Redeeming Love By Francine Rivers
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I recieved this as a part of the First Reads program.
I was repulsed by this book.
It's supposed to be a Christian romance novel. Full disclosure, I'm an atheist, so I wasn't expecting to exactly fall in love with the book. But I found the concept of the story of Hosea being retold during the Gold Rush interesting, or else I wouldn't have picked it up.
So you may ask, why was I so repulsed by this book? Looking past the forced marriage, rape, beatings and child rape described in the book. Also looking past the flat, one dimensional characters, that are by the way, stunning and physically beautiful (how boring is that). Not to mention, looking past the horrible source material that is the Old Testament. I'm repulsed by the ideas that this book reinforces for women. I'm disgusted that this drivel was written by a woman. And after reading some reviews prior to recieving the book, I'm appaled that some people found this book moving, positive and uplifting. The plot device of using these characters to represent god and his unconditional love that he supposedly has for his children was weak. This was represented by the two main character's and Angel. So god talks to him(I'll leave that one alone) and tells him to marry her. He has a priest marry the two of them while she's pretty much unconsious. She runs away after being forced to work for and take care of him. I wonder why she would run away. So she finally meets a family who is willing to take care of her. She's in a good place. And then he comes back for her. She for some unknown reason, goes back to him. The worst part is the ending, because she wants nothing more than to please him and bear him a son.
This book does nothing more than subjugate women. In my own opionion, so do gods and religions, but that's a different story for a differnt time. What positive message is there in this for anyone? Be a good wife and devote all your time to making babies. I think we all know there is more to life than that.
Please don't waste your time reading this book, get something else that will celebrate life and the worth of an individual, or something that you will learn something from. I'll be trading mine in at the local book mine, to get something of more worth.
Paperback Utterly heart wrenching. Gripping. Riveting. Extraordinary...I could go on and on and still not justify the magnitude of this story's brilliance— what it means, what it stands for, and how deeply it has affected me.
Reading Redeeming Love was an intensely humbling and inspirational experience. It isn't about drama or angst or sexy loves scenes...it is a powerful, eye-opening story focused on faith and redemption; on rising up from the dust of despair and finding yourself worthy. It's about the unparalleled ways love and faith can conquer all, and I could not have been more pleased with this loving and fulfilling journey.
Sarah, aka, Angel is a beautiful, damaged woman who remains a prisoner of a past that heartlessly sold her into prostitution as a child. She was abandoned, abused, and alone, and my heart shattered for her. Selling her body was all she'd ever known...so when Michael attempts to show her an honest life, she is untrusting and feels unworthy to receive it. Angel had a quiet strength and I was completely blown away by her transformation. Her quest for freedom was relentless and she easily became one of my most beloved heroines.
Michael, in my opinion, was saint-like. His patience and love for Angel was astonishing, and his faith in himself and in God--inspiring. I've never before felt such a strong sense of love and acceptance through a character. Angel and Michael's connection stands as a pure example of love in its most honest and unconditional state...exactly how it's meant to be.
The writing simply wow'd me. It was eloquent and its grace brought this story to life. I felt every pain and heartache displayed within these broken characters, as well as every rejoice.
This was my first Christian Fiction novel and I was initially unsure what to expect. Although faith in God plays a big role in this story, having faith in oneself is an equally apparent theme—one to which anyone can relate. The element of religion was heavily pronounced, but I didn't find it to be preachy — in fact, I found it comforting and enlightening. It wasn't over-the-top; it was delicate and its message seemed to transcend the structures of organized religion. Freedom does not come from without, but is instead brought forth from within.
My song for Sarah
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free...
Book Stats:
▪ Genre/Category: Christian Fiction/Romance
▪ Steam Caliber: Clean
▪ Romance: Emotional and heartbreaking. Beautifully evolves.
▪ Characters: Expertly composed. Patient, kind, loving hero. Tragically broken, but lovable heroine.
▪ Plot: Centers largely on redemption, faith, and the healing power of love. Substantial depth.
▪ Writing: Accomplished and exquisite execution. Inspiring narrative.
▪ POV: Third person perspective.
