Land of Silence

    BOOK REVIEW:   Before Christ called her daughter.....Before she stole healing by touching the hem of His garment.........     Elianna is a young girl crushed by guilt. After her only brother is killed while in her care, Elianna tries to earn forgiveness by working for her father's textile trade and caring for her family. When another tragedy places Elianna in sole charge of the business, her talent for design brings enormous success, but never the absolution she longs for. As her world unravels, she breaks off her betrothal to the only man she will ever love. Then illness strikes, isolating Elianna from everyone, stripping everything she has left.
No physician can cure her. No end is in sight.   Until she hears whispers of a man whose mere touch can heal. After so many years of suffering and disappointment, is it possible that one man could redeem the wounds of body, heart, and soul?

    MY REVIEW:    I have read one of Tessa Afshar's books (In the Field of Grace) and completely loved it. When I saw that she had written another I instantly grabbed it. The combination of her writing the book and the topic she wrote about intrigued me--I was curious to see what kind of story would be written about the woman who touched the hem of Jesus' skirt. The book did not disappoint. However, with as little as is said about the woman in the Gospels, LAND OF SILENCE is more fiction than Biblical. And yet, Tessa wrote a story that fits well with the known culture of those days--it reads with a believable ring.
I am the kind of reader who can especially enjoy a particular thread of  a story, and when it is severed, I can be quite dissappointed. This book was one that almost threatened to do so--I had to read a bit of the end to assure myself that I wouldn't be too disappointed to finish it. 😊
One thing I especially liked in the ending of the story was the forgiveness Elianna finally gave to those who had hurt her in life. For most of her life, she was burdened with bitter thoughts towards her father, plus a few other characters as time went by. When she finally forgave them, her burden was lifted. This is what I call a trully "happy ending", and it really makes the book worth reading.