Sydney Avey’s sequel to The Sheepwalker’s Daughter masterfully walks the reader through the winding path of relationships, faith, and discovery. Set in the sixties, tradition clashes with modernity in one neighborhood. Difference erupted in opposition.

Dee’s mother’s home burned to the ground in The Sheepwalker’s Daughter. Tradition burned.

Dee’s daughter, Valerie, built a modern glass house in its place. After it was built, Dee and her husband, Roger, moved in with Valerie and Andy; two couples living in a glass house. Difference crystalized.

Soon, Father Mike asked the couples if his  “sensitivity group” of at-risk young men could meet in the glass house. Neighbors paced their dogs by and peered through the glass at the boys in their circles during the “sensitvity” meetings.

Then, one-by-one young relatives make their home in the glass house. One from New York. Another from Navarre, a Spanish province. The third from Israel.

Two couples … two generations; three young people … three very different cultures … all living in one very modern house that the neighborhood glared into. Mix with that regular gatherings of noisy young men, and the neighborhood erupts in anger; demands from a City Councilman, angry town hall meetings, and threats become the norm.

Why did we kill Christ? He offered something good, but we couldn’t get past the challenge to be different. If I understood why people are so dead set against what looks different, I might understand what’s behind our neighbors’ opposition to everything we do.

With these clashes, Dee examines her traditional thinking and her judgments of her neighbors, her mother, her daughter, Father Mike, one young man, and herself. The “what if” questions bombard her mind.

One day, a body is found in glass house’s backyard, and life in the glass house unravels.

Lord, I can’t imagine how this will all work out, but You are good. I will watch you work these disasters together for our good, in the way that only You can. Give me courage to face this day.

With the letting go, comes freedom.

The Lyre and the Lambs is an enjoyable read for pleasure and for an insightful look at how we sometimes judge differences.

Avey has included thoughtful discussion questions at the end of the novel as well as resources for parents and concerned friends.

I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre. Psalm 49:4

I finished reading and stopped to reflect upon the book’s particularly poignant title. Insightful.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from HopeSprings Books, an imprint of Chalfont House Publishing, in exchange for my honest review.

My prayer

Our Great Shepherd, thank You for leading Sydney Avey as she walked us through the sixties, turmoil on one street, and the growth of Christians as they dealt with their storms in their lives. Bless Sydney with many more books that glorify You. Bless the readers who encounter Sydney’s books, and give them the insight that You would have them glean from Sydney’s writings. Thank You for The Lyre and the Lambs, dear Lord.