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Cross Purposes
Janet Montgomery (aged 11) and Jeffery Davidson (nearly 12) travel from South Africa to England where they have a reunion with old friends Sipho Mdluli and Catherine Kopirovsky. They travel together to Italy for a beach holiday, but are diverted to a strange country where they end up without passports or money, and only the clothes they are wearing.
They are sheltered by some secret nuns, but the surrounding forests have wild animals, and even stranger creatures that drive them even further into the wilderness. Catherine had an heirloom jewelled cross, whose jewels sometimes light up, and seem to be leading them on a mysterious quest, but some otherworldly creatures seem to be trying to divert them from it. They meet nomadic people who live in tents, some of whom help them, but others have more sinister intentions.
They are sheltered by some secret nuns, but the surrounding forests have wild animals, and even stranger creatures that drive them even further into the wilderness. Catherine had an heirloom jewelled cross, whose jewels sometimes light up, and seem to be leading them on a mysterious quest, but some otherworldly creatures seem to be trying to divert them from it. They meet nomadic people who live in tents, some of whom help them, but others have more sinister intentions.
- GenresFantasy
ebook
Published October 22, 2022
24 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Hayes
6 books135 followersStephen Hayes was born in Durban, South Africa, and educated at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg, the University of Durham in England, and the University of South Africa.
He has had varied work experience, having been a bus driver in Johannesburg and London, a waterworks attendant in Windhoek, Namibia, a chaplain at the Missions to Seamen in Durban (sacked from the last two).
He was also Director of Training for Ministry in the Anglican Diocese of Zululand, Director of Mission and Evangelism in the Anglican Diocese of Pretoria, and an Editor and lecturer in Missiology at the University of South Africa.
He lives with his wife and two sons in the City of Tshwane, South Africa, while his daughter is an ikonographer in Athens, Greece.
He is retired, but serves as a deacon in the Orthodox Church and spends his time reading, writing. and doing historical research.
He has had varied work experience, having been a bus driver in Johannesburg and London, a waterworks attendant in Windhoek, Namibia, a chaplain at the Missions to Seamen in Durban (sacked from the last two).
He was also Director of Training for Ministry in the Anglican Diocese of Zululand, Director of Mission and Evangelism in the Anglican Diocese of Pretoria, and an Editor and lecturer in Missiology at the University of South Africa.
He lives with his wife and two sons in the City of Tshwane, South Africa, while his daughter is an ikonographer in Athens, Greece.
He is retired, but serves as a deacon in the Orthodox Church and spends his time reading, writing. and doing historical research.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 22, 2022
Spoiler-free version...
This is the third in a (so-far nameless) series about children from South Africa (well, one's from England) in the 1960s, with everything that implies. The previous two are _Of Wheels and Witches_ and _The Enchanted Grove_. They're both quite good, and I would recommend reading them before proceeding to this volume; character relationships are set up there, and not particularly reviewed here, just gotten on with.
Anyway:
Janet, who lives upcountry, and Jeffrey, from the city, are given the opportunity to go and visit England and their friends, Catherine and Sipho. (Catherine is English; Sipho is a Black South African who has fled Apartheid with his father ... a bit more complicated than that, see previous books). Then the four of them board a plane to join Jeffrey's parents in Italy for a beach vacation...
...but they don't get there because of terrorist/nationalist hijackers, the first of a set of dangerous and occasionally supernatural adventures.
These books make me think of what Charles Williams of the Inklings might have written, had he survived to do so, about young people in (and out of) South Africa, in the 1960s. There is the same peculiar way in which the supernatural seeps into the natural, the natural becoming imbued with it while the supernatural seems strangely _normal_.
I recommend this, and all three, highly.
This is the third in a (so-far nameless) series about children from South Africa (well, one's from England) in the 1960s, with everything that implies. The previous two are _Of Wheels and Witches_ and _The Enchanted Grove_. They're both quite good, and I would recommend reading them before proceeding to this volume; character relationships are set up there, and not particularly reviewed here, just gotten on with.
Anyway:
Janet, who lives upcountry, and Jeffrey, from the city, are given the opportunity to go and visit England and their friends, Catherine and Sipho. (Catherine is English; Sipho is a Black South African who has fled Apartheid with his father ... a bit more complicated than that, see previous books). Then the four of them board a plane to join Jeffrey's parents in Italy for a beach vacation...
...but they don't get there because of terrorist/nationalist hijackers, the first of a set of dangerous and occasionally supernatural adventures.
