Bread of Angels

  BOOK REVIEW:     Purple. The foundation of an influential trade in a Roman world dominated by men. One woman rises up to take the reins of success in an incredible journey of courage, grit, and friendship. And along the way, she changes the world.
     But before she becomes Lydia, the seller of purple, she is simply a merchant's daughter who loves three things: her father, her ancestral home, and making dye. Then unbearable betrayal robs her of nearly everything.
     With only her father's secret formulas left, Lydia flees to Philippi and struggles to establish a business on her own. Determination and serendipitous acquaintances---along with her father's precious dye formula---help her become one of the city's preeminent merchants. But fear lingers in every shadow, until Lydia meets the Apostle Paul and hears his message of hope, becoming the first Christian in all of Europe. Still, Lydia can't outrun her secrets forever, and when past and present collide, she must either stand firm and trust in her fledgling faith or succumb to the fear that has ruled her life.

  MY REVIEW:     Tessa Afshar is one of my favorite authors. She has written six books with this one, and the three that I have read I have loved. They are all Biblical Fiction. Two are about Rahab and Ruth respectively, but the other four books are on less well-known characters. The last review of hers I posted was Land of Silence, about the woman who touched the hem of Jesus' skirt and was healed by faith. This book was written about Lydia, a seller of purple and a convert of Paul's.
     We don't know a lot about Lydia so the bulk of this story is made up. However, when Paul is introduced, there are several events taking place that can be found in Acts 16. For instance: verse 9 when Paul is called by vision to Macedonia; verses 13-15 when Paul and his companions spoke with the group of women worshiping by the river and Lydia is converted and baptized; verses 16-18 when Paul commanded the spirit leave the possessed damsel; verses 19-25 when her masters rose up against Paul and had him and Silas beaten and imprisoned; verses 26-34 when the earthquake loosed all the chains and the jailer was converted; verses 35-40 when Paul tells the magistrate of his and Silas' being Romans and being freed.
     Tessa portrays Lydia as a woman struggling with past betrayal and fear. She meets Rebekah, a young Jewess, and invites her along to Philippi. Together they build a prosperous business, with the help of several influential friends. However, there is one rival of theirs who is set on destroying them. Lydia is forced to overcome her fear and trust in God.
     This book jumps from Lydia at sixteen losing her father and going to Philippi and struggling to build a business, to twenty years later running a successful business. This is when Paul is introduced. I never thought of Lydia as much older than thirty at the most, but here she is near forty.
     I really enjoyed this book---I wasn't at all disappointed (except for her being older than I thought, of course, but that's a trivial thing, really). I am hoping there are many more books in store from Tessa.

     I received this book from TYNDALE PUBLISHERS per their blogger program and was not required to write a positive or otherwise review.