Pattern formation in the physical and biological sciences Book

Donna Fletcher Crow loves history. In Where Love Begins, Book 1 of her Where There Is Love series, she has done a fabulous job of weaving a romance into a story that makes eighteenth century England leap to life. I loved recognizing historical people like Charles Wesley, George Whitfield and Countess Huntingdon, hearing bits from their correspondence and the current hymns and seeing them interacting as real people. These early Methodists struggled with their own weaknesses as they tried to be "salt" in the Church of England of their day and even "saints" come into conflict. Little references to powdered wigs and dress fashions remind us that we are not in the nineteenth century so common to Christian fiction. The Methodist "societies" were active in itinerate preaching, prison ministry and social action so this love story has plenty of opportunity to explore the world of chimney sweeps, debtors prisons and rough travel as well as the salons of high society and the health spas of Tunbridge Wells. The gospel as understood by these "enthusiasts" is well explained, but never overwhelms the story of Catherine Perronet and Philip Ferrar, as they seek God's will first above their personal feelings for each other. This is evangelical history and not just Methodist history, and Crow leads us to examine our own lives and motives in comparison to our spiritual forefathers (and mothers) who gave up so much.