It’s 1917, and Halifax is at war. Silas Quinn, street sweeper and army reject, remains on the home front, shunning God and society as religiously as they shun him. But the night he stumbles across a half-frozen prostitute, his eyes blink open, and his greater purpose is born: preserve and protect.There’d been a day when shop girl Helen Fraser was desperate enough to believe a few nights in a … nights in a brothel would cure her troubles. By some miracle, Major Jack Gordon deemed her worth saving, but Helen knows her meticulously recreated identity cannot last. What she doesn’t expect is for its destruction to come about, not by a john or one of the madam’s goons, but by a force great enough to flatten a city and bury her alive.
Set against the backdrop of the Halifax Explosion, Beautiful in His Sight is a Christian historical romance that explores unequivocal grace and identity in Christ.
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Gardner has written another great novel, the year is 1917 and Halifax is at war….. The story has it’s base in the true war and the author has chosen to combine the names of two of it survivors for the heroine, Helen Fraser. Also incorporated into the story are other names of this horrible tragedy….. Silas Quinn is an army reject and cares nothing for his person or image, just sunk in despair not caring about anything until he stumbles upon Helen half frozen in a dark alley. He starts to move on but somehow human pity surfaces and he helps her instead of leaving her for dead. …..Later Helen is rescued {bought} from prostitution and begins a new life employed as a respectful lady at a small shop. Daily she sees Silas as he goes about his job as the city’s street sweeper, never knowing that he was her rescuer. She just sees an old stooped man with a limp. How he comes to rescue her again after the terrible tragedy and how their lives become entwined is indeed beautiful. This is a lovely story of how the redemption of God happens, no matter how low we have sunk in sin, God will erase the sins of the past and bring about a new life filled with love and thanksgiving. The book has well developed characters you can actually see and hear with the mind’s eyes. Gardner has done her research well for this Halifax story. Very interesting information. What a beautiful story. I was given an arc copy by the author and I am happy to leave my review.
I don’t know how author April Gardner writes as she does so I’ve decided just to go along for the ride. The way she weaves so much history into her stories, giving them substance while still keeping them spell binding, is an art that I appreciate. And this story is no different.
Well developed characters who are so “real” with fears and flaws, yet God in His grace and mercy is there to love people and to change lives. We see forgiveness and redemption beautifully written.
Another great story by Gardner, I highly recommend you read it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book but was not required to leave a review.
These genuine characters, fast-paced plot, and fascinating historical details keep those pages turning and inspire further investigation into the facts behind the fiction!
Silas loves in a way that reflects the love of Jesus, sacrificial and unreservedly. As the hero of this story, he (and Our Savior) looks past outward appearances and circumstances to the heart of a person. Even after Helen is freed from her precarious situation, she continues to carry guilt and shame. Her inner struggles remind me that we often choose to punish ourselves by holding true freedom at an arm’s length instead of embracing the gift of grace in our lives.
As always, April W. Gardner delivers a poignant and vivid story that showcases a moment in history and Biblical truths. I highly recommend this story!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and was under no obligation to post a review. The opinions expressed are my own.
Beautiful in his sight
Beautiful in his sight is a long book. The first few chapters goes back back and forth usually a few weeks. Helen has quite a story. She is a strong character. She gets her eyes hurts because of war, will she get her sight back?
I loved the interaction of Silas and his dog. That was my favorite part of the book. Dogs bring a lot to a story. Silas spends a lot of time trying to find Helen. Will they ever get together ?
I received a complimentary copy of the book from Celebrate Lit. This book review is my own opinion.
What I think you should know:
Beautiful In His Sight is a historical fiction novel that is based around the true life events that occurred during 1917 in Halifax, Nova Scotia when a ship exploded, whipping out part of the town and killing over 2,000 people. The first chapter gives you a glimpse of the story, only to whisk you back in time two months bring the backstory to life.
What you might want to know:
Helen of Slumdum is no more after being rescued and being given the opportunity to start her life over by Major Jack Gordon, however she is still haunted mentally and physically by her time in a brothel.
What I enjoyed most about this book:
Silas Quinn, a survivor of the Titanic needs to learn to forgive himself, he is such a great character and may be my favorite in the book. Silas is used to show now matter how insignificant your job is you have value for being yourself. I really enjoyed the way that April W. Gardner , the author wove the story filled with spies, possible German traitors, and mysteries, she kept me intrigued and guessing until the end of the story.
