Face to Face: A Novel

During the time of Jesus' earthly life, a young wife and mother named Joakima delights herself in her husband and young son while dreaming of a promised Deliverer, as many Jewish women before her. When trauma and tragedy break into her life, they leave her broken, bitter, and filled with shame. Her suffering is intensified by the crushing weight of religious regulations and the chafing yoke of political oppression. During a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a seed of hope is planted deep within her heart through the compassion of an extraordinary youth. Then the words of the prophet Isaiah begin to come alive to Joakima. The eyes of compassion and the words of release even visit her dreams until, years later, she comes face-to-face with Love Himself. This debut novel delves into the pathos of 1st Century Israel and explores the psychological, spiritual, and relational conflicts suggested in Luke chapter 13. The scriptures briefly describe the bent-over woman who could not 'in any way' look upward. A 'spirit of infirmity' had kept her bound for eighteen long years, looking downward. Yet Jesus called her a 'daughter of Abraham', indicating her faith. The author has given the name 'Joakima' to this broken, spirit-oppressed woman who is unnamed in the Bible. This dramatic healing in the religious meeting place was immediately and strongly opposed. All the threads of longings, conflicts, false hopes and real hopes that weave throughout the novel, come together in the climax--in sometimes surprising ways.