I rarely read “inspirational fiction” anymore.  Most of it is formulaic, poorly written, and gives readers a false view of God, Christians and the Christian life.  So had I known that The Healer’s Apprentice fell into this genre, I might not have picked it up.  And, to compliment Dickerson, I didn’t realize that I was reading “Christian fiction” until I was well into the book.

The things that I enjoyed about this book: it was a subtle retelling of Sleeping Beauty, it was set in medieval times (and not, thank goodness, in Amish country!) and the characters prayed to and referenced God without being over the top.  Kudos to Dickerson for a fresh perspective in a genre that desperately needs one.

Lily lives in medieval England with her mother and her father, who is the town executioner. Because of her father’s job, the entire family is shunned, even though Lily and her mother have the gift of healing. Lily believes that the path of her life as executioner’s daughter is set, until she is forced to help her father with an execution. Then she realizes that somehow, she must change her future. While the story was good, the book ended too soon. I want to know more about what happened to Lily after she decided that she needed to change.