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Title of Book: Redeeming Love (Hardcover) By Francine Rivers BACK COVER: CAN GOD’S LOVE SAVE ANYONE? 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 comes 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. REVIEWER’S COMMENTS: Redeeming Love--to understand this book one needs to understand what it means to “redeem”. According to the dictionary, to redeem is to buy back, or to obtain the release or restoration of (as in a captive.) Angel began life as a carefree little girl who loved to run amongst the flowers with her doll. Her mother loved her and like most children, she was blind to any hardship in the world. But Angel’s eyes were opened abruptly and her life was changed when she was sold into the hands of a vile and evil man. Abused emotionally, physically, and sexually, Angel’s only mode of survival was to withdraw. She became a captive, a fragile beauty beyond compare, living within a tower of cold hard steel. Men’s heads turned wherever Angel went, but she had no heart. And being a single woman in the 1800’s she also had no means. It was prostitution or death. Micheal Hosea was a godly man who knew the meaning of “abiding in Christ”. He walked closely with the Lord and heard the voice of the Lord. But what he heard was stunning—marry that woman. THAT woman? Michael had prayed for a wife, but a prostitute? Not a man to question the Lord, Michael pursued Angel. She had no idea how to deal with a man who came to her bordello room just to talk. And he paid good gold dust to do it night after night! Just to talk! Angel marries Michael, but not for love. She is beaten and nearly unconscious the night he carries her gently to the farm. There he nurtures and cares for her with gentleness and unconditional love. Her foul language and constant abuse are not enough to deter Michael in his love. Her running away is not enough. He goes after her. And just when it seems she has finally left her steel tower and found a warm heart, she leaves him again. Francine Rivers tells the story of love that overcomes all odds in this beautiful story. Never before had I so clearly understood the phrase “unconditional love.” Michael is repeatedly devastated by Angel. She curses him, throws verbal barbs repeatedly, allows him close and then runs away. She leaves the warmth and safety of the farm and returns to the muck and mire and heartache of her sin. Yet still Michael waits for her, protects her, forgives her, and loves her. He never belittles her, never resorts to anger, never curses. How like God, to love us in spite of repeatedly watching us leave His side to run back to the folly of our ways. I’m sure He shakes His head at us and wonders, “Why? Why would you leave the peace and joy of being with me to go wallow in your filth again?” But He persists. We have been redeemed, the price paid, the captive set free. Redeeming Love is a classic, a story of God’s unchanging nature, a beautiful read for anyone! |