For Sophia's Heart, A Novella by Lyn Cote

5.0 out of 5 stars Message for Lyn Cote! Thank you for this beautiful story!!, June 26, 2012

By 

Kathleen -Amazon Verified Purchase -

This review is from: For Sophia's Heart, A Novella (Kindle Edition)

I just finished reading For Sophia's Heart, A Novella. Thank you so much. It is so pure and good. I cried in two places, it was so endearing. (I know, you want to know where!) I would need to look back to it, but possibly it wouldn't be in the same place twice. Such a beautiful story and heritage. I just wanted to tell you thank you and I feel this would be a beautiful full length novel. Kathleen

You don't want to miss this wonderful story. From beginning to end it touches the frailty and fragileness of man. It is wartime and poverty dividing the haves from the have-nots. The story opens with two people on a train; strangers who help each other. I am a book-in-hand person, so to read this in eBook form was a stretch for me. I am so glad I did! It was riveting. I was right there alongside them as their story unveiled. It is beautiful. One thing that stuck out to me was our apprehension to be known when we are uncertain of the actions of another. The sad part is that by holding back, so does the other person, not wanting to offend or be offended. What do we set aside because of vain imaginations; what have we lost because we haven't been ourselves, true to our heart? I am not saying, carrying my heart on my sleeve, but rather true to who we are. Being a lighthouse for others to see by. So good. I loved this Novella and would love to see it rewritten to include a future and a hope in greater detail and longevity! Very excellent.

This is a Historical Fiction story based on the remembrance of an ancestor. This story fits in any generation ~*~ generosity ~*~ of ourselves.

***

I know who this is! But... I am making him the hero!

... And his real-life bride would be our heroine.

Hurry before all the copies of The Irish Healer are sold!

Sunday, June 24, 2012
Debut Historical Fiction Author: Nancy Herriman! The Irish Healer, c2012.
This is the book for me!

p 21
"James, what is this?" Sophia's attention perked like a hound on a scent.
"The worst," he replied. "It seems the woman I've hired to assist in packing the library and office has gotten lost."
"You've brought a woman from Ireland to help with your collections?" she asked, her voice rising, latching onto the piece of information that troubled her most. The possibility Miss Dunne had drowned in the Irish Sea or been accosted off the boat didn't concern her.
"I have tried to bring a woman from Ireland to help, yes."
Sophia swept her arms to point at the bookshelves. "But these books are valuable. They're to pass to Amelia, and I've been told some have been in your family for generations. How do you know this Irish creature won't steal some and sell them for profit?"

*On the way with you! Get back to that dock and pick up our protagonist. How tired she must be waiting by that wharf with the smells and tainted occupants! Hmmf.*

pp 23-49
Oh, my. Miss Dunne is half-Irish too, and is to log the extensive library! We already have a bit in common! I am inventorying the books at our local library. I hope she likes laughter, because I do! And adventure...

This story is beautifully written, with similes potent as a parable with their everyday reference.

p 192
He attempted to gather his thoughts, but they kept slipping away from him, like he was trying to cup grains of wheat in his hands only to have them trickle through his fingers.

Rachel Dunne, leaves her Emerald Isle after being accused of murdering a patient she is tending. Innocent by trial, local gossip conjures up stories. The position secured for her in the London home of Dr. James Edmunds, is assisting the move to his inherited boyhood home. Disillusioned by the death of his wife and others under his care, he has decided to become a gentleman farmer.

p 205
...She could not keep tending to people. Why does this continue to happen to me?

As hard as she tries to hide it, Miss Dunne keeps getting called upon to assist with her medicinal knowledge. She automatically renders service to those in need. The Asiatic cholera epidemic spreads to London in 1832. The characters will be forced to choose their part.

I liked this story very much. Miss Dunne is very caring and attentive to others. The doctor shows growth and determination as his foibles are revealed. It is very well written. The story does not lag but is very fluid. I especially like historical fiction and found this story to be interesting with the word pictures of sights and smells vivid.

I received this novel from Worthy Publishing to read and review in my own words.

Debut Historical Fiction Author: Nancy Herriman! The Irish Healer, c2012.

This story is beautifully written, with similes potent as a parable with their everyday reference; page 192:

He attempted to gather his thoughts, but they kept slipping away from him, like he was trying to cup grains of wheat in his hands only to have them trickle through his fingers.