Who will enjoy this book ( just to name a few):
Fans of Historical Fiction
Fans of Suspense
I received a complimentary copy for this book from Celebrate Lit, this in no way influenced my review. All opinions are my own.
This book has some very good characters. I think this was one of the first books I ever read about Halifax during this part of the war. I enjoyed the romance and the spying. This made me laugh and cry. I felt it was a little long but it did keep my interest for most of the story. There were some very interesting characters. I received a copy of this book from Celebratelit for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
“Today, the Voice of the Holy Christ, compelling and painfully tender, drowned it all in the well of His shed blood, leaving only the reminder of a ceaseless love.”
3.5 stars.
This is the first book by April Gardner that I have read and it is indeed a very interesting and fascinating book centered around Halifax, Nova Scotia explosion in 1917. In the midst of WWI, Helen, a broken woman with a past, tries her best to build a new life with innate compassion, tenderness, love, and generosity. Silas, an immigrant from Ireland, also has a broken past and a heap of guilt which have him sweeping the streets and living like a beggar when he’s a skilled woodworker. Silas is faithful, loyal, compassionate, determined, and extremely kind. The story starts out the day of the explosion and then backtracks to when Silas and Helen first meet and then returns to the day of the explosion and moves forward. Silas’ faithful and unwavering love for Helen is so beautiful and touching; his faithful and humble following of his Lord’s leading is inspiring. Silas is an unlikely hero, but a real hero he is.
The themes of forgiveness, redemption, and true and abiding love are woven so intimately throughout the plot and are quite uplifting. The story, though, moved slowly for my taste and the book felt a bit long. Though it didn’t completely resonate with me, you may enjoy this historical fiction as so many other Christian fiction readers and bloggers have.
I received a copy of the book via Celebrate Lit Tours and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.
Beautiful in His Sight is a book that shows how God redeems the experiences we think are a mistake leading us to hold onto guilt, shame or other negative thoughts in our lives. It deals with our thoughts and learning that God’s love is unconditional and shows how God’s grace overflows onto our lives and situations. The plot in the book is well developed and the characters are believable. April’s book places you in the time period and plot of the book by giving insight into the characters thoughts and emotions. I could really relate to the truths that Helen kept telling herself. This book also deals with finding and knowing your identity in Christ. I found that I didn’t want to stop reading and could have read the book in one sitting. Beautiful in His Sight is a Christian historical romance book in which the romance is present in a way that honors God without being unrealistic or unbelievable. The historical side of the book was informative and interesting to me as I never heard about the Halifax explosion. I recommend this book to readers who like historical Christian fiction novels, Christian romance novels, or anyone looking for their next good read. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and was under no obligation to post a review. The opinions expressed are my own.I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and was under no obligation to post a review. The opinions expressed are my own.
This has been an emotional journey with characters that will never be forgotten. Helen is a wonderful character who has had a hard life. Her life seemed to be over until someone finds her laying on the ground with life threatening injuries. The compassion Silas shows Helen is far beyond what I could imagine. His willingness to help her was heartfelt and I feel that he had taken on a task only God could have ordained.
The history that the author gives us was very intriguing. It made the story more realistic and I learned things about a war I never knew. The explosion that wipes out everything in its path was hard to read. I loved how Silas never gave up finding Helen and their time together is well written. I really enjoyed reading that Silas had been a survivor of the Titanic. He does go through a lot in the story which gives a lesson on perseverance. His determination was overwhelming and I loved seeing this man become someone who finally believed in himself.
Helen has a lot going for her as well. Being in the explosion has changed her life forever. her injuries were serious and I liked how the author used it to grow her spiritually. The story is filled with faith and encouragement. The story brings us forgiveness, redemption and healing.
I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.
Author April W. Gardner has written an historical Christian romance with Beautiful in His Sight. Set in 1917 Halifax, Scotia it centers around the Halifax Explosion. Before reading this book, I did not know about this WWI tragedy.
This is the first book I have read by Ms. Gardner. For me the beginning was a bit muddled and slow. It took quite a few pages for me to become interested. The characters were nice but not well defined. I was left with questions on many of them.
The love of Helen and Silas is sweetly told in this gritty tale of war, forgiveness, deceit, redemption, love, and trust. The author has filled it with history, inspiration, mystery, and twists. The second part of the book was much better for me. After that it became a page turner.
