In If They Could Talk, the authors ask the question: what if the animals of biblical times could talk? What would be the whale's take on swallowing Jonah? How would the scapegoat who carried away Israel's sins feel? Would the prodigal's fatted calf resent his role or be happily oblivious to it, or both? What did Balaam's donkey really think of his master? And how did the she-bears in the story of Elisha view God's provision of a feast of forty-two children? This is not a collection of sweet tales for young children. Not all of the animals (or people) in the biblical stories fared well. Many of the accounts are fun but others are serious and even confronting. One or two are bittersweet. All try to capture the essence of the biblical narrative from different animal perspectives. ""Sometimes quirky and amusing, sometimes sober and reflective, If They Could Talk is a collection of engaging stories that will help the reader take another perspective of some well-known Bible tales."" --Merideth Resce, President of Omega Writers and author of the Heart of Green Valley series ""What a fascinating idea I've often encouraged students to approach the biblical text from the perspective of the different human characters, but never the animals. This book will open readers' eyes to engaging with the biblical text in a brand new light."" --Dr Aaron Chalmers, Lecturer in biblical studies and Head of Ministry and Theology, Tabor College Susan J Bruce is a qualified Veterinary Surgeon. She also holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing and is well known for including an animal in almost every story and poem - even when she tries not to. Susan is the author of the e-book, Ruthless the Killer, and has had work published in several anthologies. Literati is a group of writers who live in and around Adelaide, South Australia. They have been meeting together for fifteen years. This present anthology was inspired by a plan for a book of short stories by Inklings C S Lewis and Charles Williams that unfortunately never materialized. The members of Literati thought they would take up the challenge.
