About the Book
Book: Shadow Among Sheaves
Author: Naomi Stephens
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction
Release Date: April, 2019
A Timeless, Beautiful Allegory of the Biblical Love Story of Ruth and Boaz
The Great Rebellion of 1857 was a remarkably bloody business. At a time when Britain’s imperial influence in India was sparking brutal clashes on both sides, no one could have expected Rena, an Indian woman, to marry a British officer—nor do they understand her decision to follow her mother-in-law to England after her husband’s tragic death.
Once the two widows are in Abbotsville, the stern yet compassionate Lord Barric attempts to help them despite his better judgment. Soon he is torn between the demands of reputation and his increasing desire to capture Rena’s heart for his own.
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My Review
I was strangely enthralled with this story as soon as I started. It is not a high action story, which is what usually keeps pages turning, but I was pulled into the story and I could not put it down. I ended up staying up waaayyyy too late just to finish.
When I first read the description I was intrigued with the idea and wondered how Naomi would frame the the story in 1850s England, and I think she picked the perfect setting; an Indian woman followed her mother-in-law, Nell to the land of fair skinned English.
Other similar period books I have read have shown Indian men and women in an exotic viewpoint, often as servants. Naomi doesn’t shy away from the realities of racism and how close to starvation the ladies became. But in all of that, she doesn’t allow the story to get bogged down to the point of tear preferring to lift it with Rena and Nell’s determination to survive and thrive despite their circumstances.
I admire both women for their dedication to each other when splitting up could have made their lives easier in some way, they stuck like glue, a thread of love woven between their hearts. Nell has a strong steady faith and is patient with Rena and her faith journey.
I am not sure how I feel about Barric. On one hand he is stern and distant, struggling with his own prejudices. On the other, his heart slowly turns, running quietly deep. He learns to stand up to others and their assumptions, how to follow his heart. Barruc will never wax poetic to the masses with the grand declaration, but I believe his love for Rena will only grow.
For this story, the end is just the beginning.
I received a copy of this story for the purpose of this tour. All opinions are my own.
About the Author
Naomi Stephens is a bookworm turned teacher turned writer. She received a M.A. in English from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne and now lives in Ohio with her husband, her two children, and a rascal of a dog named Sherlock.
More from Naomi
A Timeless, Beautiful Allegory of the Biblical Love Story of Ruth and Boaz
The Great Rebellion of 1857 was a remarkably bloody business. At a time when Britain’s imperial influence in India was sparking brutal clashes on both sides, no one could have expected Rena, an Indian woman, to marry a British officer—nor do they understand her decision to follow her mother-in-law to England after her husband’s tragic death.
Once the two widows are in Abbotsville, the stern yet compassionate Lord Barric attempts to help them despite his better judgment. Soon he is torn between the demands of reputation and his increasing desire to capture Rena’s heart for his own. Which will he choose? Find out in Shadow Among Sheaves by Naomi Stephens.
Read an Exclusive Excerpt from Shadow Among Sheaves:
She smiled, stepping closer and placing her hand on the horse’s wet snout. Samson was a pretty beast with wide, ponderous eyes and a few splotches of gray around his nose. The soft puff of air Samson snorted into her palm brought a delighted smile to her lips, and she gasped as he bowed his neck to nuzzle his nose against her stomach. She felt her smile leap into a grin. It was a delightful change, to feel joy so deep it finally showed.
Barric circled around Samson to stand beside her, his hands never leaving the reins. “He’s fond of you,” he remarked as Samson dropped his snout against her hip.
“Unsurprising, I suppose. Though he could also be searching you for a carrot.”
Surprised to hear Lord Barric speak so teasingly, and pleased by the gentle light she found in his otherwise tired eyes, Rena laughed her faint agreement. “That will teach me to come empty-handed, won’t it?”
Their smiles both dropped as a young, lanky stable hand came rushing out to take Samson, and Barric relinquished his hold on the reins, nodding his silent thanks.
As soon as the stable boy had disappeared with Samson, Bar¬ric glanced back at Rena. “Are you going home?” he asked, nodding toward the dusty road looping down the hill to William’s house.
She stepped back, realizing she had dawdled longer than she’d first intended. “Yes,” she answered. “I often come this way to avoid the other workers.”
“Might I walk with you?” He turned to hang his whip on a peg. “Just a short stretch of the road?”
Stunned by his request, and a bit suspicious of his motive, she nonetheless nodded. “Yes, of course.”
Barric drew up beside her, his even strides betraying no unease, though he was silent for some time as they made their way down the golden-colored hill.
