Book review: Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers (1997 edition. Fiction. Published by Multnomah Publishers, Inc. Chicago, Illinois. 464 pages).
Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
He has injured us
But he will bind up our wounds.
Hosea 6:1 NIV
Romance novels were the stuff of life during my pubescent years. I suppose it was typical of my age back then when budding girls begin dreaming of their Prince Charmings and happy-ever-afters soon after they discover the changes in their bodies. I practically breathed them, ate them, fantasized about them - even if it meant holding one book in my hand and a flat iron in another while I did my chores, much to my mother’s annoyance. Long before my classmates got tired of their Nancy Drews, Bobsey Twins and Hardy Boys, I was already jumping from one Mills & Boon or Harlequin novelette to another in a heartbeat. When they did finally come around to Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley High, I was already getting quizzical, how-weird-can-you-get looks as I dived into Barbara Cartlands (with an Austen or Bronte on the side). At that time, a girl wouldn’t get caught with a historical romance paperback, even if it were a classic.
These books kept company to a lonely, scrawny girl living behind nerdy glasses and not much else. They initiated me to a world of grown-ups and the intoxicating but naïve dreams of romantic love and sex, eventually paving an escape from growing-up pains aggravated by my parents’ failed marriage and the ensuing chaos. As my world grew bigger and brought in the radical ideas of university life, I soon recoiled from the shallow and repetitive themes of these stories and learned to distrust them. Like the rest of us, I discovered that real life was more than waiting for Mr. Right.
So it was an unexpected turn when I, already in my 30s, picked Redeeming Love from a shelf of a discount store. Already a Christian at that time, I was half-repulsed by what I initially perceived as a saccharine title matched by an illustration of a young woman with wind-blown hair in a period ensemble. But I was prevailed to take a closer look when I saw the author’s name; I had seen, though never read, Ms. Rivers’ And the Shofar Blew at a Christian book store before. Curious, I read the blurb on the back cover: “a powerful retelling of the Book of Hosea”. I raised an eyebrow. Hosea and his unfaithful wife? I immediately brought it home that night but decided to read it much later. Yet when I did, it was hard to put down.
Set against the depravity of California’s Gold Rush in the 1850s, Redeeming Love is the story of a prostitute named Angel whose life makes a turning point when she meets Michael Hosea, a frontier farmer. No two people could be more alike: she, a lost soul tormented by her past but barely surviving out of her hatred and wilful pride; he, a gentle, hard-working man who loves the Lord and obeys His will even to the point of self-sacrifice. Michael heeds God’s call to take Angel as his wife and love her. Like the unfaithful Gomer, Angel runs away again and again from the loving arms of her husband. Like the prophet Hosea, Michael goes back and rescues his headstrong wife each time she leaves him – even when she betrays him. Through supernatural love and patience that only a man with a heart for God can muster, Michael gradually overcomes Angel’s defences and ultimately brings her to redemption – the kind that no man or woman can give, but only by a loving Savior.
Like most romance novels, Redeeming Love is an unpretentious read. The prose is straight-forward, the plot simple and the characters – except for Angel – lacking in complex attributes or backgrounds. One will not find the high-brow narratives of a Gabriel Garcia Marquez here. The beauty of the story-telling, however, lies in its purpose. The author clearly intended to breathe new life in the Biblical story of Hosea and Gomer, to fashion it into a tale that modern readers can relate to and maybe persuade them to adopt as their own life story.
Ms. Rivers, in fact, admits that Redeeming Love is a statement of her faith. Prior to her conversion as a born-again Christian in 1986, she had carved out for herself a career as an award-winning romance novelist. After she accepted Christ in her life, she found it difficult to write novels that were consistent with her new-found faith. Finally, she surrendered to the Father’s will and opened herself to His word, soaking herself in home Bible studies. In one of these sessions, she encountered the Book of Hosea and divine inspiration instantly hit her. In 1991, Redeeming Love was released, heralding a stream of Christian-inspired fiction which includes her best-selling Mark of the Lion series and her 2007 novel, The Last Sin Eater, which was made into a movie directed by Michael Landon, Jr. and distributed by Fox Faith.
