Review by Serah94 -- The Vision of Jenny Merkus
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Serah94
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Review by Serah94 -- The Vision of Jenny Merkus
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Vision of Jenny Merkus" by Hadassa Mor.]
4 out of 4 stars
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JENNY MERKUS
Utrecht Holland in 1837 an island that was part of a Dutch empire is the place where Jenny was born to the Merkus family of affluence. Her father was a governor of Java. Jenny Merkus was an intelligent young woman who would have reached the aspirations of any future she wanted so why did she shun it all?
Her childhood is filled with loss and rejection. Her father dies when she is five and at the age of seven, she is torn away from the security and love of the rest of her family by her own mother to live with a protestant priest who is her uncle. Did this emotional stab to a seven-year-old child contribute to the life Jenny chose? perhaps, it was Uncle Guillermo who unconsciously was the architect of Jenny's erratic behavior throughout her life. Religion is a powerful elixir especially to a young impressionable girl who felt dejected and lonely and therefore Jenny was drawn into and swept up into the world of religion, faith, devotion to God and to Jesus. At the age of twenty-one, Jenny came into her trust fund and thus began a chain of events that led to a dark ending.
Financial freedom made Jenny crave personal freedom and consequently, she left her uncle's home and bought herself a mansion. She then met Katrine Van Ries with whom she fell in love with. Kato lived with Jenny for five years and instilled in her extreme feministic notions which play a key role in her life. She rebelled by her style of clothes, haircut, and the way she rode her horse astride which was not the norm at the time. They then traveled together and in the course of the journey, they both realized their different approaches to life. Kato was materialistic and Jenny wanted to be Florence Nightingale and alas the rift drove them apart. Jenny moved to Sorbonne Paris to continue with her education. Paris, a city with impressive structures courtesy of engineer Baron Hausmann, who had imposed his building style on the city, was magnificent. In 1867, Jenny Markus arrived in Paris and in the course of her studies she acquired six languages; Dutch, French, English, Italian, German and Arabic. Her stay in Paris gave birth to Florence Nightingale in form of Jenny. Her heart went out to the beggars and she visited them and provided money and food to them. She then went further and withdrew a large sum of money from her trust fund and built hospitals for them. Then war broke out between the Germans and French. French was defeated and had to surrender to the Germans. Jenny who saw the war as an apocalyptic sign that the messianic era was at hand was hugely disappointed nevertheless she still helped with the injured and restored them back to health, however, her time in Paris was at an end.
Jenny had a vision while in Rome to build a home for Jesus in Jerusalem this religious apocalyptic feeling led Jenny to Jerusalem where she would build the house that would accommodate a hundred and forty thousand who would welcome Jesus on his return. While in Jerusalem the author gives a detailed history of the people, the wars fought, the birth of the Islamic faith which she says is founded on bloodshed, hate, and coercion which in my opinion is fanaticism. There are so many intriguing thoughts between chapter five and seven of this book. The connection between Politics and Religion, the Industrial Revolution, the Eastern Roman Empire, and the author's suggestion of an intimate relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus. Jenny leaves her project in the hands of her trusted engineer Bernard Joseph Guillemot.
Jenny went to Montenegro and joined the volunteers of war who wished to fight the Turks. She joined the regimen of Mico Ljubibratic who was the unit commander. and thus Jenny embraced her role as the Jeanne d' Arc of her time actively participating in the fight against the Turks. This period of Jenny's life is characterized by acts of zeal, valor, and courage. I admire her courage in walking in a military camp filled with masochist views of women as inferior and demands to fight alongside the men as an equal. As with any political story of a fearless leader, the period of praise was coming to a close and sadly for her it was a humiliating end. The downward spiral chapter of her life began.
Throughout Jenny's life, she spends her money on religious feats, purchasing ammunition for fighters and consequently paying their wages building Hospitals, Helping the needy a truly selfless person. Jenny's carefree notion of spending her money on impossible feats could have been acts of rebellion on her part without knowing it. After all, the person who left her the money was a parent who rejected her. Every endeavor Jenny undertakes throughout in her life there is one constant. Need. Jenny wanted to be needed. Helping the needy, Being responsible for the building that would house the children of God when Jesus returned, providing ammunition for the fighters all emphasize this. Perhaps, this deep-sited emptiness she felt from a very young age resulted in this yearning ache of being needed.
There is not a single feat that Jenny set out to achieve that did not end with disaster and perhaps the one which led ultimately to her death was the uncompleted project in Jerusalem. Jenny fought for that building but eventually, she gave up. The last chapters of her life are bleak her and even in death, she is not remembered as a heroine just the daughter of a governor Peter Markus. Hadassah Mor ‘s book THE VISION of JENNY MERKUS is a historical, biographic novel. The author has also described the historical, religious and political events of the countries she mentions in her book in great detail so readers will love this.
The author wanted to recount the story of a courageous woman whom history forgot, It is important to honor men and women who fought valiantly in any war or made historical contributions into the world we live in today. I have my reservations on a number of topics the author seems to suggest. Intimacy between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and the fact that Jews should be celebrated for handing over Jesus on a silver plate. Such thoughts are dangerous and misleading and need to be approached with utmost caution. Overall I deeply enjoyed reading the book and learning of another female heroine. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The narrative syncs well, characterization is interesting Jenny for example and her view of carnal relations, the ideas are controversial and bold I love that, Islam foundation for example based on fanaticism. and lastly, the author's ability to recount historical places accurately is actually amazing she brings a clear picture of every place she describes.
