Shenandoah Series by Michael Phillips

Last summer I participated in a book reading program at our local library in which you read books during the summer and review them for the library and win prizes. It was fun because I love reading, but also because I won a free book. BUT, our library doesn't have the program this year so I thought I'd review the books that I've read here, on my blog instead.

The series that I just finished is written by Michael Phillips and is called The Shenandoah Series. There are four books in this series and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed all four of them. In fact, they kept me wanting to read more and I was tense when I finished a book and had to wait for the library to get the next book for me!

The story is set in the 1800s in the Southern United States, just after Lincoln pronounced the Emancipation Proclamation, making the black slaves free. This story has a unique twist in that it is about two unlikely friends -- both around the same age, both orphaned by marauders who went around killing families -- one friend is black, the other is white. Now this may not seem unlikely to you (it wasn't to me) -- the fact that a white would/could be friends with a black person -- but in those days, in that time (and perhaps still now, I sure hope not though), blacks were not seen as persons and it was not accepted that whites would have anything to do with blacks. I cannot fathom that myself, having grown up in a basically multicultural society and having black friends myself. But I have heard that in the Southern States, even now, this sort of racism exists.

Anyway, without giving the story away, I would highly recommend this series. I did find that the first few chapters of the first book (Angels Watching Over Me) went slowly and I got frustrated at the author. But once I made it through those chapters, I was hooked! Let me know what you think!


Here are some excerpts that stuck with me:

That's the trouble with people of all colors -- they judge folks by what they see, which is usually only on the outside. But it's what's inside that counts. That's what makes a person who he or she really is. And sometimes it takes a little work to dig down inside and see what someone's made of, what kind of stuff their character has in it. That's just about one of the most important things in life -- learning how to do that, learning how to find out what people are made of.

...right then the words I'm sorry were too hard for me to say. They ought to be such easy words for people to say to each other, but for some reason they're not. People seem to choke on the two words that would make the world such a kindlier and happier place.

That's the way life is -- you learn thing slowly, especially things about yourself. Sometimes it takes a lot of years before some of the best things in life sink in. If you're trying to get rid of it, self-centeredness seems to gradually fall off you through the years. It's probably not because it gets easier when you get older, but that it gets easier because you've been practicing so long at it.

I think what might make forgiveness so hard for some folks is that they expect other people to be perfect. They especially never want anyone to do or say anything that might hurt them. But when it comes to looking inside themselves, they don't expect their own actions and words and attitudes to be perfect. And they make all kinds of excuses for themselves when they aren't. At least that's the conclusion I've come to from trying to figure myself out. I can be so cantankerously mean-tempered when I'm looking at somebody else, and so sweet and forgiving and understanding when looking at myself. Doesn't make much sense, does it? It seems like we'd want to treat everyone else the same as we do ourselves.

Growth is one of those things you can't see up close. You have to stand back to see how something or someone has changed as time has passed. ...What an amazing thing it was. God had been so good to us!