Page 205

…She could not keep tending to people. Why does this continue to happen to me?

Do you have a calling, a mission in life that you are ignoring?

The Irish Healer is the story of a young woman, Rachel Dunne, who leaves her  Emerald Isle to travel to London after being accused of murder when a patient she is tending dies. She is deemed innocent by trial, but local gossip conjures up stories. Have we ever taken on guilt that is not our own? Nothing that we could have prevented?

She is unaware the position her cousin has secured for her in London is in the home of Dr. James Edmunds. She is hired to assist in the preparation of the household move to his inherited boyhood home. He is disillusioned by the death of his wife, he was helpless to save, and other patients who succumbed under his care. He has decided to become a gentleman farmer and leave the medical field.

She is about to be found out!!

As hard as she tries to hide it, Rachel Dunne keeps getting called upon to assist with her medicinal knowledge that is a part of her. She automatically renders service to those in need. And then the unthinkable happens; the Asiatic cholera epidemic spreading to London in 1832. This is historical fiction at its best. In this first published novel by Nancy Herriman, she has placed her characters within this setting which will force them to choose their part.

 

Author, Nancy Herriman

The Irish Healer
Beginning of Chapter 1

At sea, 1832

"My name is Rachel Dunne,

 I am not a murderer."

Rachel tightened her grip on the ship's wooden rail, as if she might choke into silence the echo of her own voice. Better to focus on the receding sight of Ireland's blue-green hills, seek to memorize every bounding stream, every wisp of misty fog, every rubble-walled farmer's field, than to remember. For who knew how long--if ever--it would be before she saw her beloved homeland again?

    "Oh, Mother," she murmured over the slap of the paddle wheels and the hiss of the steam, the scree of persistent seagulls skimming the boat's wake. "How did it come to this?"

    This parting, this going. Deoraicht. This exile.

    Mother was not there to answer Rachel's question; they could only afford ship's passage for one, and Rachel was the one who had to leave. Mother and the rest had stayed behind in Carlow to mend the damage Rachel had never meant to cause. Restore the honor of the Dunne name in a town already prone to dislike them for their English ways. Once Rachel had been a healer, but she could not heal the scar upon her family. No more than she had been able to heal poor Mary Ferguson, who also died so quickly and so quietly even Rachel had been at a loss to explain the how and why. 

    I would never harm the ill. I am a banaltradh ...

    A healer. If the thought didn't hurt so much, Rachel might laugh. She had vowed to never let herself be a healer again. 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

I liked this story very much and the similarities I found with Rachel. I had a full scholarship to nurses training and did not attend. She is very caring and attentive to others. Dr. James showed growth and determination as his foibles were revealed as well.

Thank you to Worthy Publishing for this review copy I received to read and review in my own words. Nancy Herriman! I hope you are writing, writing, writing! I am looking forward to reading your next book!

