"Call of Zulina" Book Review and Giveaway!

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Call Of Zulina
Abingdon Press (August 2009)
by
Kay Marshall Strom


MY REVIEW:
I am so excited to see the variety of settings and plot lines in Christian fiction that I have been reading lately! "The Call of Zulina" is a perfect example of originality in writing. The author, Kay Marshall Strom, got the idea for some of the main characters when she was writing a biography of John Newton. She then developed this amazing story about Grace Winslow, the daughter of a white English sea captain and a black African princess. They are living in Africa, but Grace never really sees life outside their home (or compound). Consequently she has no concept of what is really going on around her, especially the fact that her father and mother run one of the largest slaving houses in the area. When she realizes that her parents are going to marry her off to a horrible man that she detests, just because he has good business holdings, she decides to run away. The only problem is she runs right into slavery of her own, imprisonment and then when her captors try and ransom her, she finds abandonment at the hands of her parents. She must decide which blood runs stronger in her veins, the English or the African. And she must come to terms with the fact that she will never be accepted by either side, especially her mother and father. When the slave revolt happens, where will she be?

This story was so original that I absolutely couldn't assume or predict anything - I loved that! The hardest part of it for me as a mother of six was the sheer evilness of her own mother. Revenge runs so strongly in her veins that she doesn't hesitate to not only leave her daughter for dead, but she wants to personally make sure that she and any she cares about are all dead. I would say that is not realistic, except that it makes perfect sense in the context of her own upbringing and how her own father sacrificed her to a white man for his own advances.

I am really looking forward to book #2 in this series. Great historical fiction in a new setting and with a new story!
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For a chance to win a copy of this great book, please leave a comment telling me what is another great injustice that you would like to see books written about (like African slavery in the late 1700's). Be sure to leave your email address and I will enter you. Good luck!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Of Kay Marshall Strom’s 34 published books, four have been book club selections, nine have been translated into foreign languages, and one has been optioned for a movie.

Her writing credits also include numerous magazine articles, short stories, two prize-winning screenplays, books and stories for children, and booklets for writers. Her writing has appeared in several volumes, including More Than Conquerors, Amazing Love, The NIV Couple's Devotional Bible and The NIV Women's Devotional Bible, and The Bible for Today's Christian Woman.

Her work also is included in a number of compilations, including various books from the Stories for the Heart series. Her best-known book is Once Blind: The Life of John Newton, which is packaged with the recently released DVD Amazing Grace. She also has written several books with her husband, Dan Kline. Kay is a partner in Kline, Strom International, Inc., leaders in communication training. She currently lives in Eugene, Oregon.

As an activist against modern slavery, Kay Strom takes an indirect approach to calling attention to that issue with her newest fiction title, the first of three planned in the Grace in Africa series, set in West Africa in 1787.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Grace Winslow, the daughter of a mixed marriage between an English sea captain and an African princess, is swept up in a slave revolt after she escapes the family compound to avoid an odious betrothal.

As the truth about the fortress of Zulina unfolds, Grace begins to grasp the brutality and ferocity of the family─the capture and trade of slaves.

Despite being held for ransom, viciously maimed by a runaway slave, and threatened with death, Grace sympathizes with the plight of the captives. She is especially moved by the African Cabeto’s passion, determination, and willingness to sacrifice anything, including his own life, for his people’s freedom. Leaning on the faith of her nanny Mama Muco, Grace risks everything to follow her heart.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Call Of Zulina, go HERE