Customer Reviews

In the Shadow of the Sun King (Darkness to Light Series, Book 1)

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Clavell family finds themselves at the mercy of King Louis XIV's merciless dragoons, soldiers who terrorize the Protestant Huguenots and try to force them to convert to Catholicism, the state religion. Madeleine Clavell, who knew King Louis when they were both very young, believes she can persuade him to call off the dragoons. Her husband, Francois, and her mother, Elizabeth, both try to dissuade her from traveling to Versailles, but Madeleine is desperate. Surely the king cannot be heartless. Surely he must remember what they once meant to each other and he will show mercy to her and her family. It is a gamble which could cost her everything.

I had no idea that such persecution went on in France in the 1600's. I found it very intriguing to "experience" through this story what it was like to be persecuted simply for believing a different doctrine. A dramatic story of love, betrayal, and persecution!

This is a powerful, fast-paced story that kept me guessing what might happen until the very end. I thoroughly enjoyed this family's story. I can hardly wait to read the next book in the series! I want to know how things turn out for each of the family members. I highly recommend In the Shadow of the Sun King.

From page one I was sucked into this story, reading the pages as fast as I could. What a great drama this author has created. I love a well written, well researched historical book with lots of tension and this one did not disappoint.

It's the oldest cliche' of them all...but I couldn't put this book down! Not particularly well-read in the realm of historical romance, I was nonetheless instantly engaged by this story of intolerance and violence imposed upon the Huguenots in 17th century France. Madeleine Clavell proves to be a brave yet complex heroine as she fights to save her family from the persecution imposed by King Louis XIV. Golden Keyes Parsons shows impressive skills as a storyteller, weaving elements of brisk pacing and----even though the book is rich with historical detail----a swift immediacy that carried me along as if I had known this world all my life. A truly fine debut; I eagerly await this author's next work! --James E. Robinson, author of The Flower of Grass

I enjoyed reading this fast paced historical/Christian fiction book based on the author's actual family lineage. The setting is seventeenth century France. King Louis XIV is in power and is struggling to unite his country in one common faith. He tries to force all of his Huguenot subjects to convert to Catholicism or face imprisonment or death. King Louis' dragoons begin scouring the countryside looking for Huguenot families. They take over their homes, steal their children, and reek havoc for Protestants wherever they go.

The main character is Madeleine Clavell, a strong, Huguenot woman who is determined to use her past connections with the King as a way to save her family from the oppressive dragoons that have taken over her estate. Madeleine leaves her husband and youngest child home, sends her two older boys into hiding, and journeys to confront the King. But all is not well. When her plan backfires with the King, her husband is sent to the galley, her daughter is placed in a convent, and she and the boys flee to Switzerland. The question is, will the family ever reunite?

While the book opened my eyes to the religious struggle of the time and place, it was not a very in-depth look at the time period as most historical fictions I have read. With that said, I do not like my fiction to read like a social studies text, so this didn't bother me so much. If you are looking to be entertained and not looking for a historical essay on 17th century France, then you won't mind that the book is a bit thin on setting development.

What I didn't like was the way the author used religious references over and over again. It didn't serve the book well, as it didn't further the character development or the plot. I know that religion was the major conflict in the book, but the way the author inserts the religious excerpts feels awkward and a bit like getting hit over the head with a Bible. I do not like being preached to in my fiction.

I did like the way the author portrayed the main character, a woman, in a strong light. She was smart, brave, and true. It is refreshing to see strong woman characters portrayed in a time when woman were viewed as weak and stupid. Bravo for that!

Overall, if you are looking for a quick read for entertainment, this book is good for you. If you are looking for amazing literature, do yourself a favor and pass on this one.

Based on the author's own family history, seventeenth century Clavell family's struggle to hold together their family in the face of religious persecution on order of the "Sun King" Louis XIV proves nearly fatal.

Huguenots, or French Protestants who followed teachings by John Calvin, are pillaged, books burned, and homesteads destroyed, while the children are sent to Catholic schools to be re-educated if they did not convert to the country's religion, Catholicism. It was a time of great peril for families like the Clavells, but Madeleine, lady and wife of Francois, travels to Versailles in order to convince King Louis, her former love as teens, to desist in the pressure to conform to the country's religious practices.

Courage and strong convictions are two traits that the Clavells possess that transcend time and cultures to show that some things are worth dying for, worth risking it all for.

Parsons shows a strong command of French history and culture in the King's court, as well as storytelling skills that help us to understand the power of prejudice vs. convictions. She demands attention to emotions tied to our very souls.

While it is difficult in this day to imagine Protestants pitted against Catholics, it is not difficult to imagine one group demanding obeisance for reasons other than what God would want of us. May her message be one of choosing tolerance among men. Reading group guide, map, the author's note to the reader included and a glossary of French terms. Beautiful read, one of little known religious history.

