The Beloved Enemy

The Beloved Enemy picks up where The Pilgrim Song left off...a nice smooth transition. Hannah and Clint are newlyweds, and Josh just is about to get out of prison. Most of the story centers around Joshua's return to his family and his transformation to being a productive member of society, and eventually a believer. You get to see how he responds to two love interests from his past life, Dora, and a college classmate Diana Welles, the niece of his favorite professor, with whom he travels to Egypt to start an archaeological dig. He shows a lot of character and doesn't give in to any of the desires of his past. You also see his growing relationship with the young Jewish woman he met by accident on the road, how she saved him from getting killed by a group of thieves in an abandoned barn. Kefira Reis, who worked in New York with an abusive boss, whose brother is in prison, and her mother passes away from illness, left New York to start a new life for herself in Florida. Along the way, she encounters Josh being attacked by a group of goons in an old abandoned barn. She packs a pistol and frightens them off...and nurses Joshua until he can get home safely. From Kefira, Josh and the Winslow family gains an appreciation of Jewish culture and food, and through Joshua, Kefira begins to learn the truth about who God is, and she helps Josh rediscover his calling and his love for ancient history. As Josh accompanies Kefira back to New York to visit her brother in prison, he goes to visit his professor and arranges the trip for both himself and Kefira to go to Egypt with the professor. While there, their personal journey toward knowing God and His will for both of their lives and relationship is completed in the celebration of a major historical discovery.I thought it was a fantastic book. Morris continues to do a great job of writing entertaining historical fiction with a spiritual truth to it. This book touches your spirit like all the rest. All the main characters consistently follow from the previous book and are well-developed. I hope that Morris continues the Winslow series for at least a few more years.