Official Review: Lydia, Woman of Philippi

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Momlovesbooks
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Official Review: Lydia, Woman of Philippi

Post by Momlovesbooks »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Lydia, Woman of Philippi" by Diana Wallis Taylor.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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Lydia, Woman of Philippi, is a fictional novel based on a female character in the Bible. The author, Diana Wallis Taylor, has written several other novels revolving around women in the Bible. This one proves to be a touching story.

The book begins with a young Lydia growing up in a Roman society in the city of Thyatira. Her father and brother are staunch Romans, but her mother has led her in a quiet belief of the Jewish God, Adonai. At the age of fifteen, her father arranges her marriage into an influential Roman family. Although her husband is cruel and shows her no love, Lydia remains a loyal wife. She gives birth to a beautiful daughter, but her husband is furious that she can't give him a son. Several years later, he is killed in battle. Lydia returns to her father's home with her twelve-year-old daughter.

Lydia convinces her father to train her in the family dye business. Her father owns a profitable business that she quickly learns to love. Lydia is intelligent and quickly picks up on the inner workings of the business. After tragedy strikes her family, she moves to Philippi to take control of her father's business in that city. While there, her faith in God is strengthened. She begins to bond with her employee, who is also a God-fearer. When she meets a man named Paul the Apostle, her life will be drastically changed.

I enjoy reading Biblical fiction. The story of Lydia captivated me from page one. Although we don't have a lot of details about her in the Bible, I believe it is a good assumption of how Lydia's life might have been. The author used great detail when describing the Roman rules, customs and worship of other gods. I could tell Ms Taylor thoroughly researched the background and kept the story Biblically correct.

The characters were well-developed and depicted accurately for that time period. I enjoyed her portrayal of Lydia as a strong, independent, smart woman who is a follower of the Jewish God. The characters came alive on the pages and enhanced the flow of the story. The only awkward part I noticed was when Lydia's life jumped from being a new mother, to having her child be of marrying age. There was a gap in her past that I would have liked to seen shared with the reader.

The life of Lydia was inspiring. She showed strength and determination during difficult times. Through all her trials, she kept her faith in God and kept her heart open. Woven throughout the story, were several opportunities for Lydia to share the good news of God's love.

I didn't notice any grammatical mistakes and feel this book was professionally edited. Based on my above observations, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed it and believe fans of historical fiction and Biblical themes will find this an interesting read. If religious novels aren't your cup of tea, this may not be the book for you. However, I look forward to reading other novels by this author.

******
Lydia, Woman of Philippi
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Sahani Nimandra
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Post by Sahani Nimandra »

It sounds good! A story revolving around a woman who went through hardships and finally succeeded. Thank you!
Looking forward to read this book.
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Post by Lincolnshirelass »

Great review and sounds like an interesting book. I am fascinated by the role of women in the Bible, as in some ways it seems contradictory. For instance, those infamous words of Paul's about women shutting up in church - and yet he addresses epistles to women who run churches in their homes! I'm inclined to accept the argument that he was advising his followers to respect some social mores of the time. Also (in the old testament) there are strong women like Esther and Deborah, and the famous 'proverbs woman' - I've often wondered if she was an actual person or an archetype. Anyway, I would certainly like to read the book and thanks for the review.
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Post by MarisaRose »

I really enjoy novels that take relatively small characters from history and give them life. It sounds like this one does a great job of creating a character and bringing her story to life. I'll add this one to my 'to read' list. Thanks!
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Post by kandscreeley »

I love the thought of this story. The cover is great as well! I enjoy reading Biblical fiction if it follows fairly closely with the Bible. It sounds like this is definitely one worth looking into. Thanks for a great review!
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Post by Mercelle »

Not much is said about women's lives in the Bible. From your review, the author did justice in telling the story of Lydia of Philippi.
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Post by powergirl »

Great review,i love the book cover page.It seems to be a blibical story and i really like blibical fiction.
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Post by MsTri »

I saw this book come up and was interested, but not as much as I was in something else I wanted to read. I'm glad to know I was right about it, though. I recently read First Family, which is the Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel stories from their POVs, and this sounds like it might be in the same vein. I will def check it out when I get a chance. Thanks for the solid review.
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Post by Marissa Michael »

Interesting biblical fiction. I will look up to it. Thank you for your good review.
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Post by inaramid »

People sometimes deify biblical characters so much that they alienate regular human beings like me. I definitely love that this book shows the human aspect of a biblical character. Great review!
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Post by Missnellus »

I'm just so captivated by your review. I love historical fiction with bible themes and this just touched my heart's core. Looking forward to read the book myself.
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Post by Whitney Marchelle »

Great review.I enjoy biblical fiction too, glad there's a story out there about a character we don't a lot of info on.
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chozella
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Post by chozella »

I would love to read this book about Lydia! Interesting to read about her life as it might have been! The story line seems fascinating and how she became a business woman. Awesome, this type of book is right up my alley!
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Post by N_R »

Love this review, thanks for a tempting invitation to read the book. To be honest, I've never really read biblical fiction but very interested in it now!
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Post by pinklover »

You have a beautiful review and I feel the touching story upon reading your review. I love Bible stories and this one make me wanted to read more stories on the Christian Bible.
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