******
The Vision of Jenny Merkus
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4 out of 4 stars
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JENNY MERKUS
Utrecht Holland in 1837 an island that was part of a Dutch empire is the place where Jenny was born to the Merkus family of affluence. Her father was a governor of Java. Jenny Merkus was an intelligent young woman who would have reached the aspirations of any future she wanted so why did she shun it all?
Her childhood is filled with loss and rejection. Her father dies when she is five and at the age of seven, she is torn away from the security and love of the rest of her family by her own mother to live with a protestant priest who is her uncle. Did this emotional stab to a seven-year-old child contribute to the life Jenny chose? perhaps, it was Uncle Guillermo who unconsciously was the architect of Jenny's erratic behavior throughout her life. Religion is a powerful elixir especially to a young impressionable girl who felt dejected and lonely and therefore Jenny was drawn into and swept up into the world of religion, faith, devotion to God and to Jesus. At the age of twenty-one, Jenny came into her trust fund and thus began a chain of events that led to a dark ending.
Financial freedom made Jenny crave personal freedom and consequently, she left her uncle's home and bought herself a mansion. She then met Katrine Van Ries with whom she fell in love with. Kato lived with Jenny for five years and instilled in her extreme feministic notions which play a key role in her life. She rebelled by her style of clothes, haircut, and the way she rode her horse astride which was not the norm at the time. They then traveled together and in the course of the journey, they both realized their different approaches to life. Kato was materialistic and Jenny wanted to be Florence Nightingale and alas the rift drove them apart. Jenny moved to Sorbonne Paris to continue with her education. Paris, a city with impressive structures courtesy of engineer Baron Hausmann, who had imposed his building style on the city, was magnificent. In 1867, Jenny Markus arrived in Paris and in the course of her studies she acquired six languages; Dutch, French, English, Italian, German and Arabic. Her stay in Paris gave birth to Florence Nightingale in form of Jenny. Her heart went out to the beggars and she visited them and provided money and food to them. She then went further and withdrew a large sum of money from her trust fund and built hospitals for them. Then war broke out between the Germans and French. French was defeated and had to surrender to the Germans. Jenny who saw the war as an apocalyptic sign that the messianic era was at hand was hugely disappointed nevertheless she still helped with the injured and restored them back to health, however, her time in Paris was at an end.
Jenny had a vision while in Rome to build a home for Jesus in Jerusalem this religious apocalyptic feeling led Jenny to Jerusalem where she would build the house that would accommodate a hundred and forty thousand who would welcome Jesus on his return. While in Jerusalem the author gives a detailed history of the people, the wars fought, the birth of the Islamic faith which she says is founded on bloodshed, hate, and coercion which in my opinion is fanaticism. There are so many intriguing thoughts between chapter five and seven of this book. The connection between Politics and Religion, the Industrial Revolution, the Eastern Roman Empire, and the author's suggestion of an intimate relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus. Jenny leaves her project in the hands of her trusted engineer Bernard Joseph Guillemot.
Jenny went to Montenegro and joined the volunteers of war who wished to fight the Turks. She joined the regimen of Mico Ljubibratic who was the unit commander. and thus Jenny embraced her role as the Jeanne d' Arc of her time actively participating in the fight against the Turks. This period of Jenny's life is characterized by acts of zeal, valor, and courage. I admire her courage in walking in a military camp filled with masochist views of women as inferior and demands to fight alongside the men as an equal. As with any political story of a fearless leader, the period of praise was coming to a close and sadly for her it was a humiliating end. The downward spiral chapter of her life began.
Throughout Jenny's life, she spends her money on religious feats, purchasing ammunition for fighters and consequently paying their wages building Hospitals, Helping the needy a truly selfless person. Jenny's carefree notion of spending her money on impossible feats could have been acts of rebellion on her part without knowing it. After all, the person who left her the money was a parent who rejected her. Every endeavor Jenny undertakes throughout in her life there is one constant. Need. Jenny wanted to be needed. Helping the needy, Being responsible for the building that would house the children of God when Jesus returned, providing ammunition for the fighters all emphasize this. Perhaps, this deep-sited emptiness she felt from a very young age resulted in this yearning ache of being needed.
There is not a single feat that Jenny set out to achieve that did not end with disaster and perhaps the one which led ultimately to her death was the uncompleted project in Jerusalem. Jenny fought for that building but eventually, she gave up. The last chapters of her life are bleak her and even in death, she is not remembered as a heroine just the daughter of a governor Peter Markus. Hadassah Mor ‘s book THE VISION of JENNY MERKUS is a historical, biographic novel. The author has also described the historical, religious and political events of the countries she mentions in her book in great detail so readers will love this.
The author wanted to recount the story of a courageous woman whom history forgot, It is important to honor men and women who fought valiantly in any war or made historical contributions into the world we live in today. I have my reservations on a number of topics the author seems to suggest. Intimacy between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and the fact that Jews should be celebrated for handing over Jesus on a silver plate. Such thoughts are dangerous and misleading and need to be approached with utmost caution. Overall I deeply enjoyed reading the book and learning of another female heroine. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The narrative syncs well, characterization is interesting Jenny for example and her view of carnal relations, the ideas are controversial and bold I love that, Islam foundation for example based on fanaticism. and lastly, the author's ability to recount historical places accurately is actually amazing she brings a clear picture of every place she describes.
******
The Vision of Jenny Merkus
View: on Bookshelves
Like Serah94's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: The King of May by Matthew Tysz
