"THE MEETING PLACE"

The first of my summer reading. A wonderful story of sacrifice, love, commitment, and forgiveness. The pages come to life especially if one is familiar with history and the area of Canada the Northwest Territories during the mid-1700's. Two women, two families, two cultures living so close together, yet never setting foot inside the villages of the other. Bonds of friendship break the barriers of years of hatred as two women risk their lives for the sake of learning more about God and one another. Their friendship reaches the hearts of their husbands and in turn whole villages. Lifestyles of French clans allow the reader to gain a glimpse into the Huguenots and their purpose for relocating to the Americas from their homeland. The authors do a great job at intertwining history and real places with fictional characters and a fictional story line. Although I still consider romance novels shallow and not full of depth, Jeanette Oke and T. Davis Bunn grabbed my attention with their creative styles bound together to form anticipation, intrigue, and enjoyment. Their research into the historical places and life of both the French and British cultures during this period draws the reader back into days and times long forgotten unless one is a regular student of such subjects. Personally, I did not take away a lot of deep theology, sociology. psychology, or spirituality from this book, but the morals and story development offers reading on a lighter and simple, but pleasurable level.

Author's Note

In researching the material for this story, we have learned a new sympathy for those French Acadians whose only offense seemed to be their land of birth - and the fact that they wished to remain neutral in a conflict involving the homeland. And we also came to appreciate the predicament of those Britishers who found their role distasteful and morally difficult to enforce.

We as individuals may not be able to stop wars. But we can begin by resolving conflicts in our homes, in our churches, in our communities. Let us learn to be people of peace.