These books make me think of what Charles Williams of the Inklings might have written, had he survived to do so, about young people in (and out of) South Africa, in the 1960s. There is the same peculiar way in which the supernatural seeps into the natural, the natural becoming imbued with it while the supernatural seems strangely _normal_.
I recommend this, and all three, highly.
November 15, 2022
I think this is the best one yet. Honestly, I do. I really enjoyed it.
In my reviews for previous instalments, I’ve compared them to The Famous Five, but this one doesn’t remind me of The Famous Five at all. That’s because in the other books, the children go seeking adventure, and find it, and there are mysteries involved, things like that. In this one, they’re off on holiday when a big twist happens that nobody could’ve seen coming, and the story ends up being nothing like you expect. It’s in a league of its own.
It’s still set against the backdrop of Apartheid South Africa, but it’s not set IN South Africa, so more than any of the author’s previous books, Apartheid is very much in the background. The characters occasionally mention the way things are “back home”, but it’s nowhere near crucial to the plot.
I referred to “previous instalments”, and that’s because this is *technically* the third book in a series. But it actually doesn’t matter whether you’ve read any of the previous books, and you could easily read this one and THEN go back and read the previous books. It’s episodic; there are no cliffhangers, and the events in each book happen months apart. You don’t need to know anything that came before to enjoy this book, and knowing what happens in this book won’t affect your enjoyment of previous ones at all.
There’s some time travel in this one, and I like the way the author handles it. It’s not sci-fi at all, but remains firmly in the Fantasy genre. And I found the ending really satisfying. Initially, it almost feels like it’s going to be cliched, but then it goes in a different direction. It also wraps up nicely, and there’s a solid... well, not quite a moral, but a point to it, where the kids consider why all this happened and what God’s plan was in it all.
I think it’ll suit the target age group just fine, but there’s enough in there to keep adults entertained too.
Click here to find out where you can get your hands on a copy: https://books2read.com/u/b6zX0W
* Note: That's an affiliate link, so if you click through to a store and end up buying anything, I might earn a commission from your purchase.
In my reviews for previous instalments, I’ve compared them to The Famous Five, but this one doesn’t remind me of The Famous Five at all. That’s because in the other books, the children go seeking adventure, and find it, and there are mysteries involved, things like that. In this one, they’re off on holiday when a big twist happens that nobody could’ve seen coming, and the story ends up being nothing like you expect. It’s in a league of its own.
It’s still set against the backdrop of Apartheid South Africa, but it’s not set IN South Africa, so more than any of the author’s previous books, Apartheid is very much in the background. The characters occasionally mention the way things are “back home”, but it’s nowhere near crucial to the plot.
I referred to “previous instalments”, and that’s because this is *technically* the third book in a series. But it actually doesn’t matter whether you’ve read any of the previous books, and you could easily read this one and THEN go back and read the previous books. It’s episodic; there are no cliffhangers, and the events in each book happen months apart. You don’t need to know anything that came before to enjoy this book, and knowing what happens in this book won’t affect your enjoyment of previous ones at all.
There’s some time travel in this one, and I like the way the author handles it. It’s not sci-fi at all, but remains firmly in the Fantasy genre. And I found the ending really satisfying. Initially, it almost feels like it’s going to be cliched, but then it goes in a different direction. It also wraps up nicely, and there’s a solid... well, not quite a moral, but a point to it, where the kids consider why all this happened and what God’s plan was in it all.
I think it’ll suit the target age group just fine, but there’s enough in there to keep adults entertained too.
Click here to find out where you can get your hands on a copy: https://books2read.com/u/b6zX0W
* Note: That's an affiliate link, so if you click through to a store and end up buying anything, I might earn a commission from your purchase.
January 20, 2023
An exciting, unusual adventure story with a bit of fantasy and time-travel thrown in. Four children, en route to Italy, find themselves in the north of Russia, without any luggage or passports. They meet friendly people as well as some who are hostile, and come across several unusual creatures.
The book is set in the mid 1960s and the political, geographical and historical context make this somewhat educational. But those elements don't need to be understood to appreciate the children's quests and eventual resolution.
Recommended to children of about nine or ten and upwards who like adventure stories.
Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
The book is set in the mid 1960s and the political, geographical and historical context make this somewhat educational. But those elements don't need to be understood to appreciate the children's quests and eventual resolution.
Recommended to children of about nine or ten and upwards who like adventure stories.
Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews