Jackson Keene Provides Wonderful Christian Historical Novel..in Quest for the Middle Kingdom...

"The Fall of the Peking Castle" from September 1900. British and Japanese soldiers assaulting Chinese troops.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)


Reverend Smithers felt a bit ashamed for his cold reception of David. To make amends, he took it upon himself to go with the man to the hospital. He knew the way. Plus, he spoke adequate Mandarin, enough to speed up the process of getting the wounded Westerners properly registered and receiving adequate care. After the horrible tragedy of the recent Boxer Rebellion, latent bias against foreigners was widespread throughout the city. Speaking the language could only facilitate matters, he was sure.
The two men left immediately. David drove the two bound oxen forward as fast as he dared. He would have uploaded the cart of its cache of arms at the Society office first, but feared he had already lost too much time. “Hang on Edward, both of you. We be almost there. Hang on just a little bit longer, lads.”
MacDougall prayed silently under his breath as they hurried along. Smithers prayed out loud.
~~~

Quest for the Middle Kingdom

Retitled and under a New Publisher

By Jackson Keene

Jackson Keene may be the only author to have The Boxer Rebellion and the beginning of basketball in one book, all tied up with lots of romance... and do it so well that readers are pulled in so quickly that you realize that you are reading a very satisfactory ending! I enjoyed this historical novel immensely!

David Alan MacDougal was born in 1882 and, as with many of us, learned about the kirk, the church, and God from his parents, especially David's father. Jonathan, as they worked their farm, would share about his faith and talk routinely about what was happening and how they would face what the future held. Times were getting worse and many of those in the Scottish Highland were leaving. David's family were landowners and fairly wealthy but David knew that his older brother would control the land in the future.

But that had never concerned him, because even as a young boy, his pastor, Reverend Hennessey, had captured his attention through his words and soon David came to commit his life to God, and more specifically, to become a missionary...He knew he had been called to go to China; he was 18!

David was a good looking lad, one who had developed and maintained a body through hard farm work, weights and through the sports he loved. Basket Ball had just begun, so David and his brother soon learned the rules and practiced until David was totally enjoying this new sport...

So when he was ready to set off and was on the ship for his long voyage, it wasn't long before he was looking for ways to continue his exercise regiment...

Soon this personable young man had a Basket Ball group going. He also was soon asked to preach...

And he also developed a group of female admirers who were quite willing to have him forget his commitment and participate in a different type of exercise.  David had, however, already learned the hard way--he had lost his sweetheart to his cousin while he had been away...

That didn't mean he wasn't tempted--so keeping busy with exercise helped... and it also led to his saving the ship and everybody on it from death.

In fact, the trip to China was a great adventure, full of surprises and fun; this was my favorite part for excitement!

But the story of David as he came to take his position at the missionary was a different type of enjoyment... The church, as well as the community had lost many members during the Boxer Rebellion, so there was much to do, and many coming to the church for help in meeting just basic needs of shelter and food...

As things became more routine, David began to think about introducing Basket Ball to the community. Many came, including one young female who was the daughter of one of the church leaders... What an interesting and fun love story to end with!

Highly recommended!


GABixlerReviews

Author

Jackson Keene was born sometime before the turn of the century in a little town that nestles close to the mighty Mississippi and not so far away from Graceland, either, the final home of the King, Elvis.  Millington, Tennessee was, until 1993, home to Memphis Naval Air Station, at one time, among the busiest and biggest of U.S. naval stations in the whole world.

Born into a traveling military family, he attended seven different schools, and lived in five states (TN, RI, CA, FL and TX) before graduating from senior high school with honors.  He obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees in History and spent a year toward a Ph.D. in the same field before abandoning his dream of being a publishing professor.

However, he never lost his love of history, detailed research, or good historical fiction. Read More on His Site!

Review: The Untold Story of King Arthur - A Must for Historical Readers!

Arthur and Excalibur
The Untold Story
By Gordon Etherington
Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 9781425160388
302 Pages

Do you believe in the legend of King Arthur? Did he really exist as Britain's King, leading the battle to win over the Saxon invasion and begin merging the country under the High King? After you read Arthur and Excalibur: The Untold story by Gordon Etherington, all of your doubt might just disappear! No review could cover the breadth and depth of this book's content!

When High King Uther Pendragon saw a woman he desired, then he took her--even if she had drunk too much and was near unconsciousness. This time he wanted the wife of Duke Gorlois. Fortunately for Igraine, her maid caught the King in her bedroom, because she had proof of what had happened when she discovered she was pregnant! When Igraine realized this, she immediately called upon her old and wise friend, Merlin.

