Books to Share with Young Friends

This week’s Book Reviews will feature some books about amazing women that you can share with your daughters or other young women. They are a little easier to read, but I enjoyed them tremendously. Sometimes it is nice to read a story in only a couple of sittings, especially if they are well written, as these are. These are stories of godly role models for young women.

Mackenzie, Catherine  –  Christian Heroines Just Like You, (Christian Focus Publications, Scotland, UK, 2009)
    The stories in this book are all only a few pages long. It is an excellent “snapshot” of so many courageous women, many of whom I have written about on this blog. Catherine Mackenzie covers the Early Church period with three famous martyrs – Blandina, Perpetua, and Felicity. She covers the Reformation period with stories of seven brave women, including the martyr, Anne Askew. Next she tells the stories of seven courageous “Covenanters.” These women lived in Scotland and England during the period after the Reformation, but before the king in England would allow the Protestants to read the Bible in their own language and worship God freely. You can read about one of them, Margaret Wilson, elsewhere on this blog. Lastly, there are the stories of four modern women, including Corrie ten Boom.

Persecution and suffering happened to all of these women in history. They were brave and all had a common characteristic – faith in God. They trusted Him to take care of them. But they were also ordinary women like us. Their stories will encourage your heart. In a day when there are too many bad examples of role models for our daughters, here are stories of Christian heroines that we can emulate.

—  There is a group of five books which you can obtain from “Reformation Heritage Books” entitled the “Chosen Daughters” series. These stories are written in an interesting way much like a good fiction book, but of course the women in them really lived and did amazing things for God. Though written for young girls, I enjoyed them very much. The women in the stories are presented in a way that we can identify with. This is also a fun way to learn more about church history, as the essential details are historically accurate. Only the everyday details are filled in with the author’s imagination.

Farenhorst, Christine  –  Wings Like a Dove – The Courage of Queen Jeanne D’Albret, (P & R Publishing, New Jersey, 2006).
Queen Jeanne bravely hid the persecuted Huguenots during the 16^th century. In spite of pressure to remain in the “old faith” she stood firm in her convictions. Her son, Henri, would eventually become Henri IV of France.

Herr, Ethel,  –  Dr. Oma – The Healing Wisdom of Countess Juliana von Stolberg, (P & R Publishing, New Jersey, 2006).

Juliana von Stolberg was the Queen Mother of the Netherlands. Her son was the famous, William of Orange, who fought to free the Dutch people from the cruel Spanish rulers. William was one of seventeen children raised by Juliana.

Marston, Hope Irvin  –  Against the Tide – The Valor of Margaret Wilson, (P & R Publishing, New Jersey, 2007).
This is the story of the “Covenanter” Margaret Wilson, who with her 63 year old friend, Agnes M’Lauchlan, was drowned as a martyr rather than deny her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the head of the church. Check out the wonderful bibliography in the back of the book for more great reading on church heroes and heroines.

Farenhorst, Christine – A Cup of Cold Water – the Compassion of Nurse Edith Cavell, (P & R Publishing, New Jersey, 2007).
“The Chosen Daughters series highlights the lives of ordinary women who by God’s grace accomplish extraordinary things.” Nurse Edith Cavell was one of those extraordinary women. Elsewhere on this blog is a summary of her story. There have been several good movies made about her as well. The 1939 film, “Nurse Edith Cavell,” starring Anna Neagle, is fairly historically accurate. It does not tell as much about her Christian upbringing as I would have liked to have seen, but her faith is made plain at the end when she is in prison.  This movie is well worth watching, anyway. For more on her strong Christian faith, read the book.

Carr, Simonetta  –  Weight of a Flame – The Passion of Olympia Morata, (P&R Publishing, New Jersey, 2011). This story takes place in the sixteenth century. It is about a young lady who is very intelligent and her father recognizes that. He sees to it that she is well educated during a time when women were supposed to stay at home. Fortunately for posterity, her father, a professor of literature and history, went against the wisdom of the times and his daughter, Olympia became his best student. She became a famous writer even in her own day. This is a wonderful story of courage and faithfulness to the Gospel.

—   There has been lots of interest in two other Reformation heroines in recent times. I will list next two books which give a good overview of their lives.

Hamer, Colin  –  Anne Boleyn – One Short Life That Changed the English-speaking World, (Day One Publications, Leominster, 2007).
Most people remember Anne Boleyn only as the women who usurped the real Queen of England, Catherine of Aragon. Anne was the second wife of Henry VIII, and the first of the two wives to be beheaded. I believe she was innocent of all charges of treason. This book will tell the other side of her story – one of great religious faith and courage. Her influence on Henry VIII caused changes that literally changed the world. This book is an exciting story that reveals a woman that was not the shallow person you usually read about in other works.

Withrow, Brandon G.  –  Katherine Parr – A Guided Tour of the Life and Thought of a Reformation Queen, (P & R Publishing, New Jersey, 2009).
There are a number of books out about Katherine Parr, but this one tells of her contributions to the Reformation. Like Anne Boleyn, she had an influence on Henry VIII that was good. I love the book because it has the texts of her writings included. Katherine’s works are wonderful to read.