An Interview with Crystal McVea |
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A: When God said, “Tell them what you can remember,” He was telling me what He wanted me to do with the rest of my life. And that is a very, very powerful thing to hear directly from God. This is why He sent me back, why I’m here today and not in heaven. It’s because God still has a plan for me on Earth. And I understand now that the reason He wants me to share my life story is because of all the other people out there who are going through the same struggles and facing the same challenges as I did. God is sending them the message that He is real and He loves them and they are worthy of His love, just as He communicated that message to me. And I think the story of my time in heaven by itself wouldn’t be as powerful without the story of my life and who I was before I met God. Q: When you talk about “the enemy,” are you referring to the Devil or some other form of evil? How can we recognize “the enemy” in your estimation? A: When I say “the enemy,” I mean Satan and the demonic realm. In John 10 and many other scriptures, Jesus warns us about the enemy. So many times people believe in God but not in the enemy that Jesus tells us about. One of my favorite quotes says, “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled off was making the world believe he didn’t exist.” Imagine the havoc that the enemy can wreak in your life if you don’t even believe he is real. I think we can recognize the work of Satan or demons by simply listening to the warning of Jesus—that the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy. Q: You describe the many women who have shared their stories of struggle and heartbreak after hearing your testimony. Do you find that your story is especially important for women who have endured abuse? Do you feel particularly called to empower women? A: It’s true that a lot of women have come up to me and shared their stories, but I believe my testimony is aimed at anyone who is searching for God, men and women alike. The things I went through—the abortion, the sexual abuse, abandonment—those are things that don’t only affect women. Abortions affect men, too. Sexual abuse affects everyone. Now, my story may be especially relevant to women, because it is told through a woman’s perspective, and women can relate to the things I discuss. But I truly believe my testimony is relevant to anyone and everyone who wants to know, “Is God real? Does He love me? Do I matter?” Finding the answers to these questions can empower everyone, men and women alike. Q: Talk more about the “nudges” that God gives to you. How can you tell the difference between your voice and God’s? A: When God tells me to do something, it’s usually something I don’t want to do and/or feel embarrassed about doing. It’s like the day I watched Dr. Phil and saw Laura Schroff on the show, and God nudged me to contact her about helping me with my book. And I just didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to contact this complete stranger and tell her my whole story, and I prayed and prayed not to have to do it, but God kept nudging me, and finally I did it. And it worked out. Or the time God nudged me to give the waitress a $100 tip. That is the last thing I wanted to do, because I just didn’t have the money. But the beauty of God’s nudges is that He usually shows me why He wanted me to do something once I’ve finally done it. And I can tell the difference between God’s voice and my own voice because my own voice second-guesses everything. But God’s voice is firm. Q: Do you think the first step to believing in God’s love is forgiveness? Was that the first step you had to take in order to become a believer? A: Actually, for me the very first step toward believing in God’s love was beginning a relationship with Jesus Christ. I just started talking to him. I asked him to come into my life and my heart. I was plagued with doubt my entire life. But even when I wasn’t sure, I always kept talking to Jesus and God. From the time I was a kid to when I died, I was always asking God questions and asking Him to prove things to me. My heart was open to the possibility that God is real and that He loves me, even if my brain wasn’t. For me, the ability to forgive came later. Q: If you had to name a theme of your story, what would it be and why? A: Oh gosh, I don’t know. I just think my life is like everybody else’s, and that all of our lives are an endless pursuit of God. And God never stops pursuing us, no matter how far we stray, no matter how far we fall. So I guess the theme could be that God’s love never fails us. It never fails. And once we realize that, it changes everything. So my story is about my pursuit of God, and God’s pursuit of me. The thing is, I have always seen my story as a beautiful love story. It’s a story about all the amazing things He has done for me on this journey. It’s a love story about God’s love for me, and for all of us. * * * |
The Golem and the Jinni
Helene Wecker, 2013
HarperCollins
512 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780062110848
Summary
Helene Wecker's dazzling debut novel tells the story of two supernatural creatures who appear mysteriously in 1899 New York.
Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a strange man who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York Harbor.
Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian Desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop.
Struggling to make their way in this strange new place, the Golem and the Jinni try to fit in with their neighbors while masking their true natures. Surrounding them is a community of immigrants: the coffeehouse owner Maryam Faddoul, a pillar of wisdom and support for her Syrian neighbors; the solitary ice cream maker Saleh, a damaged man cursed by tragedy; the kind and caring Rabbi Meyer and his beleaguered nephew, Michael, whose Sheltering House receives newly arrived Jewish men; the adventurous young socialite Sophia Winston; and the enigmatic Joseph Schall, a dangerous man driven by ferocious ambition and esoteric wisdom.
Meeting by chance, the two creatures become unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing natures, until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful menace will soon bring the Golem and the Jinni together again, threatening their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.
Marvelous and compulsively readable, The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of folk mythology, historical fiction, and magical fable into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale. (From the publisher.)
Read an interview with Helene Wecker.
See the video.
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Raised—near Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Education—B.A., Carleton College; M.F.A.,
Columbia University
• Currently—lives near San Francisco, California
Helene Wecker grew up in Libertyville, Illinois, a small town north of Chicago, and received her Bachelor’s in English from Carleton College in Minnesota. After graduating, she worked a number of marketing and communications jobs in Minneapolis and Seattle before deciding to return to her first love, fiction writing. Accordingly, she moved to New York to pursue a Master’s in fiction at Columbia University. She now lives near San Francisco with her husband and daughter. The Golem and the Jinni is her first novel. (From the author's website.)
Book Reviews
Wecker's first novel is a magical tale of two mythical creatures—a golem from a Polish shtetl and a jinni from the Syrian Desert—struggling to fit in among New York's turn-of-the-19th-century immigrants.... Wecker deftly layers their story over those of the people they encounter, including a Jewish baker and his wife, a Maronite coffee shop owner and his wife, a doctor turned ice cream vendor, and an apostate social worker. The ending dips into melodrama, but the human touches more than compensate in Wecker's spellbinding blend of fantasy and historical fiction
Publishers Weekly
In 1899 two very different creatures find themselves in New York City. Chava is a golem, a woman made of clay and brought to life by a Polish magician to be the perfect wife. Ahmed is a jinni, a being made of fire, who has been released from a flask he's been bound in for centuries. [The two] must learn how to survive undetected while preparing to battle a dangerous adversary.... Verdict: Full of quirky characters and philosophical and religious musings... [A] fascinating blend of historical fiction and Jewish and Arab folklore. —Katie Lawrence, Chicago
Library Journal
The premise is so fresh...A mystical and highly original stroll through the sidewalks of New York.
Booklist
Wecker begins with a juicy premise…and great adventures ensue…She writes skillfully, nicely evoking the layers of alienness that fall upon strangers in a strange land.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Compare the Golem and the Jinni’s origins. How are their personalities reflected in their origins? How are the creatures similar, and how do those similarities draw them together? How are they different? What are their individual strengths—and what makes them weak? How do these influence their choices as events unfold? How do the Golem and the Jinni make each other better beings?
2. What are Chava and Ahmad like when we first meet them? What about at the end of the story? How do events impact who they are and what they believe about themselves and each other?
3. Why do you think Helene Wecker chose to set the story in turn-of-the-century New York? How do the experiences of the Golem and the Jinni mirror those of their fellow immigrants? Are their magical powers all that set them apart from their human neighbors? How might the story unfold if it were set today? What would Ahmad and Chava think about modern America? Would it be easier or more difficult for them to adapt and blend in to contemporary urban society?
4. What do we learn about life—about what it means to be human—from Ahmad and Chava? How does each reflect particular aspects of the human character, both our noble inclinations and our flaws?
