Seasons in the Mist by Deb Kinnard—A Review

Subtitle: Confessions of a Recovering Feminist

Chivalry, oh, how I long for thee! Strong hands to lift me. Broad shoulders to guard me. Kind words to cherish me. And lips to call me … wench????

Oh yes, but if he comes with all the other … he can call me wench!

Bethany was a 21^st Century woman. On the road to attain those things we all want. Ambition, success, monetary gain, a name for herself. But at what cost? She flies to England to take part in an important archeological dig, where she will find, tag and study the belongings of the dead. Only instead of sifting through dry artifacts, she is thrust through time to meet the flesh and bone, living, breathing individuals who would only be skeletal remains in her own age, giving her a new view of how the history she studied impacted real lives. And then, those lives impacted hers.

Being something of a Recovering Feminist, I relate with Lady Bethany, as she was called in the 14^th Century. I have coveted name, riches and success, and though I have yet to achieve any of these, I look at the lives of many who have them … and find them wanting. So what’s missing? Relationships. Not with bones and artifacts, but with people. Using our God-given gifts to enrich the lives of others and not to enlarge our person. There is something so fulfilling in the idea.

And yes, there was a knight in shining armor, who seeks to protect Lady Bethany. Some feminists may have a problem with that. Many rewritten fairy tales of late have the female saving the male, as in the Drew Barrymore version of Cinderella, Happily Ever After. Though I enjoyed the movie, I found the ending where Danielle strolls out of the manor, having extracted herself from the evil lord’s clutches, to meet the incredulous prince, who had rushed to save her life … rather flat. This was not the first time she saved herself, or him, for that matter. She also saved them both from a band of thieving gypsies.

So, I ask you, what good was the man, anyway? Danielle “enlightens” him and saves him. That leaves him solely as  … well … eye-candy. Yes, he is delicious eye-candy, and probably the reason why I own this movie, but I will not use this story as a metaphor to impart some special wisdom to a friend, as I might Seasons in the Mist. It didn’t move me beyond the desert. And I personally like a man who is more than desert. I prefer a sustaining feast.

Seasons in the Mist gives us that sustaining feast. Both members of this couple have a purpose that God gave them and together they learn to do His Will. But does God allow Beth to stay in the 14th Century to become as one with her hero? You’ll have to read it to find out.