The book, indeed, reads as a journey to Christ. The author divides the story into four main sections: Child of Darkness, Defiance, Fear and Humility. The section titles denote the stages that Angel the prostitute treads in her journey to redemption. It may well be the author’s. In fact, it could be anyone’s – if, like me, they come to see a little of Angel in themselves as she struggles to break free from her sinful past and fails, as she runs from God’s unrelenting love time and time again, as she finally surrenders to that still, small voice inside her, and finally as she is made clean by an all-powerful kind of love that only comes from the Father. It is no surprise, therefore, that I find myself in tears toward the end of the book. I was so reminded of God’s passionate pursuit of me that took all of 30 years of my life to accept and understand.
And this is basically the point of the Book of Hosea and the entire Scriptures itself. God loves us so much that He was willing to do everything, even die for us, to bring us to an abundant life. John 3:16 sums up the message: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
If the Bible is a love letter, then God is the passionate lover, the faithful and forgiving husband of an adulterous wife. When God commanded the prophet Hosea to take the adulterous Gomer as his wife, and to buy her back and be reconciled to her even after she has sold herself to her lovers, He was teaching us the very thing He did for us: that as unworthy and unfaithful sinners that we are, He came back for us and paid for our freedom for a price. Simply because He loves us.
Redeeming Love seeks to bring its readers to an awareness of God’s unending grace. Husbands and wives will recall their marriage vows and realize how they mirror God’s love covenant with His people. Some will be reminded not to condemn people living in sin in the same way that He has reserved judgment for all of our trespasses. Others will be simply awakened to that open invitation He has made 2,000 years ago when He chose to die in our place.
Ms. Rivers has opened a new world of Christian fictional genre that I am truly excited about, not only because it brought romance to a higher level, but also because these books create excellent opportunities to gently introduce Christ to a doubting generation. Go ahead and read Redeeming Love. You will discover all these and more when you take that next step to read for yourself God’s love letter in the Bible. A note of caution, however: in writing this book, Ms. Rivers needed to develop a prostitute’s life and the relationship between a husband and wife by including narratives that may be sensitive for young readership. Unless it is in the hands of a responsible young adult, parental guidance is recommended.
Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
He has injured us
But he will bind up our wounds.
Hosea 6:1 NIV
Romance novels were the stuff of life during my pubescent years. I suppose it was typical of my age back then when budding girls begin dreaming of their Prince Charmings and happy-ever-afters soon after they discover the changes in their bodies. I practically breathed them, ate them, fantasized about them - even if it meant holding one book in my hand and a flat iron in another while I did my chores, much to my mother’s annoyance. Long before my classmates got tired of their Nancy Drews, Bobsey Twins and Hardy Boys, I was already jumping from one Mills & Boon or Harlequin novelette to another in a heartbeat. When they did finally come around to Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley High, I was already getting quizzical, how-weird-can-you-get looks as I dived into Barbara Cartlands (with an Austen or Bronte on the side). At that time, a girl wouldn’t get caught with a historical romance paperback, even if it were a classic.
These books kept company to a lonely, scrawny girl living behind nerdy glasses and not much else. They initiated me to a world of grown-ups and the intoxicating but naïve dreams of romantic love and sex, eventually paving an escape from growing-up pains aggravated by my parents’ failed marriage and the ensuing chaos. As my world grew bigger and brought in the radical ideas of university life, I soon recoiled from the shallow and repetitive themes of these stories and learned to distrust them. Like the rest of us, I discovered that real life was more than waiting for Mr. Right.
So it was an unexpected turn when I, already in my 30s, picked Redeeming Love from a shelf of a discount store. Already a Christian at that time, I was half-repulsed by what I initially perceived as a saccharine title matched by an illustration of a young woman with wind-blown hair in a period ensemble. But I was prevailed to take a closer look when I saw the author’s name; I had seen, though never read, Ms. Rivers’ And the Shofar Blew at a Christian book store before. Curious, I read the blurb on the back cover: “a powerful retelling of the Book of Hosea”. I raised an eyebrow. Hosea and his unfaithful wife? I immediately brought it home that night but decided to read it much later. Yet when I did, it was hard to put down.
