Although I normally read mainly nonfiction books, I found this novel captured my interest very quickly and kept me totally absorbed in the life of Saskia and the plantation, with its skillful blending of historical fact, fiction, romance and pervading sense of social injustice. There is a lot to learn in this novel, from the skill of lace making, to the Dutch rule in South Africa, as well as wine plantation life and the social inequities suffered by servants like Saskia and the brutal treatment of the black slaves. Through use of Saskia’s writing a journal, we get more insight into events and her emotional reactions. I especially like the dialogue and sprinkling of Dutch/South African words (and the fact that there is a glossary at the end of the book–something I really appreciate and wish more books had). The authenticity of descriptions is apparent, from the language, to description of clothing, to the meals, dwellings, and customs. The romance between Saskia and Titus adds the Romeo-Juliet element that captures the reader’s emotional reaction. I highly recommend this book!

Thanks for the feedback. I’m glad you found it helpful. As for competitions, you’ll just have to google competitions for memoirs and see what comes up.

I’d like to hear more about which magazines and competitions are the best to explore with my book, “Beyond the Reef”, which is a non-fiction memorabilia style.

The story begins when the seven year old finds the robot and determines God gave her the robot in order to make everyone in the world “be good”. It is quite the ride and just keeps getting more intriguing as it goes.

The ending felt abrupt to me and left me with a lot of questions, but I believe this was also intentional on the part of the author. This is not the book for those that want tidy endings. God’s Gift is a worthwhile read that will leave you pondering well after you put it down. There is violence but it is fairly sanitized (not a lot of gore).

Five stars.

#GodsGift #NetGalley

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59363256-god-s-gift

Immediately, a being she’s never encountered before appears before Devon. Auntie is huge, gleaming, faceless, and Devon can tell that Auntie is very happy to meet her. Devon understands that Auntie is God’s gift to her, and they’re meant to make the world a better place. Auntie has special powers to ensure that they can carry out God’s mission.

Devon and Auntie set out to change the world. Along the way, they meet several people who are willing to support them and an equal number of people who will stop at nothing to prevent them from reaching their goal. As they journey, Devon always keeps her mission in mind without realizing that she has allowed others to influence its execution.

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Books from a child’s perspective are always uniquely revelatory. Because children are still building their understanding of the world, they compare and connect things adults would not. Such is the case in this novel when Devon is faced with the appearance of an otherworldly being and her perceived duty to make the world a better place. Her ideas of how to make the world a better place, and who is making the world a bad place, are constantly influenced by the circle of people around her.

Devon’s understanding of power and how it is used is also changed throughout the novel. Part of this is because she believes her actions have been sanctioned by God and He wouldn’t allow her to do anything He doesn’t want. Part of this is because she begins to understand herself as someone with power because of the many attempts to control or execute her. As Devon’s perception of power changes, her perception of who is good and who is bad increasingly begins to rely on her feelings rather than evidence.

The ending of this book took me completely off guard. I feel like I’ll be contemplating it for the next month. Five stars! Recommended for anyone interested in contemplating whether God made a mistake in giving people free will.

https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/god-s-gift-remi-dewitt#review

Hi Sandee. Thanks for the feedback. And that’s a good question, the info you want is here: https://www.tahlianewland.com/3-writing-mistakes-to-avoid-for-better-writing/