struggles of the Israelite's. Some will argue that America is not in a covenant with God whereas Israel was. However, in referring to America, Cahn is going upon the belief system of our founding fathers and what they intended for their country.

I have read many reviews of this book. I have come to the conclusion that "Christians" can be the most critical group of people on this earth. We shout loud and long about the persecution we receive from the secular world, then we turn around and do the same to one another.

I am a believer in accountability but I also like fiction and this was written as a fiction book. - no matter how much it parallels with our world today.

I did like the book. I liked the research Cahn has done to write the book. I think it gives much to think about and to ponder.

Most Christians will agree with me that Jesus is returning - and He is returning soon. We have no idea when this will be but we should be living each day as if He is returning in 2 hours.

Good book. Challenging Book. Controversial Book. I liked it and I recommend it.

"Jonathan Cahn is President of [Hope of World Ministries,] Senior Pastor and Messianic Rabbi of the the Jerusalem Center/ Beth Israel in Wayne, New Jersey. He is also the author of the best selling book ["The Harbinger."] His teachings are broadcast daily over hundreds of radio stations throughout the United States and the world and on television.  He ministers, as did the first Jewish messengers of the Gospel, sharing the message of Messiah to Jew and Gentile, Israel, and the nations.  He has ministered before mass gatherings in India, Nigeria, Cuba, Mizoram, Honduras, Haiti, & throughout the world.  His teachings are widely known for revealing the deep mysteries of God’s word and for the restoring of the new covenant message to its original biblically Jewish richness and power."

found here: http://www.bethisraelworshipcenter.org/aboutjonathan.htm

 Here is Jonathan Cahn's website: http://www.hopeoftheworld.org/