Award Winning Alabama Author Releases The Silent Songbird
The creation of an imaginative story is an inherently spiritual exercise. It is one of the marks of the imago Deo, the image of God stamped upon humanity. Whether it’s a talking snake in a garden, a merchant who finds a pearl of great price, or a prince who saves a damsel in distress, stories can be powerful echoes of the truth and creativity emanating from our heavenly Father. There are occasions when “Once upon a time” can be an introduction to the holy.
In her new book, The Silent Songbird (Thomas Nelson $14.99), Alabama author Melanie Dickerson offers us the story of Evangeline, a young woman who lives in the dangerous world of fourteenth-century England. She is, of course, lovely and talented and virtuous. And she falls for a young man of admirable character, charm, and chiseled good looks. But there is treachery afoot, circumstances to obviate, and villainous antagonists to avoid. And even though we know before the first page that such tales always end happily ever after, Melanie weaves a story that makes the journey toward resolution worthy of reading.
In what we call the real world, endings are not always good and perfect. Sometimes we are exiled from Eden, we lose what we treasure, and the damsel isn’t saved. But maybe that isn’t the end of our history. Perhaps stories like The Silent Songbird are not predictable tales of romantic escapism, but prophetic parables which whisper the promise that love will indeed win in the end, that all which was lost will be found, and that we will, one day, dwell in castles not made with hands. Maybe the Kingdom of God truly does begin with “Once upon a time” and ends with “happily ever after.”
–Darrel Holcombe, Owner
Sanctuary Christian Books and Gifts
Colonial Promenade, Alabaster