This book was well researched. There is so much history to be gleaned just by reading it. The author planned and organized it well. It is a rather long book, but don’t give up on it. It is worth reading.
I would recommend this to fans of WW1 fiction, historical fiction, and Christian fiction. I rated it a 4 out of 5 stars. A copy was provided by Celebrate Lit but these are my honest thoughts.
My Thoughts on Beautiful in His Sight:
Okay, first, this is an event in history I have never heard of. I don’t know a lot about WWI, particularly not anything to do with Nova Scotia. History is definitely something I’m always studying though so this was a fun book for me to read for the history aspect alone.
April Gardner is a new author to me. I’ve enjoyed reading this first work by her. It’s definitely a great one and she has a wonderful writing style. I feel that I’ve found a new author to follow along with and binge read when I need a new book!
The characters are amazing. So complex. The ideas behind the book are great and I love that the book has a solid basis in a historical event. I find myself wanting to read more about the Halifax Explosion now and learn more about it. Also, love the setting because I’m a tried and true Anne of Green Gables fan so anything in this area is always intriguing to me for that reason alone!
Silas is rejected from the army and that leaves him bitter. What will he do with his life now? He isn’t accepted into society and he doesn’t want to be. They don’t like him but then again he doesn’t like himself either. And he definitely doesn’t like God anymore either. He has no purpose what with his goal of serving his country gone and then of course now he’s an outcast because only a spy or something would not be in the war. What can he do?
When he finds a girl he almost assumed dead he finds a purpose. She’s a prostitute trying to get her life together only to be left for dead. Can they help each other? What about finding God? Will He even want anything to do with them?
Lots of great complex characters to get to know. Helen has a half-sister who refuses to acknowledge her. I can see that for the time period though. Who wanted to be known as the sister of a prostitute? Instead, Helen finds help in unexpected places only for her life to be rocked yet again when the Explosion occurs.
Highly recommend this read. It has some hard topics, love, romance, and danger. But it’s not a fast read. This is a slow sip coffee as you read a chapter or two a day type read. There are some great lines and examples to be taken from the story that you’ll want to digest. And of course some rich history lessons as well.
I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.
Set during the time of World War I, this book caught my attention from the very first page. Helen Fraser and Silas Quinn both lack God and purpose for their lives. So when Silas happens to discover Helen, a prostitute half-frozen, things are bound to get interesting.
Helen, unable to forge a relationship with her half-sister, attempts to create some type of new life for herself thanks to Major Jack Gordon who helps establish a new identity for her. But when a terrible explosion happens, Halifax is rocked to its core and Jack Gordon dies. Helen and Silas, along with their community have to pick up the pieces.
However, he has charged Silas Quinn with protecting Helen. Silas determines to do exactly that by finding her and rescuing her from under a pile of rubble, ensuring she receives medical treatment, and even taking her to her half-sister’s home.
One of my favorite characters was Mr. Hermann. This elderly German basically blind gentleman brings a lot to the story by providing Helen a job in his shop and basically treating her like family. He demonstrated Christ’s love even when others were assaulting him because of the war.
This book was full of danger, excitement, and adventure along with hints of what could be between Silas and Helen. If you want to find out how the story ends, check it out for yourself.
I received a copy of this book for my fair and honest review.
It’s always interesting to learn more about history through a story that ‘fleshes’ out that history. I do not remember learning about the catastrophic explosion on December 6th, 1917 in the Halifax, Nova Scotia harbor. The devastation and loss of life made this maritime disaster the largest man-made explosion of the pre-atomic age. The Mont Blanc was fully loaded with munitions for the war in Europe when it was struck by another ship causing first a fire and then an explosion that leveled a large portion of the city. Curious bystanders were either immediately killed or suffered grievous injuries, many of them causing blindness due to the glass being shattered.
Our heroine, Helen, finds herself in just such a situation. The windows have blown in, the ceiling is collapsing and unable to see, she wonders if she will even survive. In all this experience, she learns that the light needs to come from the inside through a God that loves her just as she is! Will she accept His forgiveness and believe that she is worthy to be loved?
Silas Quinn has already survived one disaster, the sinking of the Titanic. At that time he felt that God was not finished with him yet. Will he some out of this one unscathed?
This book is long, with a great deal of detail. Besides the explosion, there is also prejudice, treason and physical abuse to keep the reader wondering if this could possibly end well.
I received an ARC of this book through CelebrateLit. The comments and impressions are my own.