▪ Cliffhanger: None
Paperback I'm not even going to attempt to review this one because I doubt that I could do it justice. Besides, there's over a thousand reviews of this book on GR (hard to believe--I must have been one of the few people who haven't read this book)! Anyway, it was definitely the best book I've read all year, and probably one of the best books I've EVER read. It was easy to read (the story flowed very smoothly), yet emotionally, it was very difficult to read. Parts of the book just tore me up inside, and I had to take frequent breaks to wipe my tears. I loved the broken and bitter prostitute heroine, Angel, and the saintly, patient (too good to be true) farmer hero, Michael. But to categorize them that way seems so unfair, because they were so much more than that.
I guess this book could be called religious fiction, or inspirational romance, but don't let that scare you. It's based on the bible story of Hosea and Gomer, but you don't have to be up on your bible studies to enjoy this one. And it gets just slightly preachy at the end, but you won't care because you'll be too wrapped up in Angel and Michael. The book deals with some really horrible and heartbreaking stuff (child rape, prostitution, incest)(but not in real explicit terms) and just when you think you've read the worst, something else is revealed that will break your heart all over again. But please try to get through those moments, because there is a beautifully written romance, too, about unconditional love, faith, and hope. I must have cried buckets while reading the last 100 pages, but it was worth it. I don't think I'll forget this story for quite a while--5 stars! Paperback I didn't get very far into this before realising that it was R rated. Luckily I got it free so haven't wasted any money and can happily throw it away. One of the most troubling things about this book is that there are a number of reviews from non-Christians commenting on the graphic nature of this book and stating that they wouldn't have thought the writer was a Christian. That alone explains why Christian authors need to be careful with their content, they are representing Jesus.
I am aware that this is meant to be based on the book of Hosea in the Bible. However, Rivers presents her main character as a prostitute prior to her marriage...
What are the moral implications of God’s command for Hosea to marry a prostitute? It appears best to see Gomer as chaste at the time of marriage to Hosea, only later having become an immoral woman. The words “take yourself a wife of harlotry” are to be understood proleptically, i.e., looking to the future. An immoral woman could not serve as a picture of Israel coming out of Egypt (2:15; 9:10), who then later wandered away from God (11:1). Chapter 3 describes Hosea taking back his wife, who had been rejected because of adultery, a rejection that was unjustifiable if Hosea had married a prostitute with full knowledge of her character.
(https://www.gty.org/library/bible-int...)
The first few chapters dealt with child rape, child trafficking, brothels, drunkenness, adultery, death.....that was enough. If Rivers was trying to relay events in Hosea, I don't understand why she felt the need to include child rape and trafficking in her narrative. It just makes a tragic story even more depraved. The point of Hosea is God's love towards unfaithful Israel despite their waywardness. It is not focused on the graphic exploits of Gomer.
I don't recommend this book which is full of graphic detail for shock value. For those who will no doubt comment that the book of Hosea also contains graphic scenes of a similar nature. It doesn't. The whole focus is on Israel's unfaithfulness and God's pending judgement. It is not on the details of Gomer's sin.
The popularity of this book and some of the comments are representative of the God as love or some kind of divine romancer beliefs that are prevalent, as if God needs us and is desperate for us, rather than the other way around. The author writes that God says, Though you deny me, I love you with an everlasting love. That is not in line with Scripture, where God does not love with an everlasting love those who deny Him. God hates sin (and sinners) and demands obedience. Yes, God loves us and forgives us when we sin if we approach Him through trust in Jesus, but that doesn't give us a licence to sin or to presume upon His grace. Redemption (the supposed theme of this book) should lead to a complete transformation of heart and life.
https://answersingenesis.org/answers/...
For those seeking a cleaner read by Francine Rivers (and to prove that I'm not just being deliberately controversial) try The Atonement Child [https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...] or And the Shofar Blew [https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...] or even The Last Sin Eater [https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...] but avoid Bridge to Haven [https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...]. The Scarlet Thread is mediocre [https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...]. Enjoy!
Check out my Francine Rivers shelf!
Paperback
5 Inspiring Stars!! I'm soooo happy!! Where's a box of tissues when you need them?? I have to listen to the end again. Oh my, I can't stop crying!! Michael...he is the power of love!!