5. What is your opinion of the characters, the Golem and the Jinni? What do you like best about each of them? If you could have a magical power, what would it be?
6. Describe the Jinni’s relationship with the tinsmith who released him, Arbeely. Why does he keep the Jinni’s secret? What about the relationship between the Golem and Rabbi Meyer? Why doesn’t he destroy her?
7. Numerous secondary characters are central to the Golem and the Jinni’s story: Saleh, Maryam, Anna, Matthew, Sophia, Michael. Choose one or two of them, and show their role in the story and in the lives of Chava and Ahmad. For instance, think about Sophia’s love affair with Ahmad and Michael’s relationship to Chava. How are these humans transformed by their involvement with these supernatural beings? How is Saleh connected to Ahmad? What do we learn about Ahmad from his interactions with young Matthew?
8. Early in the novel Rabbi Meyer and his nephew, Michael, are having a philosophical discussion about faith, tradition, and modernity. Michael tells him, “As long as we keep to our old beliefs, we’ll never find our place in the modern world.” His uncle replies, “Of course, this wonderful modern world that has rid us of all ills, of poverty and corruption! What fools we are, not to cast our shackles aside!” Do you agree with Michael? How can we keep our traditions and faith while still embracing change? How is this struggle reflected in both Chava and Ahmad’s characters?
9. What is Yehuda Schaalman’s role in the story? What drives him? What lessons can we learn from his experiences? What does he want from Chava and Ahmad? Towards the end of the novel, Chava and Ahmad discuss Schaalman’s character and the choices he has made. Are we slaves to our natures? Can we change them?
10. What parallels do you see in this story set a century ago and our own lives today? What elements make the story historical and what makes it modern? What do you think will happen to Chava and Ahmad?
(Questions issued by publisher.)
And Then I Found You |
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The Story Behind the Story
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And Then I Found You |
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—Excerpt—
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And Then I Found You
Patti Callahan Henry, 2013
St. Martin's Press
272 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780312610760
Summary
Kate Vaughan is no stranger to tough choices. She’s made them before. Now it’s time to do it again.
Kate has a secret, something tucked away in her past. And she’s getting on with her life. Her business is thriving. She has a strong relationship with her family, and a devoted boyfriend whom she wants to love with all her heart. If Kate had ever made a list, Rowan would fill the imagined boxes of a perfect mate. But she wants more than the perfect on paper relationship; she wants a real and imperfect love. That's why, when Kate discovers the small velvet box hidden in Rowan's drawer, she panics.
It always happens this way. Just when Kate thinks she can love, just when she believes she can conquer the fear, she’s filled with dread. And she wants more than anything to make this feeling go away. But how?
When the mistakes have been made and the running is over, it’s time to face the truth. Kate knows this. She understands that a woman can never undo what can never be undone. Yet, for the first time in her life she also knows that she won’t fully love until she confronts those from her past. It’s time to act.
Can she do it? Can she travel to the place where it all began, to the one who shares her secret? Can the lost ever become found?
And Then I Found You gives new life to the phrase “inspired by a true story.” By travelling back to a painful time in her own family’s history, the author explores the limits of courage, and the price of a selfless act. (From the publisher.)
Read an Excerpt
Read the Story-Behind-the-Story
Visit Patti on Facebook
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Philadelphia, PA USA
• Education—R.N., Auburn University; M.C.H., Georgia State
• Currently—lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama
New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry has published nine novels: Losing the Moon, Where the River Runs, When Light Breaks, Between the Tides, The Art of Keeping Secrets, Driftwood Summer, The Perfect Love Song, Coming up for Air, and And Then I Found You—her most recent. Hailed as a fresh new voice in southern fiction, Henry has been shortlisted for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, and nominated four different times for the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Novel of the Year. Her work is published in five languages and in audiobook by Brilliance Audio.