Psalm 139 by Mary (Sidney) Herbert, Countess of Pembroke

	Psalm 139 by Mary (Sidney) Herbert, Countess of Pembroke O LORD, O Lord, in me there lieth nought     But to thy search revealed lies,             For when I sit             Thou markest it;     No less thou notest when I rise; Yea, closest closet of my thought     Hath open windows to thine eyes. Thou walkest with me when I walk;     When to my bed for rest I go,             I find thee there,             And everywhere:     Not youngest thought in me doth grow, No, not one word I cast to talk     But yet unuttered thou dost know. If forth I march, thou goest before,     If back I turn, thou com'st behind:             So forth nor back             Thy guard I lack,     Nay on me too, thy hand I find. Well I thy wisdom may adore,     But never reach with earthy mind. To shun thy notice, leave thine eye,     O whither might I take my way?             To starry sphere?             Thy throne is there.     To dead men's undelightsome stay? There is thy walk, and there to lie     Unknown, in vain I should assay. O sun, whom light nor flight can match,     Suppose thy lightful flightful wings             Thou lend to me,             And I could flee     As far as thee the evening brings: Even led to west he would me catch,     Nor should I lurk with western things. Do thou thy best, O secret night,     In sable veil to cover me:             Thy sable veil             Shall vainly fail;     With day unmasked my night shall be, For night is day, and darkness light,     O father of all lights, to thee. Each inmost piece in me is thine:     While yet I in my mother dwelt,             All that me clad             From thee I had.     Thou in my frame hast strangely dealt: Needs in my praise thy works must shine     So inly them my thoughts have felt. Thou, how my back was beam-wise laid,     And raft'ring of my ribs, dost know;             Know'st every point             Of bone and joint,     How to this whole these parts did grow, In brave embroid'ry fair arrayed,     Though wrought in shop both dark and low. Nay fashionless, ere form I took,     Thy all and more beholding eye             My shapeless shape             Could not escape:     All these time framed successively Ere one had being, in the book     Of thy foresight enrolled did lie. My God, how I these studies prize,     That do thy hidden workings show!             Whose sum is such             No sum so much,     Nay, summed as sand they sumless grow. I lie to sleep, from sleep I rise,     Yet still in thought with thee I go. My God, if thou but one wouldst kill,     Then straigh would leave my further chase             This cursed brood             Inured to blood,     Whose graceless taunts at thy disgrace Have aimed oft; and hating still     Would with proud lies thy truth outface. Hate not I them, who thee do hate?     Thine, Lord, I will the censure be.             Detest I not             The cankered knot     Whom I against thee banded see? O Lord, thou know'st in highest rate     I hate them all as foes to me. Search me, my God, and prove my heart,     Examine me, and try my thought;             And mark in me             If ought there be     That hath with cause their anger wrought. If not (as not) my life's each part,     Lord, safely guide from danger brought. (Wr. probably before 1599; pub. 1823)
	Text source: The New Oxford Book of Sixteenth Century Verse. Emrys Jones, Ed. New York: Oxford Univ Press, 1992. 475-477.

Nancy Herriman's The Irish Healer: A Novel, c2012

I believe Miss Dunne must know my Irish Healer!

In receipt of a book of poetry she declares she has read Mary Herbert's psalms, and the good doctor requests she read her favorite.

p 134
Her smile faltered. "Surely you are too busy to listen to me recite poetry."

   He was busy, but he didn't care. He'd gotten her to accept the book, and he wanted to steal a few moments with her and forget the pile of work waiting on his office desk.

And! Guess what her favorite Psalm is!! The same as mine!

   "It's another hour before I'm expecting a patient. Plenty of time."

   "In that case ..." She flipped through the pages and found the poem. "Here is one. Psalm 139."

   "Miss Dunne cleared her throat and began to read aloud:

O Lord, O Lord, in me there lieth naught
But thy search revealed lies,
For when i sit
Thou markest it;
No less thou notest when I rise;
Yea, closest closet of my thought
Hath open windows to thine eyes.

Thou walkest with me when I walk;
When to my bed for rest I go,
I find thee there,
And everywhere:
Not youngest thought in me doth grow,
No, not one word I cast to talk
But yet unuttered though dost know ...

The very first time I read this psalm I was in a Bible study. It answered all of my questions from God. My mother had died at age 41, a month before my sixth birthday. The Lord was with me all of the days of my life; before I was even born he knew me. Too marvelous for words!

Miss Dunne, perhaps you would like my other favorite psalm:

Psalm 119:111
Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.

Another similarity... she goes for a job interview, a position I held with special needs children for 12 years.

Oh, my. May your life be blessed! I must read on to discover your play-out of Jeremiah 29:11! (Do you take to talking to your protagonist??)

I must go off now and search for the remainder of this beautiful Psalm. (I found it! I will print it out on another blog page.)

Back to Miss Dunne in Nancy Herriman's novel, The Irish Healer.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

You may get your own first copy and read it before I finish!

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2012

Accused of murdering a child under her care, Irish healer Rachel Dunne flees the ensuing scandal while vowing to never sit at another sickbed. She no longer trusts in her abilities-or God's mercy--though when a cholera epidemic sweeps through London, she feels compelled to nurse the dying daughter of the enigmatic physician she has come to love. James Edmunds, wearied by the deaths of too many patients, has his own doubts about God's grace. Together, they will have to face their darkest fears . . . and learn what it means to have real faith.

---

From back cover of book:

1830s London is rich with promise. And fraught with peril. Rachel Dunne and James Edmunds are about to discover that love is too.

Rachel Dunne has always been a healer ... until she's accused of causing the death of a child under her care. Acquitted but shunned, she flees Ireland in search of a new life, convinced that she'll be fine so long as no one in London learns of her disgrace--or forces her to ever sit at another sickbed.

