Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Oohlala... Fun Book Review!

Who said you can't make an interesting page-turner romantic love story out of a bible story?

I have recently come across a very interesting book authored by the famed Francine Rivers entitled "Redeeming Love". A love story that's one of a kind that will set your heart aflame and will keep you awake night after night, letting you abandon sleep without remorse. This book does not entice you through the cleverly written words of a seasoned writer that can weave a beautiful tapestry of plots. This book makes you experience a life and a lifetime of a woman who...was named "Angel", whose real name was Sarah. She was abused and rejected as a little girl. She was sold to a prostitution den at the tender age of 8 and became the most beautiful, most desireable and highest paid prostitute. She never knew any other life except the one her world of sex trade showed her that made her heart callous and stubborn. She never knew any other man except those who would pay a high price for her until she met Michael Hosea, a decent God-fearing man who developed a stubborn love for her.

This novel immensely touched my very heart and soul. It is a truly emotional expedition such as I have never experienced before that it moved me to tears and joy and pain and compassion and love. This is as timeless as any classic novel could ever get. It is tremendously moving.

Francine Rivers has been blessed by God with such creativity and revelation of God's true love that through this story based on the book of Hosea she was able to transform its very essence into something that every human being can identify with. Though it has adult themes and subplots like rape, violence and incest, it was handled with utmost sensitivity. And for all intents and purposes, those scenes were not included just for "cinematic effect", but was much needed in the entirety of the novel to establish the harshness and reality of the life the character embraced.

I have passed on this book to other women and their teenage daughters, of course after I had my 16 year old daughter taste the bitter-sweet flavor of this wonderful encounter. She did not put down the book until she was finished with it. And mind you, she never stopped talking about it with tears and a sweet smile on her face. So I can say that it travelled from one tear duct to another, from one heart to the next and deep into the soul.

This treasure of a book enthusiastically turned my 13 year old daughter to finally read! For the life of her, she was never interested in reading... my frustration (sigh) But voila she loved this book that it only took her two days to finish "Redeeming Love!"

This book does not just take your eyes through a play of words but takes you through a heart journey, and a pleasurable journey of the soul and the spirit.

If I may quote Liz Curtis Higgs, best-selling author of Thorn in My Heart, this is what she has to say about this book.. "Simply put, Redeeming Love is the most powerful work of fiction you will ever read."

Need I say more? :)

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