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Murray Pura was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, just north of the Dakotas and Minnesota. His first novel was released in Toronto in 1988 and was a finalist for the Dartmouth Book Award. Since that time, he has published more than a dozen novels, two collections of short stories, and several nonfiction titles including the Zondervan books Rooted and Streams and the Baker devotional Majestic & Wild. He has been a finalist for several awards in the US and Canada, including the $25,000 Kobzar Literary Award for the novel Zo, and in 2012 won the Word Award of Toronto for Best Historical Novel for The White Birds of Morning. Murray lives and writes in southwestern New Mexico and is currently published by Barbour, Baker, Harper One, Harper Collins and Harvest House as well as several other firms – he works with publishers in Canada, America, the UK, and Holland. His releases include the bestsellers: Ashton Park, The Wings of Morning, The Face of Heaven, The Rose of Lancaster County, A Road Called Love, The Painted Sky, An Amish Family Christmas and London Dawn. His diverse writing spans many genres including historical fiction, contemporary fiction, literary fiction, romance, adventure, western, suspense, fantasy, Amish, and inspirational. Most of his work is available in ebook format as well as in paperback.
Reviewed by Erin Nicole Cochran for Readers' Favorite
Murray Pura’s Beautiful Skin is a romance novel that has many layers to it. Set in the Second World War between Ukraine and Germany, it is centered around its main character Andrew Chornavka, with his brothers and sisters playing minor characters. The story wends its way from family to romance, with war always going on in the background; it is its own character as much as Andrew Chornavka plays his role. The style of writing is effective, and it immediately pulls you into that of a war-torn family. Its pace is comparable to a long and winding road, full of stops along the way that you don’t see coming, from romantic love interests to other shocks that crop up.
Beautiful Skin by author Murray Pura made me feel as if I had been in a war; you can almost smell the fumes coming up off the pages. It’s so life-like and realistic that you have a more in-depth appreciation for what family members and friends have experienced in battle. Although, one thing I will say, that if you are expecting the kind of romance novel that usually sports a man’s bared chest on the cover, this is not that kind of romance. Beautiful Skin goes much deeper than other romance novels. However, you will find much more gratification out of this soul piercing love than you will find in many other books. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to really grasp what true love is, because not many books are able to capture it so well.