Henry has appeared in numerous magazines including Good Housekeeping, skirt!, South, and Southern Living. Two of her novels were Okra Picks and Coming up For Air was selected for the August 2011 Indie Next List. She is a frequent speaker at fundraisers, library events and book festivals. A full time writer, wife, and mother of three—Henry lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
Patti Callahan Henry grew up in Philadelphia, the daughter of an Irish minister, and moved south with her family when she was 12 years old. With the idea that being a novelist was “unrealistic,” she set her sights on becoming a pediatric nurse, graduating from Auburn University with a degree in nursing, and from Georgia State with a Master’s degree in Child Health.
She left nursing to raise her first child, Meagan, and not long after having her third child, Rusk, she began writing down the stories that had always been in her head. Henry wrote early in the mornings, before her children woke for the day, but it wasn’t until Meagan, then six, told her mother that she wanted “to be a writer of books” when she grew up, that Henry realized that writing was her own dream as well. She began taking writing classes at Emory University, attending weekend writers’ conferences, and educating herself about the publishing industry, rising at 4:30 AM to write. Her first book, Losing the Moon, was published in 2004. (From the author's website.)
Book Reviews
Henry writes this story with eloquence and beauty. This is her most personal and her most powerful story to date.
Huffington Post
A delicious read featuring all of the elements of love, loss and familial tension.
Atlantan
A fictional work based on real-life events in the life of the author's sister. In the fictional version, Katie falls in love with Jack when she is 13 and makes a promise she will love him forever. He reciprocates.... But when Katie wants to take a job in Arizona..., Jack finds it hard to wait for her return.... By the time Katie realizes she is pregnant with their child, Jack is married to someone else.... Katie decides to give the little girl to an anonymous couple who have been trying to have a child for years.... In the midst of these developments, the daughter they continue to think about and love for 13 years finds them. Lives are rearranged, and cherished dreams are finally realized.... [The author] was inspired to write a novel that explores the emotions and life changes that such a miraculous reunion can bring to a family. A touching story.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. This novel was inspired by a true story. Is there an event in your life that you think would make a good novel?
2. Katie is so devoted to her work with damaged girls that she postpones her life together with Jack. Do you think that Jack should have been more patient in waiting for her? Or was Katie taking their relationship for granted?
3. Katie hears a lot of "terrible stories" from the girls at The Winsome Wilderness. How did these experiences contribute to her decision to place Luna for adoption?
4. Kate seems to take great comfort in rituals. Have these rituals served a positive purpose in her life—or have they held her back?
5. Do you think Kate and Rowan's relationship would have had a different outcome if she had been able to confide in him about her past?
6. Lida is much more than an employee to Kate, who seems to turn a blind eye to the younger woman's shortcomings. What do you think they offer each other?
7. When he was married, Jack didn't tell his wife about Luna. Do you think that this compromised their marriage?
8. Kate mentions that she "wants to love" Rowan. Can Kate—or anyone make themselves love someone? Can you want to love enough to love?
9. Jack says in one of his letters, "of all of the awful parts of missing their daughter, the non-knowning was the absolute worse." Why did Jack feel this way? Do you agree?
10. In the opening of the novel we see that March 20th is a significant date for Katie Vaughn, and it remains so throughout the remainder of the novel. Is there a date that is deeply significant to you and if so, why?
11. Thirteen-year-old Emily wonders about her "birth parents." Do you know any adopted children and if so, do they often wonder about their birth parents?
12. Emily is deeply loved and has a close family, but still she struggled with feeling wanted. Why do you think this is?
13. Emily wants to know "her story"—don't we all? Did hearing her story directly from Jack and Kate help Emily? Do you think that hearing "your story" helps you understand your life? Do you believe that telling "your story" helps others?
14. At one point in the novel, Emily believes that it would be nicer to live with Katie and Jack. Can you see why she would believe this?
15. Kate has a very close family and they often talk about Luna, and yet her birth and adoption are also a tightly held secret. Do you believe families can hold these kinds of secrets? How do they affect the family and those who are close to them?
(Questions issued by publisher.)