"How to Make Victoria Sponge" by Margaret Kazmierczak Book Tour and Give Away

 

Click here to purchase your copy.

About the Book

Victoria Sponge – a well-known cake? Maybe, but also a wife and mother of four children. Disorganized and chaotic, with obligations galore, sweet Victoria clings to God, her best friend who shares His amazing love with her. From tripping over a hoover left in the hallway to discovering her son’s desire to die because he is different, she journeys through her own Lent. Giving up is not an option, but saying ‘yes’ to God each day is. Tragedy and comical events follow Vicki through her week. Does Victoria Sponge rise through all the messiness that life offers or does she sink?

My Review:                                                                                                                                             Victoria Sponge is a fictional character but she is a picture of any Christian wife and mother. Each day our Heavenly Father has a personal message to Victoria. I must also say that I especially relate to her because she is just like me in that she falls and bumps her head repeatedly, it is fun to read about someone just like me.

  The chapters are the days of the week and start out with a morning prayer and there is an afternoon prayer and an evening prayer. Then it tells about the troubles of the day and we read Victoria's prayers to God and learn how she turns everything to thankfulness to Our Saviour and asks Him to help her to always remember the lessons that day's struggles has taught her. I like that each day also includes Our Heavenly Father's responses to Victoria's thoughts and prayers.

 Victoria Sponge uses everyday occurrences, such as trying to catch a field mouse to point out Our Heavenly Father's love and that He doesn't chase us but waits for us to come to Him. This book has really touched my heart and soul, I will be reading this book again and again as it is life changing fiction.

I am including part of one of Victoria's prayers in the review as it is mine also even if I have never actually prayed it. "Oh. Lord. Please help me to be happy with who I am and with the gifts and challenges that You have given me." But after reading this book I will make this prayer part of my daily prayers.

Just to show once again why I think this book is fantastic, here is a prayer that Victoria prays after her daughter dyes her hair pink. "Oh Lord, we all make mistakes; although I am not sure I have made a pink one! Help me to sort this one out or if this is not possible, then a friend who has knowledge of dealing with dyeing mistakes might be helpful." I love that Victoria talks to our Lord as a friend and not someone who is out of reach.

Victoria Sponge is so honest in this book even about finding a pair of clean underwear and a lost television remote.

There is one scene in this book that isn't an easy subject to deal with but Victoria relates it to the  suffering that Jesus suffered on the cross. This book really helps the reader understand that Jesus suffered all the same things that His people struggle with.

There is another story at the end of Victoria's story and it is called "A Jewel In the Sponge". I love how the colors of the rainbow is described to Victoria's son Johnny.

I am going to buy this book in print and give them out, yes the book is that good!

I received a complementary copy and the opinions expressed are my own.

I give "How To Make Victoria Sponge" by Margaret Kazmierczak five stars.

About the Author

Born in England, Margaret Kazmierczak loves storytelling, but dyslexia made writing difficult. After marrying and birthing three children, she finally got around to it. She and husband Peter live in Dorset, United Kingdom with two daughters.

Guest Post from Margaret Kazmierczak 

For those that know me cooking is not a talent that I am famous for. I follow the recipes, but for some unknown reason my cakes remain flat, albeit cleverly disguised with chocolate.

My friends were, quite understandably, shocked that I appeared to have written a cookery book. My friends let me introduce the Baker who inspired me to write, ‘How to Make Victoria Sponge’. His name is God the Father. This cook needs all the help she can get.

In 2010 God literally took me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to become vulnerable. He took away my health and job. An active middle aged woman reduced to a shell. For two years I struggled to come to terms with my condition. Then one night I prayed and asked what I was supposed to do now? The message was simple, “write a book”. Well I could think up a million and one reasons why not to write a book. I declared them one by one but God the Father was having none of it. He reminded me of WHO was commissioning me.

To say that my reading and writing skills were on a par with my cooking skills was an understatement. So I stopped questioning and listened to His answer. “I shall give you the ingredients and you provide the humour and story outline with your life experiences.” So Victoria Sponge was born. Not a cookery book per se but a recipe for a closer relationship with God the Father through story and petition.

This journey took two years, a long time to wait for a cake to rise! The proof, however, was in the tasting which for some time was bitter due to rejection. Then a sequence of events happened one after the other and ‘How to Make Victoria Sponge’ was cooked, oops, birthed. I have been blown away with the face to face reviews in England of the book. A Methodist minister used it to empower her congregation, to show them how even the simplest things in life can lead to a prayerful response.

Victoria known as Vicki, married to Bob, is a normal woman with four children. The book looks at a week in her life and compares it to Jesus’ Lent week. Many issues are explored through the pages. Vicki Sponge could be you or me and the response to each situation, a solution to your own challenges.

Without the Baker this book would end up like my cakes! The writing of it helped me to begin a new life and I hope it helps you to do so too if you read and journey through its pages.

Blog Stops

September 29: A Reader’s Brain

September 30: The Power of Words (spotlight)

October 1: History, Mystery & Faith

October 2: Bukwurmzzz

October 3: Artistic Nobody

October 4: Quiet Quilter 

October 5: Daysong Reflections

October 6: Mary Hake

October 7: Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations

October 8: Simple Harvest Reads

October 9: Bibliophile Reviews 

October 10: Petra’s Hope

October 11: His Grace is Sufficient

October 12: Onceuponatime

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Margaret is giving away a themed gift bag containing an apron, whisk, Bible, and a limited 1st edition paperback copy of How to Make Victoria Sponge! Click here to enter:https://promosimple.com/ps/a416