Book Reviews

Wings Like A Dove – A Review

 

NOTE: P&R Publishing sent me a complimentary review copy of this book
in exchange for my honest opinion.

Risk. Betrayal. Integrity. Faith.

A royal princess growing up in the middle of difficult, changing times that would shape the history of Christianity. There are two sides- two faiths. Her heart is put to the test- which side will she choose?

Many of us are familiar with the lives of heroes of the Reformation like Luther, John Calvin, John Knox.  But there were female heroes during the Reformation too- heroes who had roles just as important as the men, and who stood up just as courageously. One of them was Jeanne De’Albret, a princess/queen in Navarre, France in 1528.

I have researched about Jeanne De’Albret’s life before I read the book Wings Like a Dove, and I wanted to learn more, and see a “novel” style perspective. So I requested this book to review.

The book chronicles Jeanne’s life from a young girl to adulthood, through little adventures and significant moments in her life by adding fictionalized details to make it like a story.

The relationships royals had with one another during that time period was interesting. It was like a pendulum relationship, sometimes surprisingly warm and loving, just like a regular family, but most often cold and official- almost like strangers.

As the tale goes along, it climaxes to where Jeanne must make a choice between the new Reformation or remaining with the Catholic religion. The readers are briefly introduced to John Calvin and the Huguenots (as the protestants were called), and they are mentioned a few times throughout the book. I wish the author would have mentioned more about Jeanne’s interaction with the Reformers in the story and her contribution to the Reformation, because she had an important role. The epilogue contained a few more details about her life.

As most of my readers know, I believe that “you are what you read“, so basically I think believers should be very “conservative” in their criteria for choosing the kind of books to read. In light of this, I will mention what I disagreed with in the story. There are some parts in the book with romance, husband-wife relationship between queen Jeanne and her husband, which were added in the tale by the author. It would have been better if those were left out altogether. I would like to repeat again, as I said before, that I do not promote books containing these subjects/elements in them. So I hope this review was helpful to you all!

1 thought on “Wings Like A Dove – A Review

  1. Since you had read some about the topic before reading the novel, did you find the historical details of the novel correct? I always wonder about “historical” novels and especially movies, how much is true and how much is just added for the sake of suspense or a quick-moving plot.

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