Now that I’m a decent way into Prisoner, I’m happily caught up in the lives of the characters and walking the gardens of Versailles along with them. I can’t quite offer a full review yet (other than, “This is great! Go buy it!” lol), so today I’m going to focus on something Madeleine, the heroine, keeps reminding herself:

“Be wise as a serpent, but innocent as a dove.”

This is a lesson very important in the duplicitous courts of the Sun King, but no less relevant today. As Christians, we need to be aware of those who would oppose us, know the dangers surrounding us, understand this world we live in–but remain untouched by it. A difficult task for anyone. Can you imagine how hard it would be if you’d been torn from your family, and your one hope for reunion lay in besting a king?

Madeleine is a pampered prisoner at the palace, one who needs to play the games of court without letting her heart or soul fall prey to its charms. This heroine, one with a hope for the future but a powerful past threatening to consume her, must rely on her faith to see her through. A fabulous reminder to us all!

I’ve been really caught up in my own projects as I prepare for conference (two days!) and edit A Stray Drop of Blood for its upcoming re-release, but I’m determined to chisel out a few hours to finish this awesome book. There’s something about court intrigue that, er, intrigues me. =)

Last summer I bought Xoe a huge “collection” book of Dr. Seuss stories, and she immediately latched onto “What Was I Scared Of?” Although she calls it “Green Pants.” For good reason, but it’s still cute. While we were going through the great travail of potty training, we read this story so many times that I STILL have it memorized.

As a writer, I find children’s books very interesting. They don’t follow the rules we’re encouraged to observe in fiction-for-adults, and wouldn’t work if they did. The writing is often what would be deemed terrible by adult standards. But they work because they appeal to their readership and, in the case of Dr. Seuss, capture the imagination with fabulous rhyme and rhythm.

In my opinion, the mark of a good rhyming poem of story is the one that gets stuck in your head not in words, but in cadence. When you go around going “Du du du du du DUM; dunna dun uh, du dum du dah.” (Okay, really pathetic attempt there, LOL, but you get the idea.) The kids pick up on it just like we do, and it helps them remember the words, learn about rhyming, and improve their vocabulary. Last summer we were reciting “Green Pants” in the car, and when I forgot the next line, Xoe would give me a prompt. It was great.

I love Dr. Seuss books because the grab my kids’ attention and hold on. They entertain, they educate, and they spur their imagination. When my youngest, who will not sit still for ANY book, stops to listen to the fun sound of a Dr. Seuss, when my daughter recites it with me, when I pause after a line to say, “Wow, that’s brilliant,” then you know you have a winner. Dr. Seuss will forever remain one of my favorites, and I’m loving the excuse to rediscover his work with my kids.

My week has been full of new things, actually. . . and hence getting the hang of them. Particularly the laptop, which can go to the couch with me in the evenings–my usual reading time. So I’m still reading the (very good!) Prisoner of Versailles I wrote about last week, and I haven’t gotten far enough to offer more on it.

So this week I’m going back to an awesome book I read a couple months ago. Marlo Schalesky’s Beyond the Night is a fabulous love story, evocative and heart-wrenching. This is one of those rare books that brings tears to my eyes, and when I turned the last page, I immediately went and told everyone I know that they HAD to read it.

The story begins with a car crash, and the rest of it is a combination of a hospital scene and memories of the couple’s love story. Madison Foster knew she was going blind, but dealing with it was another matter. She above all didn’t want her mother to find out–and she didn’t want the pity of her best friend, Paul. Maybe romance had been about to bloom, but now they’d never know. Because she wasn’t going to do that to him. And he didn’t know how to fight her about it.

I love the way the past was interwoven with the present in this book, and especially the huge twist that I obviously won’t give away–the one that had me crying.

I didn’t know when I picked it up what I’d think about it. Stories set in the ’70s don’t usually do it for me, since it’s from that era just before I existed–not long enough past to seem mysterious or whimsical, not familiar enough to feel like “home”–but from the first pages, I couldn’t put it down.

Beyond the Night is one of those stories that deserves every bit of acclaim it can get, (like the Christy award it just won–woo hoo! Congrats, Marlo!) and then some. This is a fabulous book, well told and beautiful. It’ll leave you with tears in your eyes and a band around your chest that makes you think, “Wow. That is love.”