Set against the depravity of California’s Gold Rush in the 1850s, Redeeming Love is the story of a prostitute named Angel whose life makes a turning point when she meets Michael Hosea, a frontier farmer. No two people could be more alike: she, a lost soul tormented by her past but barely surviving out of her hatred and wilful pride; he, a gentle, hard-working man who loves the Lord and obeys His will even to the point of self-sacrifice. Michael heeds God’s call to take Angel as his wife and love her. Like the unfaithful Gomer, Angel runs away again and again from the loving arms of her husband. Like the prophet Hosea, Michael goes back and rescues his headstrong wife each time she leaves him – even when she betrays him. Through supernatural love and patience that only a man with a heart for God can muster, Michael gradually overcomes Angel’s defences and ultimately brings her to redemption – the kind that no man or woman can give, but only by a loving Savior.
Like most romance novels, Redeeming Love is an unpretentious read. The prose is straight-forward, the plot simple and the characters – except for Angel – lacking in complex attributes or backgrounds. One will not find the high-brow narratives of a Gabriel Garcia Marquez here. The beauty of the story-telling, however, lies in its purpose. The author clearly intended to breathe new life in the Biblical story of Hosea and Gomer, to fashion it into a tale that modern readers can relate to and maybe persuade them to adopt as their own life story.
Ms. Rivers, in fact, admits that Redeeming Love is a statement of her faith. Prior to her conversion as a born-again Christian in 1986, she had carved out for herself a career as an award-winning romance novelist. After she accepted Christ in her life, she found it difficult to write novels that were consistent with her new-found faith. Finally, she surrendered to the Father’s will and opened herself to His word, soaking herself in home Bible studies. In one of these sessions, she encountered the Book of Hosea and divine inspiration instantly hit her. In 1991, Redeeming Love was released, heralding a stream of Christian-inspired fiction which includes her best-selling Mark of the Lion series and her 2007 novel, The Last Sin Eater, which was made into a movie directed by Michael Landon, Jr. and distributed by Fox Faith.
The book, indeed, reads as a journey to Christ. The author divides the story into four main sections: Child of Darkness, Defiance, Fear and Humility. The section titles denote the stages that Angel the prostitute treads in her journey to redemption. It may well be the author’s. In fact, it could be anyone’s – if, like me, they come to see a little of Angel in themselves as she struggles to break free from her sinful past and fails, as she runs from God’s unrelenting love time and time again, as she finally surrenders to that still, small voice inside her, and finally as she is made clean by an all-powerful kind of love that only comes from the Father. It is no surprise, therefore, that I find myself in tears toward the end of the book. I was so reminded of God’s passionate pursuit of me that took all of 30 years of my life to accept and understand.
And this is basically the point of the Book of Hosea and the entire Scriptures itself. God loves us so much that He was willing to do everything, even die for us, to bring us to an abundant life. John 3:16 sums up the message: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
If the Bible is a love letter, then God is the passionate lover, the faithful and forgiving husband of an adulterous wife. When God commanded the prophet Hosea to take the adulterous Gomer as his wife, and to buy her back and be reconciled to her even after she has sold herself to her lovers, He was teaching us the very thing He did for us: that as unworthy and unfaithful sinners that we are, He came back for us and paid for our freedom for a price. Simply because He loves us.
Redeeming Love seeks to bring its readers to an awareness of God’s unending grace. Husbands and wives will recall their marriage vows and realize how they mirror God’s love covenant with His people. Some will be reminded not to condemn people living in sin in the same way that He has reserved judgment for all of our trespasses. Others will be simply awakened to that open invitation He has made 2,000 years ago when He chose to die in our place.
Ms. Rivers has opened a new world of Christian fictional genre that I am truly excited about, not only because it brought romance to a higher level, but also because these books create excellent opportunities to gently introduce Christ to a doubting generation. Go ahead and read Redeeming Love. You will discover all these and more when you take that next step to read for yourself God’s love letter in the Bible. A note of caution, however: in writing this book, Ms. Rivers needed to develop a prostitute’s life and the relationship between a husband and wife by including narratives that may be sensitive for young readership. Unless it is in the hands of a responsible young adult, parental guidance is recommended.
*For more information on Francine Rivers and her books, please visit www.francinerivers.com.
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