{"id":1317,"date":"2022-06-23T10:31:37","date_gmt":"2022-06-23T10:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/?p=1317"},"modified":"2022-06-23T10:32:25","modified_gmt":"2022-06-23T10:32:25","slug":"braver-by-deborah-jenkins-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/?p=1317","title":{"rendered":"Braver by Deborah Jenkins &#8211; Book Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Deborah Jenkins has written a corker of a book and it&#8217;s out next week. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Braver-Deborah-Jenkins-ebook\/dp\/B09ZQ5K2V6\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3OZP030C4TIGU&amp;keywords=braver+deborah+jenkins&amp;qid=1655980029&amp;sprefix=%2Caps%2C51&amp;sr=8-1\">Braver<\/a> is published by Fairlight Books. Here&#8217;s my review:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-amazon wp-block-embed-amazon\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Braver\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"843\" height=\"550\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen style=\"max-width:100%\" src=\"https:\/\/read.amazon.co.uk\/kp\/card?preview=inline&#038;linkCode=kpd&#038;ref_=k4w_oembed_QispqSwfsBfYKW&#038;asin=B09ZQ5K2V6&#038;tag=kpembed-20\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I loved this uplifting, emotional and profoundly moving book. Deborah Jenkins has created characters with great depth and authenticity. Hazel is a loner; she has always found life difficult and found it hard to &#8216;get&#8217; other people. People have generally avoided her, and with a difficult past and a domineering mother, she has struggled through life. But things change when she meets Virginia, her local vicar, and some of the people who go to her church. Hazel finds herself unexpectedly welcomed into and swept up in community, something she&#8217;s never had before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hazel is so believable as an awkward, lonely woman with OCD, with her obsessive habits and rituals that get her through the day. Her friendship with the others, especially young Harry, who lives with an alcoholic, neglectful mother and faces bullying at school, is well-drawn and heart-warming. When Virginia faces a false accusation of abuse, her community gather around her to support her, with Hazel and Harry swept up in the love and friendship offered by this diverse community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The author writes beautifully, I wanted to go back and read so many moments she&#8217;d captured in such great poetic prose. She has a knack of seeing deep into the human condition and taking the reader there with her &#8211; there are moments of recognition when you realise that she is articulating something that can&#8217;t quite be articulated. This is a book full of heart, honesty, and ultimately, hope, and I enjoyed every minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also loved the gentle Christian content &#8211; there was no preachiness, just a kind and warm view of a Christian community. I think Deborah really hit the right balance for a mainstream novel, with a warm invitation to readers but without any kind of pushy agendas. I give Braver five stars \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Braver is out on June 30th and you can pre-order it now on Amazon.<\/p>\n\n\n<span class='bctt-click-to-tweet'><span class='bctt-ctt-text'><a href='https:\/\/x.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwp.me%2Fp8T2j8-lf&#038;text=Braver%20by%20Deborah%20Jenkins%20-%20Book%20Review%20-%20a%20book%20full%20of%20heart%2C%20honesty%2C%20and%20ultimately%2C%20hope.&#038;via=LizCarterWriter&#038;related=LizCarterWriter' target='_blank'rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Braver by Deborah Jenkins &#8211; Book Review &#8211; a book full of heart, honesty, and ultimately, hope. <\/a><\/span><a href='https:\/\/x.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwp.me%2Fp8T2j8-lf&#038;text=Braver%20by%20Deborah%20Jenkins%20-%20Book%20Review%20-%20a%20book%20full%20of%20heart%2C%20honesty%2C%20and%20ultimately%2C%20hope.&#038;via=LizCarterWriter&#038;related=LizCarterWriter' target='_blank' class='bctt-ctt-btn'rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Share on X<\/a><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Deborah Jenkins has written a corker of a book and it&#8217;s out next week. Braver is published by Fairlight Books. Here&#8217;s my review: I loved&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[175,1],"tags":[142,143],"class_list":["post-1317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-uncategorized","tag-book-review","tag-books"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8T2j8-lf","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":526,"url":"https:\/\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/?p=526","url_meta":{"origin":1317,"position":0},"title":"Book review &#8211; The Making of Us by Sheridan Voysey","author":"liz","date":"March 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"'While we may feel like jigsaw puzzles thrown in the air, or wonder who we are and why we're here, the one who made the heavens and the seas made us by his infinite wisdom too. The same hands that made the galaxies crafted us in the womb, making us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Book Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"https:\/\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/?cat=175"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/52833019_2299216073683152_7810397666998747136_n.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/52833019_2299216073683152_7810397666998747136_n.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/52833019_2299216073683152_7810397666998747136_n.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/52833019_2299216073683152_7810397666998747136_n.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":287,"url":"https:\/\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/?p=287","url_meta":{"origin":1317,"position":1},"title":"Book Reviews &#8211; May 2018","author":"liz","date":"May 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Good afternoon all! I've decided to start some regular book reviews on the blog. I read some wonderful books and it always seems a shame to read and forget, so I'd love to share some of them with you. Today I'm reviewing one fiction and one non-fiction, both for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Book Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"https:\/\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/?cat=175"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/51to-a6EckL-195x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1261,"url":"https:\/\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/?p=1261","url_meta":{"origin":1317,"position":2},"title":"The Wounds of Time &#8211; Interview and book review","author":"liz","date":"March 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm so delighted today to be chatting with Sue Russell, the author of the brand new\u00a0The Wounds of Time.\u00a0I wanted to ask Sue what inspires her and how she brings her faith into her writing - as you know, this is one of my passions when it comes to writing.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Book Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"https:\/\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/?cat=175"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/woundsmockup2.png?fit=1000%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/woundsmockup2.png?fit=1000%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/woundsmockup2.png?fit=1000%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/woundsmockup2.png?fit=1000%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1509,"url":"https:\/\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/?p=1509","url_meta":{"origin":1317,"position":3},"title":"The Stranger: Review and Interview with Joy Margetts","author":"liz","date":"November 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm always excited to see a new book from Joy Margetts, who is one of my favourite Christian authors. 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Interview with Lucy Rycroft and giveaway!","author":"liz","date":"November 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"For many people this coming season is one of non-stop rush and busyness. Even for those of us unable to be as busy, it's a time where there is so much competing for our attention - on TV, on social media, at church, in the street. 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