In the Shadow of the Sun King is a fantastic read based on the author's family history. It immediately sucks you in and just won't let go. The characters are compelling, as is their story. The background for the tale is the persecution of the Hugenots in France. When Madeleine Clavell's family estate is invaded by dragoons, and her sons have to go into hiding in order to avoid being kidnapped and sent to a monastery for a Catholic education, she decides that she must appeal to the king for mercy. She and the Louis had been in love once, long ago. Now she is hoping that the relationship they shared will cause him to spare her family. When his demands exceed what she is able to give, things go from bad to worse for the Clavell's. They need God's grace to survive the fury that is rained on them.

With plenty of action and a message of hope and faith this tale had me flipping pages late into the night. It is one of the rare books that will remain on my shelves. I definitely and highly recommend it.

Let's get a few things out on the table. First, I'm a man. Second, I normally enjoy thrillers and suspense novels. Third, I loved this book.

On a whim, I picked up "In the Shadow of the Sun King" and began reading. Before I knew it, I was on page 100, flipping pages to see what would happen to the Clavell family as they faced imprisonment and worse at the hands of French dragoons. Set in the seventeenth century, the story is one of Huguenot persecution at the hands of King Louis, the Sun King, and the Catholic Church. It's based on the author's family history, but she makes sure to clarify late in the story that it's not a matter of taking sides, but coming to a unity in belief in one God and Savior. Along the way, though, Parsons gives us a fast-paced tale that leads from burned homes to prisons to slave galleys to magnificent Versailles and the intrigues of the royal court. She presents a large cast of characters in an easy-to-follow manner, educating us about history, religion, and the affairs of the heart.

Like Bodie Thoene and Tricia Goyer, Golden Keyes Parsons has breathed new life into stuffy history. She appeals to our souls as much as our minds, guiding her characters (and the readers) through a world that is believable in its old ways and yet so familiar in its human essence.

Since childhood I've been an avid reader, always on the prowl for the next great novel, the newest author to hit the scene. It's akin to first love every time I make that discovery. With Golden Keyes Parsons' book, I've experienced that same sort of jittery, adolescent excitement. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of A Prisoner of Versailles, book two in the Darkness to Light series.

It's historical fiction, it's a love story, it's an adventure, it's inspirational. Author Golden Keyes Parsons' carefully crafted story of the Clavell family will no doubt become a beloved classic. Her attention to detail helps the reader imagine the story as it unfolds, yet her clever plot development style keeps the reader intrigued page after page. Protagonist Madeleine Clavell grabs the humanity in all of us as she faces challenges with courage, resourcefullness, integrity, and most of all, hope.

This novel has a great plot that keeps you turning the pages, but it fails on one very important aspect: the Gospel Truth.

Pierre is said to have been saved when he calls out to God and has an emotional experience. The problem is, he did not come to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Later he learns of how Christ's death, burial and resurrection saves, but Joost tells him he is "quickened" and therefore moved into a new life in the Lord before Pierre even understood that salvation comes through Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. This is a very dangerous misrepresentation of the Gospel of salvation.

As a basic story, it is enjoyable, but I could not honestly call it a Christian novel.

I was intrigued to get a copy of In the Shadow of the Sun King by Golden Keyes Parsons to review. In 2006, we visited Versailles on a trip to Paris and I was surprised to see what a complex figure Louis XIV was. His reign lasted over 70 years. Versailles and the court culture surrounding it was at least in part an ploy to keep his nobles under control by forcing them to spend vast amounts of money on luxury items and parties thrown for the amusement of the court and the king. His reign began around the end of the Thirty Years war, a war over sovereignty and religion in Europe, and lasted well into the age of exploration in the New World. I was hoping that this book would explore this time and the changes and conflicts that made visiting Versailles interesting.

I was disappointed. The story focuses on one Huguenot family living in the countryside. Through a series of heavy handed actions, the family is soon separated and in dire straits. But because this occurs so early in the story, I found that I was having difficulty not only following the motivation for the family's choices but even keeping the characters straight in my mind. Because there hadn't been much foundation laid down about Calvinism's earlier spread in France and the crown's reaction to it, I found it difficult to understand the fears and pressures that the family was under. Instead of seeming desperate and heroic, the main character came off as naïve and foolhardy. A chapter or long prologue featuring the main characters (or their parents) during events like the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre or the persecutions that were occurring as the story begins would have done more to set the stage for the family's actions.

I think that because this story represents at least in part the story of the author's family that there may be a pressure to tell the story as the family history recounts it. Unfortunately, that may assume a higher background knowledge than a reader who is unfamiliar with the frictions in Europe over religion at the time brings to the story. The wars over religion in the 1600s were over far more than the minor bits of doctrine that separate modern American denominations. These were differences worth killing and dying over. But the seriousness of the divide didn't come through for me. Instead the story seemed to assume that the reader would identify with the family because they were fellow Protestants or in an anachronistic sense of the importance of freedom of religion (an concept that didn't exist at the time). There wasn't much discussion of the idea that Catholics might have resisted Huguenots not just out of a struggle for power, but because they viewed Calvinism as a heresy.

I would be interested in reading a sequel. But I hope that it would come with a heavier dose of historical leavening in the story.

(I received a free review copy of this book from the publisher.)