"The Face of Heaven" by Murray Pura

ISBN: 978-0-7369-4949-

About the book: In April 1861, Lyndel Keim discovers two runaway slaves in her family’s barn. When the men are captured and returned to their plantation, Lyndel and her young Amish beau, Nathaniel King, find themselves at odds with their pacifist Amish colony.
 
Nathaniel enlists in what will become the famous Iron Brigade of the Union Army. Lyndel enters the fray as a Brigade nurse on the battlefield, sticking close to Nathaniel as they both witness the horrors of war—including the battles at Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, and Antietam. Despite the pair’s heroic sacrifices, the Amish only see that Lyndel and Nathaniel have become part of the war effort, and both are banished.
 
And a severe battle wound at Gettysburg threatens Nathaniel’s life. Lyndel must call upon her faith in God to endure the savage conflict and to face its painful aftermath, not knowing if Nathaniel is alive or dead. Will the momentous battle change her life forever, just as it will change the course of the war and the history of her country?

The Face of Heaven is a dramatic story that will release on the 150th anniversary of the historic battle of Antietam, September, 1862. (August 2012)

Review: The Face of Heaven is a lovely historic fiction story that opens just before the Civil War in 1861. Lyndel Keim is an Amish girl growing up on her father’s farm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

One morning Lyndel discovers two runaway slaves hiding in the barn. Ultimately the sheriff discovers their whereabouts, and the slaves are dealt with very harshly. The treatment of these slaves and the knowledge of thousands of others across the South causes Lyndel and her beau, Nathaniel King, to go against the wishes of their parents and Amish church leaders in joining the Civil War. Nathaniel enlists in the Iron Brigade serving in the Union army. Lyndel becomes a Brigade nurse working on or near the battlefields. Both see first hand the atrocities of the war, young men giving their lives for their beliefs and country.

Throughout their efforts to serve the Union Army in such famous battles as Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Antietam, and finally at Gettysburg, they find themselves entirely dependent upon God’s strength and wisdom. Sometimes they work alongside of each other; other times they work far apart, hoping and praying that God would preserve them both. (reviewed by S.Fincannon)

About the author: Murray Pura earned his Master of Divinity degree from Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and his ThM degree in theology and interdisciplinary studies from Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. For more than 25 years, in addition to his writing, he has pastored churches in Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and Alberta. Murray’s writings have been shortlisted for the Dartmouth Book Award, the John Spencer Hill Literary Award, the Paraclete Fiction Award, and Toronto's Kobzar Literary Award. His novels for Harvest House include Face of Heaven and The Wings of Morning. Murray pastors and writes in southern Alberta near the Rocky Mountains.

DISCLOSURE: A complimentary copy of The Face of Heaven was provided by Harvest House Publishers on behalf of the author to facilitate our honest review. Positive remarks were not required.