Summary:
California's gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep. Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside.
Then she meets Michael Hosea. A man who seeks his Father's heart in everything, Michael obeys God's call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel's every bitter expectation, until despite her resistance, her frozen heart begins to thaw.
But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband's pursuing love, terrified of the truth she no longer can deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael does...the One who will never let her go.
A powerful retelling of the book of Hosea, Redeeming Love is a life-changing story of God's unconditional, redemptive, all consuming love.
Review:
This was the first Francine Rivers book I'd ever read and it's stuck with me for years. I've read it several times and each time I read it I enjoy it just as much as the first time. I really can't say that about too many books!
The story is heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. You'll feel so bad for Angel. She carries around so much guilt and despair. Redeeming Love is definitely a little grittier than most of Rivers' other works, because of the heroine's forced prostitution. I think there is even a curse word in it---gasp!
My mother-in-law first recommended this book to me and I'm so glad she did. It got me back into Christian fiction. If you've read other works of Christian fiction and found them to be lacking or cheesy (think Karen Kingsbury), I urge you to give Francine Rivers and Liz Curtis Higgs a try. They are excellent authors!
Just One Gripe:
I don't want to give anything away, but I don't like what Angel does as she walks across the field to Michael. If you read Redeeming Love, you'll know what I'm talking about.
The Best Thing About This Book:
You'll feel uplifted when you finish it.
Appropriate for a younger audience:
No
Score:
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Setting/Imagery: 5/5
Originality: 5/5
Ending: 4.5/5
Total Score: 24.5/25
Also Recommended:
I have heard amazing things about this one. I reallly reallly should read it some time. Thanks for the lovely review.
ReplyDeleteyour books are wonderful
ReplyDeleteMy mum let me read this book, when i was pretty young and YA books were annoying me. It was amazing. Francine Rivers became one of my favourite authors because of it, and I also loved the Mark of the Lion series. Great Review.
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