Douglas Bond is one of my favorite authors, and has been since, shortly after discovering my Scottish roots, we discovered and read his Crown & Covenant Trilogy, followed by his Faith & Freedom Trilogy.
In preparing for our upcoming 7th Annual 'Night Of Reformation' get-together, I just finished reading Mr. Bond's latest book, The Hammer of the Huguenots, and, I must say, Douglas Bond never ceases to amaze me with his wisdom and insight into Reformation history and the abillity to make it come alive for me...urging me to dig futher into my own family history and imagining what it must have been like for those that came before me. Even though I have Huguenot history in my own family (my fifth great-aunt, Catherine Sherrill was married to General John Sevier, who was of French Huguenot descent), it is an area of family history that I had never thought to investigate before. The Hammer of the Huguenots was so good! Through it's pages I was spiritually humbled and, in the flesh, I am now challenged to dig deeper into the roots of my own extended Huguenot roots.
In The Hammer of the Huguenots Douglas Bond tells the story of Phillippe, a quiet, hard-working, sixteenth-century shipwright apprentice, who, as full-scale war is breaking out in France as intense religious conflict, finds himself entangled in the trouble whether he likes it or not. His closest friends have defyed the state church by embracing the gospel proclaimed by church Reformers and Phillipe must make a choice.
As with all of the previous books that I've read of Douglas Bond's, Mr. Bond has skillfully woven fact and fiction together drawing me into the pages of the book...into the setting and time period. So much so, in fact, that during the final chapter of The Hammer of the Huguenots, as Phillipe comes to a realization of the choice he has made, I found myself in tears. I could actually feel his heart.
Bravo, Mr. Bond! I never get tired of reading your books and I am anxiously looking forward to whatever is next!
Blessing To All,
~Rebecca
