The Face of Heaven

I love it when an author will find a way to put a unique and unexpected twist into something we would never have considered and as a reader seeing it with new eyes! That is just what author, Murray Pura has done in his recent novel, The Face of Heaven. He has delightfully taken two of my personal favorite genre's and blended them so wonderfully together that is makes a readers heart sing!

In The Face of Heaven, we meet the Keim's, your typical Amish family living and working hard on their farm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1861. As Lyndel Keim, is finishing her chores in the barn she stumbles across two slaves running from the law, Charlie Preston and Moses Gunnison. Charlie is badly wounded and this is his third attempt at trying to make it North to find freedom at last while the Civil War is just beginning. Lyndel knows if she confronts her father, the Bishop, he will not lie but turn the men over to the sheriff if he comes looking for the men. So instead she finds her brother, Levi and his best friend Nathaniel King and enlists their aid.

Just as they are preparing to take care of Charlie's wounds, Lyndel's father comes in and is considerably upset that neither of his children felt they could trust him to do the right thing and care for the men. He has them moved upstairs and immediately cared for. As night falls, the Bishop gathers the elders at his home to discuss how to care for the men who have come to his home and it's obvious that some feel these men being slaves should be returned to their masters on the Virginia plantation and so the men are divided on the best course for what they should do.

Just as they are about to adjourn, there is a pounding on the door, and when Bishop Keim opens the door, the sheriff is there hearing that the runaways slaves are being cared for there. When Bishop Keim confirms that, the slave owners rush into the house looking for the men, Nathaniel blocks the staircase and tries to prevent them from being taken while they are still healing, but the men push past him and search the house looking for the men. When they take them bound and place them in the wagon, Nathaniel and Lyndel know that this is not God's will, and so the war within begins.

The Face of Heaven blends two wonderful genres of Amish Fiction along with Historical Fiction with a blend of suspense, action adventure and of course just the right touch of romance. Nathaniel is not going to stand idly by and watch the country he loves being turned over to the likes of the slave owners without a fight, even if it means being shunned by his church and community. The story really entices the reader is so many ways in such a perfect blending of lyrical words to describe the setting and the characters in the story that you feel everything as though you are actually there. He has truly found something amazing and it's not the only time Murray Pura has blended genres so well together. His first book, The Wings of Morning is another I will definitely be checking out and is on my MUST READ list. For those of you looking for something different, this is it and why I rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars.

I received The Face of Heaven by Murray Pura compliments of Harvest House Publishers and Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review. This is the second book in the Snapshots of History series.For more information on this novel, the author and where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

The Face of Heaven by Murray Pura

You can also find Murray Pura on Facebook.

To read more reviews from readers on this book tour, please click here.