THE LONGING SEASON

Author: Christine Schaub ISBN: 0764200607 7/2006 HISTORICAL Publisher: BETHANY HOUSE
Time Period: Georgian England 1740's

In the 1740s, British culture allows few options for the son of a merchant ship captain. And in a time of war, a man with John Newton's experience must serve the king. But Newton—a man who quotes Virgil and curses God with equal fervor—is interested in serving only himself. Mary Catlett simply cannot believe her childhood friend sailed away on a British warship and vanished in Africa. In desperation, she takes a step that will change her life and call her lost love home. But will he arrive in time? Newton's odyssey takes him from the West Africa gold coast to the banks of Newfoundland to the heart of the Atlantic before he finds what he's spent his entire life longing for: deliverance.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

How many times have I written that a particular book is my favorite—okay, a couple of times, but this time I mean it. THE LONGING SEASON by Christine Schaub is MY FAVORITE BOOK EVER. I cried at the end of it and I never cry! (Okay, I cry once in awhile, but it's usually over a smashed finger and a broken nail).

The manuscript came to me as an Advanced Reader Copy, so it didn't have the usual synopsis written on the book and I didn't know who the story was about. The hero was John Newton and I've heard the name before (Didn't he invent a cookie or something?), but as I read, I started to realize this John Newton was THE John Newton who wrote Amazing Grace. THE LONGING SEASON is a fictional account of John Newton's life and of his true love, Mary. No fictional story can stand up to this, well, fictional love story, but the point is is that it's based on facts.

Whether you enjoy Christian romance or not, buy this book. You will love it and keep it forever—just like me.

Cynthia Whitten