Merlin took charge of everything, having Igraine visit a sanctuary where she could have the child and afterward, leave the child to be raised there in his youth. Gwendolyn, a young woman in the village, became the only mother Arthur knew. Later, Merlin arranged to have Arthur live in the home of Sir Ector where he would be trained for his future role--although none of those involved in Arthur's life were aware who he was.

One small incident illustrates the type of detail in this book: When just a lad Arthur met his first bear! There in the woods he stood, waiting to see what she would do. And then a young cub appeared who had a large thorne in his paw that could not be easily removed. Arthur not only removed it but also prepared a compost to take the pain away. Arthur was known thereafter in the animal kingdom; and they later helped him in battle!

Arthur was still very young when it became necessary to bring him forward to be named as the rightful new High King. He had learned much, including a secret visit to a mystical cave, when he was called upon to challenge for the right to rule Britain. And, of course, he was selected by being able to pull the sword belonging to the High King from a stone (Excalibur came to him later!)

Readers we all know bits and pieces of King Arthur tales. However, Arthur and Excalibur will carry you through his entire personal life...and beyond, so that you will also know where Excalibur now rests! The story includes many battle scenes, much about Arthur's ability to pull together various people and gain continued and widening support. And you will also learn how he was finally betrayed!

The author gives credit to his story to a medium who led him in understanding and unlocking his knowledge and memories. This reviewer responds that in whatever way Gordon Etherington gained his insight, it has resulted in a comprehensive literary statement that is expansive in information, exciting in detail, and certainly plausible as The Untold Story of Arthur and Excalibur. An excellent addition to this early Britain historical period when King Arthur reined!

G. A. Bixler

Review: Sicilian Tales Brings Bilingual Fairy Tales to America!

Sicilian Tales
By Luigi Capuana
Dante University Press.
ISBN: 9780937832516
382 Pages


One might say that Sicilian Tales by Luigi Capuana is really three books in one! First it presents an extensive survey of Sicilian literature and its writers, an overview of its history and even a few wonderfully illustrative pictures of the architecture there by Santi V. Buscemi. Second is Buscemi’s translation, in a bilingual edition, of short stories, providing on one page the original Sicilian and on the other an English translation. It certainly provides all interested families an opportunity to share Sicilian and Italian heritage in a significant way!

For some reason, I chose to start reading the stories first. Reading 20 fairie tales one right after the other, rather than the norm where one story at a time is shared, allowed me to evaluate the overall tone of the stories. I was not surprised, but still gratified, that my opinion followed that of the analysis by Buscemi. Indeed, in nearly all of Capuana’s tales, he portrays royalty in a less than kind manner. Not surprising, then, it is the magical creatures, a fairy or a good witch that is the one to make good things happen. Still, Capuana’s preface reveals that it was the children in his community, that daily came to pester him for a story that brought about his movement into writing these stories. As we think back to our own stories of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, magic has always been exciting for us when we were young. Shall I tell you of my favorites?

Serpentina tells the story about the Queen whose baby was a serpent!

The Penny with a Hole in It is about a poor widow, who always told her sickly infant that he was going to become a king.

The Teller of Tales is about a storyteller who has no new tales to tell the children!

The Princess tells the tale about her mother raising a louse...that winds up being involved in finding the future husband for the Princess!

Luigi Capuana was called the Father of Verismo, “the most important literary movement in nineteenth-century Italy...Capuana created a narrative technique that viewed the human personality with detachment, allowing for no sentimentality or moral posturing.”(p. 41) Additional highlights regarding Sicilian literature include:

Very little of Sicilian literary heritage is known in this country.

One of the most important writers of ancient Sicily is Diodorus Siculus, the historian who wrote a forty-volume Library of World History. Sadly only 25 of the 40 volumes of this work survive.

Sicilian poets made a number of important breakthroughs in the history of literature, including the invention of the sonnet!

Sicilians invented a new literary language, the first in an Italianate tongue.

The Sicilians wrote poetry to be read, while their predecessors had written it for performance.

Sicilians first introduced materials—images, information and language—from a variety of disciplines, studies and occupations, to write poetry of love!

Some believe that Sicilian’s poets were the first to write parodies, a completely new form.

Students of literary history will find this a mandatory addition to their reference library. For adults and children alike, the short stories by Luigi Capuana will provide a new set of tales that may not have been read since the late 1800’s! What better way to introduce a wonderful heritage than by having the original language, as well as the translation to use and enjoy at the same time. An Excellent addition for our Italian-American libraries!

G. A. Bixler

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