2023
"I picked up The Cornish Vicar’s Daughter for £1 at a charity shop. Just because it was thicker than the rest. But after about 100 pages, I threw it in the trash. Reading it made me feel uncomfortable, not because of the language or sex, it was the bits about God. As an unfaithful wife, and pretty crap mother, I had my own opinions of this guy. Someone I wanted out of my space, and I believed the feeling was mutual. And that was how I wanted it to stay.
That was the end I thought but a week later my daughter Rachel, just turned fourteen, announced at breakfast that she wanted to go to church. Because that’s what Christians do. 'You’re no Christian,' I sneered, thinking about the wild teenager she was becoming. 'Yes I am,' was the reply. 'I found that book you chucked away. I’ve been reading it and last night I said the prayer the Irish girl did , not expecting anything to happen. But it did, Mum. I now know Jesus isn’t some make-believe guy. Like everyone I know says. He’s real. That’s what I could hear a voice inside me saying.'
I’d never stepped inside a church for years but that’s where I went that morning. Because the look on my daughter’s face when she talked about what she’d learned from the book meant I couldn’t refuse.
It’s now six months since Rachel’s bombshell. And since then, she’s hardly missed a single Sunday service. She sings in the choir, has a whole new set of friends and, in just about every way, is a different person. I go with her when I can and I recently joined an adult group learning about the Bible. My faith isn't yet as strong as Rachel's, but I'm getting there.
I often think about how Rachel's and my life has been changed by a book I threw away. I’m learning that God’s ways are not ours so perhaps this is an example. I doubt if any of this would have happened if I’d given the book to my daughter saying, 'Hey, you should read this.' I’m pretty sure it would have been her throwing it in the bin!'"
–T.J (Mrs) Catford, London
2022
“Alcott’s Little Women reborn. On steroids!”
– Anonymous
“I start the book not knowing God… I finish with Jesus as my friend.”
–Mariana, Argentina
“Three Stars”
–readersfavourite.com
“…the work is well written and has a good chance of success…”
-Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers Ltd.