Sunday, January 5, 2014

The Beloved Daughter by Alana Terry

Open Doors has placed North Korea at the top of the list for worst persecutors of Christians for eleven consecutive years.

Alana has written this novel to highlight the plight of Christians in that country. The story centers around Chung-Cha. Her parents are Christians and are arrested when Chung-Cha is twelve years old. She is taken to prison where the conditions are so terrible it is even hard to imagine. Yet, even in the midst of the horror of persecution, God provides for Chung-Cha. Her physical persecution remains with inhuman conditions but God feeds her spirit through an older Christian woman.

The novel follows Chung-Cha's life of terror, persecution, and escape. Even when out of the prison, she lives under the threat of immediate arrest and return to prison.

What a novel. The conditions in the North Korea prison are unspeakable. Alana has created a vivid picture of what unfettered evil will do toward Christians. It certainly gives us pause to think of what we would do in similar situations. We also learn of the underground movement and the chances people take to help others on their way to freedom.

While this is a very well written novel, it is certainly more than mere entertainment. It is a challenge for western Christians to consider the fate of their brothers and sisters experiencing persecution around the globe. This is a hard novel to read because the subject matter is so intense. But it is a necessary novel to read. It gets us out of our comfort zone and forces us to confront the reality of Christian persecution.

Read this novel and be challenged.

Watch the book trailer here.

Alana Terry is a home-shooling mother of three who loves to write. This is her first inspirational novel and with it won the Women of Faith writing contest. Find out more about her and her writing at http://www.alanaterry.com/ .

Create Space Independent Publishing, 230 pages.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the author for the purpose of this review.

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