I’m a latecomer to Lent. I grew up in a particular Baptist tradition that didn’t do Lent, and was bemused by it at my nominally Anglican school.
Since working in Publishing (Starting in 2016) I’ve been exposed to two things: the reality that many, many Christians do ‘do’ Lent, and that it is a prime publishing opportunity.
I’m delighted to have worked on Ros Clarke’s debut with IVP, Forty Women: Unseen Women of the Bible from Eden to Easter. This is a short, punchy and beautifully written devotional book. It’s not just a Lent book – even though it works well, being forty days worth – and Ros’s own thoughtful theological reflection and honest reading of the Bible mean that I think it is a book that can be used devotionally at any time, and also is a book that anyone (perhaps especially men) should read.
As it says in the blurb, “The first witnesses to the resurrection were not men, but women – and without women, the Easter story would not have happened at all.”
That sounds blasphemous.
But, actually, to say the opposite would be the blasphemy.
Ros wonderfully shows us how the very human actors in God’s grand drama of redemption are as human as any of us. I’ve been encouraged by the reception of Forty Women so far, and pray that it will be a blessing to many.
You can get it direct from IVP here, wherever you are in the world, otherwise you can find it on PrayerMate, or in good bookshops both off and online.
Leave a Reply