No review I could ever do, would give this book the justice it is so deserving of! You have to experience it to understand all the meaning that it holds. Thank you to KarLyn who was the first to tell me about this book, and then all my other friends who encouraged me to read it. It's an amazing journey I will NEVER forget!
Paperback
Angel, sold into prostitution as a child, survives by keeping her hatred for men alive. Then she meets Michael Hosea who loves her unconditionally. Day by day, he defies Angel's every bitter expectation until, despite her resistance, her heart begins to thaw. But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. So Angel runs... Redeeming Love
Hm, hard review to write! I appreciate the story of redemption Rivers set out to tell, but I didn't like how she went about it. The story was riveting at first, drawing me in, so that I read the first 100 pages without even setting it aside. But I had to lay the book down to complete a task, and as I did it, I realized that I was feeling...dirty.
Truly, a great deal of the book is focused on sordid and dirty details. Even after we are away from the subjects of child rape, human trafficking, auctioning of women, and seduction, it talks a great deal about nakedness and marital relations. I didn't like what I'd gotten into, frankly. I also didn't like how Michael tried to control her every thought and action in an attempt to hold onto her and not let her go.
It wasn't a strict retelling of the story of Hosea, but I felt that choosing to give Michael the name of Hosea was too forced. Yes, we have him losing her three times. We don't have her doing so because of wanting to return to the life she knew. Her situation is portrayed as very bad, and instead of having Michael a bright light of God still chasing her like the hound of Heaven, we have a very flawed man not fully understanding who she is past her protective walls, a man letting her run back into independence because he labors under a misconception of what she's gone to do. This isn't an illustration of the redemptive side of marriage, where the man is to show what Christ is willing to do for the church...Michael failed her at the end. He gave up on her and stayed on his farm in discouragement, instead of chasing after her and making sure she is safe.
The real, biblical Hosea kept after his wife, chasing her down and dragging her out of sin even when she made the choice to go back into it. Hosea was a picture of God reaching out to sinning Israel and dragging her back to a clean life.
Sarah's story is a powerful one. I felt that it often went too far into the descriptions of what she was feeling...thus, instead of giving the facts, it presented images and drew out emotions where bare facts would have been much less sensual. We didn't have to go down into the depths to feel how revolting her life was. We didn't have to spend two chapters on her being sold at the age of eight and raped by a monster, over and over again, over the next number of years.
So, in the end, it fails as an allegory; Michael doesn't chase after her quite as the real Hosea did; Sarah isn't wanting to return to a life of sensual fulfillment as Gomer was. Also, it tipped over the edge more than once into sensationalism, ending in being more like a soap opera than like a story focused only on the redemption of a soul and a lifestyle.
I welcome thoughtful comments...I'm quite willing to explain my thoughts further, but don't want to spend too much time on the review. Paperback رواية كلاسيكية وفيها حتة رومانسية يمكن تكون مش واقعية في زمانا الحالي..الترجمة معجبتنيش أوي كمان..
علي الرغم من كل دة زائد حجمها الكبير إلا إنها رواية جميلة..كإنك بتتفرج علي فيلم قديم وعارف ايه اللي حيحصل بس مستمتع في نفس الوقت..
يعني حسيتها مناسبة للجو الكئيب بتاع اليومين دول.. رواية تدعو إلي الحب والتفاؤل والأمل إن بكرة حيكون أحلي رغم كل الحاجات الصعبة اللي بنمر بيها في حياتنا... Paperback 5 stars
Love cleanses, beloved. It doesn't beat you down. It doesn't cast blame. My love isn't a weapon. It's a lifeline. Reach out and take hold, and don't let go.”
Honestly, I almost never read historical romance. It just doesn’t interest me as much as contemporary does. I saw this on my libraries page and it had been recommended to me in the past, so I picked up the audiobook. I’m so glad I did. This book was fantastic and I loved it so much!
This book takes place in California in the 1850’s. Michael is a farmer who goes into town to sell some of his things, and that’s when he sees Angel. Angel’s life has been hard and even though she’s young she’s been through so much. She is a prostitute who has been owned by others since a young age.
Michael feels called to marry Angel and even though she’s resistant to the idea, eventually she comes around. Michael treats Angel well and shows her what real love and partnership is. She doesn’t know how to accept this and never feels good enough, and it causes issues between them. No matter what, though, Michael never gives up on her.
