Land of Silence
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
2017 INSPY Award winner, general fiction category
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 . . . and soul?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The newest biblical fiction from Christy Award winning novelist Afshar imaginatively elaborates on the short gospel story of the woman who stealthily touches Jesus and is healed. Afshar presents Elianna, whose life is blighted by the death of her young brother while in her care. The wound of estrangement from her father over this incident never heals, even as Elianna grows to prove herself a capable business partner in her father's textile trade. When Elianna later falls ill, she becomes isolated from everyone close to her. The denouement will be familiar to Christian readers, who will be fascinated by the ways Afshar breathes life into the ancient time and place of Jesus's life. Her portrait of the commerce and business of the time is fresh, making the family business a central aspect of the story. Some edges need polishing: the writer's evangelical theology occasionally breaks through explicitly ("my guilt is gone, replaced by grace") and the dialogue occasionally rings too modern. But fans of biblical fiction will enjoy an absorbing and well-researched chariot ride.
Customer Reviews
Amazing, So Beautiful.
I love this book. Everything about it is so raw and pure. Tessa puts everything she has into these books... so beautifully told it transports me in time to a different land where I am free to explore and learn from her and from our ancient past... the hard work, the struggle, the beauty, the awe of womanhood... absolutely amazing. Please read. 💜
Land of silence
What an amazing book
It made me appreciate the people in the Bible even more
Rich in descriptive prose and emotionally supercharged!
Rich in descriptive prose and emotionally supercharged, Tessa Afshar’s latest novel Land of Silence takes biblical fiction to new heights. Derived from a story that graces three of the four canonical gospels, Afshar puts flesh and bone on the woman with the issue of blood. Elainna’s story proclaims how we all possess worth in Christ and by Him we are made whole and well.
Following the death of her brother, 16 year old Elianna becomes imprisoned by her shame as well as her father’s grief. Like quicksand threatening to swallow her completely, she strives to regain her father’s love while attempting to keep her family’s business afloat. I was encouraged by how — when assaulted on every front and after enduring years of physical illness — Elianna remained anchored in God through prayer and reading scripture.
When the story opens, Elianna is betrothed to Ethan Ben Ezer. Like Sarah and Darius from Tessa’s sophomore novel Harvest of Rubies, I couldn’t help but love this strong willed woman and her stubborn, but noble man. Hold on tight; the road they travel together is replete with potholes and harrowing twists.
For it’s depth and ability to evoke such strong feelings from this reader, Land of Silence earns a spot on my Best of 2016 book list. I feel this novel is for perfect for anyone who has ever felt a yawning chasm in their heart – whether self induced or pressed upon them by another. That should encompass just about everyone. Buy it, read it, and then read it again. I know I will!