Summer Reading!

This year, Momma announced that we were going to have a family summer book club. We love reading anyway but adding a few prizes here and there just makes it more fun and adds a little more motivation.

I'll be posting some book reviews by different members of the family throughout the summer. I'll start with two done by Kyle and I(Emilee).

THE LOST CLUE

By Mrs. O.F. Walton

Book Review by Kyle Johnson

The main character in this book is Kenneth Fortescue who is an English gentleman and a captain in the army. He was a tall, handsome man of dignified and noble demeanor. His mother died when he was quite young, so he was brought up by his father, a wealthy man in the mining business. As a boy, Kenneth received a good education and when he was of age his father procured a commission for him in the army.

Kenneth Fortescue received an urgent request from his father to come home to see him. Kenneth immediately obeyed and when arriving home found that his father was near death because of a recent shock. The cause of that shock was a letter from one of his business associates telling him that all his money is lost because the mine, which was so prosperous for a time, had flooded. Because the interest rates were so high, Kenneth Fortescue’s father had invested all his money in this one mine and so when it flooded, he lost all his money. When Kenneth reached his father’s bedside, his father told him of a letter that he had written to him that was to be opened after his death. So after Kenneth’s father died, Kenneth opened the letter but he found that all it contained was a blank sheet of paper.

Although Kenneth was disappointed and shocked that the letter was worthless, he also had other business to attend to. At one point of time, a parson who was a friend of Kenneth’s father, had asked him to invest his savings for him. This Kenneth’s father did willingly enough, and had invested it along with his money in the mine. He paid the interest received regularly to the parson and his family. But at the time the mine flooded, the parson was no longer living, so his family did not only lose all their savings, but they were also without a provider; that is, until Kenneth came on the scene.

Before Kenneth’s father died he had made Kenneth promise to tell the parson’s family of this tragedy in person, instead of sending a letter. Bound by this promise, Kenneth took a train to go see the parson’s family (who’s last name was Douglas) so that he could break the news to them. Although the family was saddened by the news, Kenneth finds that it was not such a hard thing as he thought it was because of the family’s faith in God. His news did mean the breaking apart of this family somewhat. Although Kenneth promised to pay back the 4,000 pounds that the family had lost, he could not hope to be able to sustain them and himself at the same time. Because of this, Marjorie Douglas, one of the older daughters of Mrs. Douglas and also the most capable, went out to work in a very dreary area of England as a nanny, or “mother’s help.” Marjorie Douglas was a pretty girl in her early twenties, who was full of life, intelligent, and cheerful.

After settling the affairs at his father’s old home, Kenneth searched for an occupation which he found in a fire insurance company. Kenneth spent long hours working very hard for the insurance company and lived very cheaply; sending all the money he can possibly spare to the Douglas family.

The relationship between Kenneth Fortescue and his father is, I think, a very interesting one. Although Kenneth is grateful to his father for all he has done for him in the way of excellent schooling and generous gifts via checks, there are things he doesn’t know about him. Kenneth’s father is a wealthy land proprietor, but Kenneth doesn’t know how he had risen from being a common miner to such a wealthy man. He was also very poorly educated; being a poor writer, using little grammar, and not knowing the Kings English - speaking instead the rougher talk of miner. Notwithstanding, Kenneth paid him his due respect and honor because of who he was.

I think that Kenneth Fortescue is a very good example for us today. Although it was not his fault that the Douglas family lost all of its money that was invested, Kenneth took it upon himself to provide for the widow and fatherless. James 1:27 says, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” I would say that Kenneth was doing this when he took it upon himself to provide for this fatherless family. He was practicing self-denial as he lived as cheaply as he could so that he could support the Douglas family.

While Marjorie Douglas is in a very dreary part of the country working as a mother’s aid, she accidentally stumbles upon the real letter that Kenneth’s father had written to Kenneth (that was too be opened after his death). Marjorie discovered it while helping an old woman who was dying. After recognizing the name of who it was too, she took a train and personally delivered it to Kenneth herself. Although Marjorie didn’t know it herself, that letter contained information that could completely alter their present situation. In this letter, Kenneth’s father explained to Kenneth that he was not his real father. Instead he had been paid to raise Kenneth by a rich nobleman after Kenneth’s real mother had died. The rich nobleman had done this so that he would be free to marry another woman. Although a very queer situation, Kenneth’s “father” had agreed to it because he would be made a rich man. Now in the letter, Kenneth’s “father” told Kenneth to find his legal father and claim his rights as rightful son, hoping his real father would receive him. Now all Kenneth had to do was figure out where his real father was living and go to declare who he was. Surely his father would receive his own son! The only problem with this was how to find where his father lived. For some reason the name of his father in the letter was carefully blotted out.