Physician James Edmunds has endured the loss of too many patients--the death of his wife the greatest blow of all. Deep in his grief, and no longer certain that God can be trusted, he decides the time has come to abandon his practice and run his family's small farm. Alone. Though when he's drawn to the intriguing Irish woman who has recently joined his household, he begins to reconsider his well-laid plans.

Then cholera sweeps through London, and the life of James's young daughter hangs in the balance. Can Rachel and James overcome their innermost fears and regain their faith? Or is it too late for trust and love to heal their hearts?

***

 http://www.amazon.com/Irish-Healer-Nancy-Herriman/dp/1936034786/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340474297&sr=1-1&keywords=the+irish+healer
"Click to look inside!" To search inside this book to take a sneak peek, the first chapter and chapter 2 to page 6, to whet your appetite!.

More later.

The Irish Healer review notes

pp - 23-49

Oh, my. Miss Dunne is half-Irish, as am I. She is to log the extensive library, as am I! We already have a bit in common! I am inventorying the books at our local library all day on Fridays. I hope she likes laughter, because I do! And adventure...

As I read on.

The Irish Healer: A Novel by Nancy Herriman, c2012

This is the book for me! I am reading page 21 ~

   Knuckles rapped on the library door, and Molly stuck her head through the opening, "Sir, I'm ever so sorry for disturbing you, but there's been a problem with Miss Dunne. It seems, well, it seems Joe couldn't find her at the docks."
   James struck a knee against the desk in his haste to stand. A jolt of pain shot through his leg, making him flinch. The day was going from bad to worse. "What do you mean, he couldn't find her?"
   Behind Molly, Joe shuffled his feet and twisted his scruffy wool cap in his hands as if he hoped to strangle it. "Sorry, sir, but there weren't an older Irish lady come off the boat. Well, there were one, but she 'ad a ride an' all and didn't 'ave reddish hair. Our Miss Dunne's gone missin'."
   "James, what is this?" Sophia's attention perked like a hound on a scent.
   "The worst," he replied. "It seems the woman I've hired to assist in packing the library and office has gotten lost."
   "You've brought a woman from Ireland to help with your collections?" she asked, her voice rising, latching onto the piece of information that troubled her most. The possibility Miss Dunne had drowned in the Irish Sea or been accosted off the boat didn't concern her.
   "I have tried to bring a woman from Ireland to help, yes."
   Sophia swept her arms to point at the bookshelves. "But these books are valuable. They're to pass to Amelia, and I've been told some have been in your family for generations. How do you know this Irish creature won't steal some and sell them for profit?"

On the way with you! Get back to that dock and pick up our protagonist. How tired she must be waiting by that wharf with the smells and tainted occupants! Hmmf.

CAPTION

Reviled by her Irish community after being accused in the death of a child, Rachel Dunne flees to London, abandoning her gifts and calling as a healer. Thankfully, her English cousin Claire has secured her a temporary position in the home of James Edmunds, a widowed physician who has decided to leave his medical practice to become a gentleman farmer. Dr. Edmunds has no knowledge of Rachel's past and, hired to catalog the books in his library, Rachel vows to never pass herself off as a healer again.
Every time James loses a patient he is reminded of his biggest failure — the loss of his wife. Even when he knows he has done everything within his power to save a patient, the feeling cuts a deeper wound into his soul. A compassionate and gifted physician, James has lost heart in the practice of medicine, but his heart is strangely drawn to the young Irishwoman cataloging books in his library.
Rachel knows her position is temporary, but if she can manage to keep her past hidden long enough to secure a position as a teacher she'll be able to make a way for her family to join her in England, away from the scandal that weighs them down in Rachel's name. Of all the possible positions Claire could have found for her, being employed by a physician seems to be just another cruel joke God has played on her — especially when that physician is a handsome, compassionate gentleman for whom she has no business harboring romantic feelings.
When a spiteful member of the household staff discovers a letter with sketchy details about Rachel's trial in Ireland, both Rachel's job and the feelings growing between her and Dr. Edmunds are at risk. Can she keep the truth hidden? Or will her necessary deceptions cause everything around her to unravel?
As the threat of cholera begins to spread panic through London, both Rachel and James must decide if they can trust God enough with their secrets and their gifts to allow a deeper healing to take place within their hearts … and afford them a chance at love.

To be continued...