Seaside Letters by Denise Hunter

Denise Hunter writes allegories. Allegory defined: the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence.

That's a dry way of saying stories which symbolize truth. Denise points her readers to God's love.

Her heroes make me rethink God’s heart. I find another facet in her portrayal of the way God pursues us, loves us unconditionally. Even how he presents Himself so meekly before us as if caring for a fragile, timid creature and not wanting to overwhelm us with the intense, even fiery, love in His heart for us. Tucker McCabe did that—held back, waited. He initiated loving contact with Sabrina Kincaid, but then waited for her response. Waited for her to open her heart. Waited for her to trust him.

And somehow Denise presents her story’s hero as human, flawed, relatable. “Tucker” isn’t Jesus. He’s not God. But Denise’s story uses him to display God’s style of loving, of wooing, of patient pursuit of our hearts. Several times I stopped reading to lift a silent prayer to God as I felt His wooing.

I highly recommend Denise Hunter’s Seaside Letters—the setting takes you away from the norm to a seaside locale—Nantucket (except local residents, of course); the characters will help you examine yourself and make discoveries. Prepare for sweetened, deepened prayer encounters. Prepare to be captivated. Prepare to relate with her hero and heroine; you’ll sympathize with each. And you may wonder what keeps you from opening to God 100%.

Bravo, Denise! Looking forward to Driftwood Lane, another book in the Nantucket Love Story series, coming out in the summer of 2010.