After this, things went on normally for some time until Kenneth went to another part of the country on business. Because he worked for the fire insurance company, Kenneth went to investigate the extent of the damage a fire caused in a very luxurious mansion. While there, he recognized the owner of the mansion, the earl, to be his father because of his likeness to him, and also because of a clue that was given to him in the letter from his “father”. Although he stated who he was in a letter and asked his real father to receive him as his rightful son, his father replied back that he had no knowledge of such an affair. Greatly disappointed, Kenneth went back to his normal work. Some months later he received a telegram telling he to come to the castle to see his real father immediately. Kenneth went as soon as possible and found the earl, his father, bedridden because of his weak heart. The earl professed Kenneth to be his son and Kenneth spent the next several months with him. Because of the earl’s heart problems though, he soon died.

Kenneth later became a rich man, having inherited the whole of his father’s estate. Now he was able to pay back the Douglas family in full. The book ends with the marriage of Kenneth to Marjorie Douglas. I really enjoyed reading this book. The way in which the ending happened was not predictable, although Kenneth’s marriage to Marjorie Douglas was.

For the Temple

By G.A. Henty

Book review by Emilee Johnson

The main character in this book is John, later known as John of Gamala and was in his late teens when this story took place. John loved his country Israel, even though she was torn by political strife and civil war. Even more than his love for the country though, was his love for the temple in Jerusalem; God's habitation. When the Romans came to settle the rebellion and pay back for all the insults certain Jews had heaped upon them, John gathered a group of young men to act as guerrilla soldiers. They were to hinder the Romans in their work and do as much damage as possible while avoiding a head-on assault. John was a great leader of men. He was courageous, quick thinking, and wise. His group was very successful and the Romans feared them.

The time period of this book is right around 70 AD. The Jews had rebelled against the Romans and not kept their promises with them. Also there were two men striving for control in Jerusalem which caused much civil war and bloodshed. Some Jews even doubted that God was with them anymore. This book is about when the emperor of Rome sent one of his greatest generals, Vespasian, and his son Titus to go and take back Israel. Josephus was the ruler of Israel at the time and much loved by the people, but he was captured by the Romans after being trapped in a siege. He later somewhat joined them in order to save his life which then caused the Jews to view him as a traitor.

John was part of Josephus’s body guard and so followed him to Jotapata when the Roman army drew near. Josephus had fortified the town of Jotapata and had called the chief fighting men to join him there when the Romans came to lay siege. John participated and witnessed the brave fighting of his fellow country men. Though they put every ounce of strength into the fighting, the Romans finally broke into the city, killing and destroying. John was able to escape with another young boy by the name of Jonas. The two of them were the only free survivors of the siege. Josephus was captured and partly joined the Romans.

While in Jotapata, John had decided that he thought that it would be much more effective to have small bands of men harassing the Romans from all sides and in many ways while avoiding an all-out assault instead of boxing the fighting men in a city where they were sure to eventually fall before the Romans. After returning home, John organized a band of young men and became their leader. He and his men were very successful in hindering the Romans and causing many casualties while they were busy in besieging the town of Gamala. His men were even able to set fire to the Roman camp while only losing one man in the process. He became a legendary figure among the people though no one knew who this John actually was. Because of his many successes against the Romans at Gamala he was called “John of Gamala” though he was not actually born there. John and his band’s main purpose and drive though was to save the temple. This is why they were fighting. They made sure to stay out of the local political feuds and made it very clear that they were fighting the Romans only.

One day, while John was on a scouting mission, he overcame a prestigious Roman who challenged him by throwing his spear. Soon, the two were in hand-to-hand combat. Finally John pined his opponent to the ground and was about to kill him when the Roman revealed himself as Titus, Vespasian’s son. John decided not to kill him but to make him swear that he would do all in his power to save the temple. Needless to say, Titus swore! Titus admired John for his bravery and treated him well from then on. He also gave John a special ring so that if he was captured he would need to just show the ring and he would immediately be sent to Titus.

When the Romans approached Jerusalem, John and his men entered the city in order to protect the temple. John was successful in settling and bringing peace between the two political figures who were fighting over power and fought alongside them in defense of Jerusalem. Titus kept his word and did his best to save the temple but he couldn’t because of the relentless and rebellious Jews. After many days and weeks of fighting and much bloodshed, the temple burnt to the ground. After the temple fell, John and his men decided to leave the city via an underground tunnel which a woman had shown to John. While John and Jonas were on their way back to their home, they were caught by slave-traders and shipped to Alexandria, Egypt to be sold as slaves. Eventually John showed his ring, which he had kept hidden, to his master and he and Jonas were sent to Titus in Rome. Titus made John procurator of Galilee and sent the two of them home with riches. Upon arrival, John married his cousin and close friend, Mary and wisely ruled over his people. He also became a follower of Christ.

This book was very interesting and shows what a terrible time this was for the Jews. Hundreds of thousand died and their sacred temple was destroyed. This all lined up with Jesus' prophecy about this time in Matthew 24 and it is interesting to hear that there are no records of any Christians being slain because they heeded Christ's warning and fled to the mountains.

It's your turn now, grab a good book and enjoy the summer!!