Redeeming Love is, above all, a story of unconditional love. It’s based on the bible story of Hosea and Gomer which is a parable of God’s love for us and his willingness to always take us back, no matter what our mistakes.
Angel/Sarah and Michael’s love story was beautiful and I was on the edge of my seat through most of this story. I didn’t know how things would turn out, but by the end I was so happy. This is a clean/inspirational romance and it gave me so many feels and had such an amazing hero and I adored it so much.
Though fallen low, God raised her up, an angel.
Paperback
4.5 stars
Redeeming Love is one of those must-read romances worth reading at least once
There are two versions of Redeeming Love. This is a review of the original 1991 version. The 1997 version is basically the same as the original, but was edited to remove any descriptions of the love scenes and any coarse language to make it suitable for the Christian market.
Based on the Book of Hosea from the Bible, where God told the prophet, Hosea to marry the prostitute, Gomer -
Go marry a prostitute and have children with her.
- here we have Michael Hosea, a farmer being told by God to marry Angel, a local whore in the 1850s goldfields of California.
Author Francine Rivers wrote historical romances and historical fiction before she became a Christian. Redeeming Love written in 1991, bridges the writing of her original romances and her later Christian fiction, illustrating well the old and new Francine Rivers in the one book. The original does contain some coarse language (eg son of a bitch, damn, bastard, etc) and some descriptive love scenes, not contained in the second version.
The original holds up better in my opinion as a romance than the revised version, with more emphasis on their relationship and the physicality of it. Nevertheless, both versions contain the same plot. For those who prefer a clean read, then the edited, or Christian version, is preferable.
Although it is peppered throughout with Bible verses I don't think they're intrusive. It is afterall, a Christian story, based on a book of the Bible and written by a Christian. My only real complaint is that often it lends itself to cheesiness, but that's my complaint about most, if not all, romances.
He felt her loosen and melt in his arms and he sent her up again in to the heavens, joining her there and holding on to the moment as long as he could before the slow descent back to earth.
Oh, to You be the glory, Lord, Lord....
Um, okay.
On my fourth read of this story over the years, I don't view it with the same wide-eyed romantic wonder as I first did. The prose is average at best, the historical setting adequate. The stubbornness of Angel in refusing to accept Michael's love and her consequent running off was overdone and tiresome. Michael himself often forces Angel to do his bidding, believing as he does that it's for her best, and so their relationship comes across as patronising and paternalistic at times.
Some of his thoughts and reactions are not those of a Godly man. Some of the tragedies that beset Angel's wretched life, seem gratuitous. Francine Rivers seemingly wanted to heap mankind's collective sin onto the head of this poor woman. Some of the scenes are unnecessarily explicit. The conclusion is way too neat with its fairy-tale ending.
Yet Redeeming Love still holds up as an allegory of God's love for humankind. Love, forgiveness and redemption. It is one of those rare novels that though based on a story from the Bible, manages to captivate an audience who may not claim any Christian beliefs.
It can be at times depressing, heart-wrenching, horrifying and preachy. Yet it is also uplifting, glorifying, hope-filled and romantic.
Despite some reservations, Redeeming Love is still a worthy read for lovers of Christian fiction and for lovers of romance. Even if you don't end up loving it, it is so popular, so highly rated and reviewed that it's worth reading just the once. Because despite its flaws for me it still manages to resonate with the ideal of true love and the romantic notions of love conquers all.
Steam: 2.5
Paperback I think the purpose of this book was overshadowed by the very dark subject matter. A lot of people have called this a Christian Romance, I find that very hard to believe. The story is about a young girl sold into prostitution at the age of eight who later is rescued by a man named Michael. The books goes into shocking, disturbing detail of the sad life she led. She run’s away from her devoted husband multiple times, which also got old. The whole thing was very depressing and I only continued to read hoping it would get better. I also didn’t like that her husband was suppose to be so understanding yet was still sleeping with her before she even loved him or before they really had a decent relationship. If he really had respect for her and what she had been through he would have waited until she was ready. The book was way too long and way too gloomy. For the subject matter and details given, I would give it an R rating. I wish I hadn’t bothered reading it. Paperback