Title: Flame of Mercy
Author: Eleanor Bertin
Series: Burning Bright, book 1
Major Themes: Nigeria, Terrorism, Grief, Women, Missionaries
Synopsis: When tragedy tore her world apart, Lynnie had to begin life all over again with only her faith to keep her going.
A year or so ago I won an ecopy of Eleanor Bertin’s Flame of Mercy in a little giveaway she did. A while before that, I had read two of her stories in Christmas collections, and commented both times in my reviews that I wanted to read more by her—but for whatever reason, I never opened this book when she gave it to me. Then, a couple of months ago, I won a copy of her next book. That made me decide it was time to read these books. I started reading Flame of Mercy—and couldn’t put it down.
Publisher’s description:
Two families, worlds apart. Can they find hope in the crucible of suffering?
All Lynnie Min ever wanted was to be a wife and mother. But when tragedy strikes her family, she’s left with nothing but her faith to begin life again. While pursuing a career she never wanted, can the precious faith she was raised on withstand betrayal by a hostile former friend, now a professor whose ideologies conflict with her own? And why do her puzzling dreams feature only one of her daughters, not both?
Out of a smoking ruin in northern Nigeria, Ihsan bin Ibrahim stumbles upon the solution to his wife’s barrenness and longing. But family ties have a long reach. Will he make the ultimate sacrifice to follow his conscience, even if it means losing the child he loves?
My thoughts:
Wow. What a book. I came away from reading Flame of Mercy with a lot to mull over. Not only was the main storyline gripping, but the scenes that involved the hostile professor were, at the same time, horrifying and encouraging. Horrifying because of the hostility toward much of what I hold dear, and encouraging because obviously, other people hold the same ideas dear! Reading this book will encourage women that it is all right to want to be a wife and mother and that it is all right not to pursue a career. I also greatly appreciated the little snippets that were told about Lynnie’s husband and the way he treated her while they were dating. That was very refreshing to me!
Part of this story is set in Nigeria. I was startled to read the name of a city there, where Lynnie and her family had lived. One of our nephews was there for a short time, approximately at the same time in which this story is set! The date is never mentioned in the book, since it is fiction, but since the Covid lockdowns are mentioned it is obvious. I appreciated learning more about the place where our nephew was.
As I said at the beginning, I couldn’t put Flame of Mercy down. I had to many times, because my life is very full, but when I got near the end I did something I rarely do—sat down, on a weekday, and just read. That is how much this story gripped me. This book is not a typical contemporary fiction book. I really appreciated reading a book that was so different. Check it out if you want something with more depth than most Christian fiction on the market today.
(Note: Be careful about reading chapters 6 and 10 late in the day. I woke up dreaming about experiencing what was described in the book after reading that part of it.)
WARNING: Two chapters depict horrific events—chapters 10 and 32.
Age levels:
Reading Independently—Adults
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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