“You have seemed tired these past few days,” he observed. Rena did not bother to deny it. She’d been working hard to keep up with the others, as Barric had told her she must, and felt wearier for it. She had tried to split her days in half, the mornings spent binding sheaves with the women and the afternoons spent picking for her own stores, but the work was backbreaking, and, as he had already pointed out once before, she was not used to hard labor. “I realize I haven’t really asked you how you are settling in,” he went on.
“Perhaps you’ve been too busy provoking me,” she answered before she could stop herself.
Barric’s eyebrow inched up as he slanted an approving smirk down at her. “Perhaps.”
Rena cursed her honest tongue. She must have been more tired than she thought, to speak so freely to a man of title. “I have been well,” she tried again, a bit more diplomatically. “The house suits us, if that is what you are asking.”
“The people here do not speak to you unkindly?”
“The people do not speak to me at all.” She had meant to sound casual, unaffected, but heard the hurt in her own voice she hadn’t been able to weed out. As Barric’s expression tightened, she hastened to amend, “Except for you, my lord. Of course. And the Wilmots.”
“They are good people,” he agreed quietly. “And will you be coming with them to the festival this evening?”
She hesitated. According to Alice, harvest home was a yearly tra¬dition, a night of raucous drinking and dancing to celebrate the close of the harvest. All of Abbotsville would be there—landowners, stew-ards, even tenant farmers and common laborers. But Rena was none of those things, and she and Barric both knew it.
“Come,” Barric teased, “do not tell me you are afraid to go. I would never have thought it of you.”
“I am not afraid,” she insisted. “I just had not thought about it.”
At her defensive tone, he smiled—a true smile—one that pinched the corners of his eyes and pressed grooves along the outer edges of his mouth. “You ought to come,” he decided. “Everyone in Abbotsville is welcome, and many are the men who would feel lucky to dance with you.”
But, of course, Lord Barric knew this was not true. The men in his fields regarded her mostly with contempt and made no secret of it— they would not count themselves at all lucky to dance with her. Was Lord Barric trying to offer her words of comfort? Or was he trying to convey a message?
Did he want to dance with her?
This was hardly a safe question, and so she asked another. “Do you dance, Lord Barric?”
When he met her gaze, so direct, she was all the more glad she had not stammered in her reply. The man walked a dangerous line whenever he deigned to speak to her. Far too close, she’d think, and then stern enough to cool her blood with a word.
He surprised her with another smile, this one a faint twist at the corner of his lips. “Perhaps you would have to come to find out.”
Blog Stops
Godly Book Reviews, April 30
Mary Hake, April 30
Worthy2Read, April 30
Back Porch Reads, May 1
Inspirationally Ever After, May 1
Fiction Aficionado, May 2
Splashes of Joy, May 2
Christian Chick’s Thoughts, May 2
Bigreadersite, May 3
Inklings and notions , May 3
Blossoms and Blessings, May 3
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, May 4
janicesbookreviews, May 4
Just the Write Escape, May 5
Stephanie’s Life of Determination, May 5
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, May 6
For Him and My Family, May 6
Kat’s Corner Books, May 7
Pause for Tales, May 7
Aryn The Libraryan, May 8
Faery Tales Are Real, May 8
Hallie Reads, May 8
Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, May 9
Library Lady’s Kid Lit, May 9
Locks, Hooks and Books, May 9
Through the Fire Blogs, May 10
The Becca Files, May 10
The Christian Fiction Girl, May 11
Older & Smarter?, May 11
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, May 11
Texas Book-aholic, May 12
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, May 12
A Reader’s Brain, May 13
For the Love of Literature, May 13
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Naomi is giving away a grand prize of a $25 Amazon gift card and a finished paperback copy of Shadow Among Sheaves!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/deb9/shadow-among-sheaves-celebration-tour-giveaway
Hiding from the horrors of her past, Miss Martha Haskett is content living her days serving as a lady’s maid to her friend Eliza, the Marchioness of Lansdowne. But then her father, the new Earl of Waterford, shows up, with the shocking news that she is now a titled lady. Further turning her life upside down, he proposes a bargain. She will have a single Season in London, and if she does not marry by the end of the Season, she will be gifted with her dowry and a small estate. Despite her mistrust of her father, Martha accepts his offer, but can’t seem to let go of the anger that has been festering inside of her, or her discomfort with a position in Society where she feels she does not belong.
Laura Beers spent most of her childhood with a nose stuck in a book, dreaming of becoming an author. She attended Brigham Young University, eventually earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Management. Many years later, and with loving encouragement from her family, Laura decided to start writing again. Besides being a full-time homemaker to her three kids, she loves waterskiing, hiking, and drinking Dr. Pepper. Currently, Laura Beers resides in South Carolina.
Kat's Corner Books 