Lydia by Paula Gooder 

'Thoroughly recommended, not just as a historical novel, but also as a useful reference book kept close to the regularly-used commentaries'

Lydia
By Paula Gooder
ISBN 978-1-444-79205-8
Hodder and Stoughton
Reviewed by Helen Wordsworth

 
The writer’s deep theological understanding and background in Biblical and historical research shines through her writing of this imaginative account of what Lydia’s life might have been like in both Thyatira and Philippi.

The book is divided in two, the first section being devoted to a quasi-biographical novel involving people who are mentioned in the Scriptures, along with others who may have engaged with them.

The number of different characters portrayed and named in the first few chapters of the story are a little difficult to assimilate, and the delay in revealing the secret that Lydia holds might be somewhat frustrating as the reader moves into the narrative. However, it is a compelling and informative reading that brings fresh light on the letter to the Philippians and its background.

The lasting treasure of this book is in the second section, where notes on each chapter can be found. These can be read before or after the novel, or alongside each chapter. They provide well researched and useful facts on many aspects of first century life in the Roman world. Anyone preparing sermons on Acts and the Epistles will find nuggets of helpful information that bring context into their preaching.

For that reason, this book can be thoroughly recommended, not just as a historical novel, but also as a useful reference book to be kept close to the regularly-used commentaries and biblical dictionaries on the shelf of the minister’s study.
 

The Revd Dr Helen Wordsworth was a Regional Minister in both the Heart of England and Central Baptist Associations, and founder of Parish Nursing Ministries UK. She now helps with a church plant in France, and advises on Parish Nursing internationally