I have recently fallen in love with audio books! I’ve always enjoyed listening to audio dramas and stories (especially the Chronicles of Narnia audio dramas from Focus on the Family!), but I’ve never really tried actual audio books.
It all started when I received a free audio book download of Widow of Gettysburg by Jocelyn Green from the author herself for review (so exciting!!). I had to download and sign-up for Audible from Amazon, which costs about $15 a month, in order to listen to it. I intended to cancel my subscription after I finished the book, but I totally forgot! OOPS!
Fast forward a few months and I got to listen to another book from Jocelyn, Wedded to War, for review. I, of course, had to use Audible again, and discovered that I had racked up five credits that I could spend on more audio books (each book is worth one credit). I found some books that have been waiting on my TBR list for a while and downloaded them. My practical, frugal self tells me I should still cancel my subscription to save me that extra $15 a month, but… I’m really, really enjoying listening! I’ve been able to get in so many more books the last couple months because I can listen to them while doing other things–cleaning, getting dressed, driving, working, etc. I still prefer reading paperbacks/hardbacks more than anything, but these audio formats are super convenient.
I’m sure I’ll end up reviewing/featuring other audio books I’ve listened to already–especially the ones from Jocelyn Green, which were fantastic–but I wanted to share about this one first!
Land of Silence by Tessa Afshar
This book is well worth the read OR listen, my friends! Here’s the official blurb and then I’ll tell you why I loved it so much:
2017 INSPY Award winner, general fiction category
Before Christ called her daughter . . .
Before she stole healing by touching the hem of his garment . . .
Elianna is a young girl crushed by guilt. After her only brother is killed while in her care, Elianna tries to earn forgiveness by working for her father’s textile trade and caring for her family. When another tragedy places Elianna in sole charge of the business, her talent for design brings enormous success, but never the absolution she longs for. As her world unravels, she breaks off her betrothal to the only man she will ever love. Then illness strikes, isolating Elianna from everyone, stripping everything she has left.
No physician can cure her. No end is in sight. Until she hears whispers of a man whose mere touch can heal. After so many years of suffering and disappointment, is it possible that one man could redeem the wounds of body . . . and soul?
Land of Silence, as you’ve probably surmised from the description, is based on the very briefly mentioned “Woman with the Issue of Blood” in the Gospels. We know nothing about this woman beyond the few verses that mention her, so in this book, Tessa Afshar presents who this nameless woman might have been and the troubled path that may have lead her to Jesus’ feet.
I LOVE stories like this, that fill in the blanks of history and imagine what could have been. Though we can’t take such tales as fact, they still allow us to see these two-dimensional historical figures as three-dimensional, living, breathing human beings. It brings the facts we do know to life in beautiful detail and lets us connect with them on a deeper level.
For the majority of Land of Silence, we follow Elianna’s tragic downhill journey that led her to that pivotal, life-changing moment in the Bible. And when I say “tragic” and “downhill”, I mean it. This story was like that torturous, agonizing moment of watching a wreck happen before your eyes and you’re powerless to stop it. One unfortunate incident or poor choice after another leads Elianna to a very broken, lonely place. But by the end, after she meets Jesus and steals that healing touch, Elianna’s story is redeemed and restored in a beautiful way.
I found myself tearing up during the last couple chapters and the epilogue. This story illustrates so perfectly what Jesus does for everyone who comes to Him. You can have a hopelessly broken story, but with His power He can totally turn everything around. He makes breathtaking beauty of our brokenness!
Tessa Afshar is a talented author that lends a unique voice and emotional touch to her stories. Her way of weaving all of the individual scenes and incidents into one flowing tapestry, especially in relation to each character’s personal development/journey, is superb. Her historical and Biblical attention to detail is also excellent.
It’s also important to note, if you want to listen to the Audible version of this like I did, that the narrator is easy to listen to and does all the characters’ voices—which I love. I’m picky about my narrator voices. It’s really hard for me to pay attention and follow what is happening if the narrator’s voice is annoying or sounds the same no matter who is speaking.
My favorite part of the entire book is the closing lines:
“Perhaps one day, people I have never met will hear of me and know that Jesus of Nazareth ended the endless misery of a hopeless woman with one stolen touch and a few life-transforming words.”
Elianna ~ Land of Silence by Tessa Afshar
In light of the rest of the story, this sentence was incredibly moving to me. I couldn’t help but think of the real “Woman with the Issue of Blood” and how she may have thought the same thing as her fictional counterpart. Maybe one day in heaven she can learn that yes, people all over the world have heard her story. It has touched countless lives and inspired them to act in desperate faith just as she did.
I give Land of Silence an enthusiastic 5/5 Stars, and I encourage you to read or listen to it for yourself. I feel sure you will not be disappointed!
