Book Review: Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers

I had been working on this one for 2 months, since it's about 450 pages. It was my gift to Courtney to read it for her birthday.

It is Christian fiction, which is also the genre that won my book of the year award for 2007. The thing that is different is that the Ted Dekker books were filled with action, and this one was filled with emotion.

It is an allegory of the Book of Hosea, most of it taking place in California during the gold rush in the mid-1800s. I don't want to go into too much detail, because it would take away some of the surprise of the book. Basically, there is a prostitute named Angel and a farmer named Michael. Michael is close to God, and he feels God telling him that this prostitute will be his wife. Just like the Book of Hosea, she goes back into prostitution, based on some irrational fears coming out of her past. And Michael keeps taking her back and loving her until she is redeemed, spiritually, emotionally, and sexually.

Sex - That brings me into my next big deal about this book. It is really different to me to read a Christian book where the main theme of the book is sex. It wasn't approached in a shy way at all. The things that the main character, Angel, went through actually almost made me sick. And the way that husband and wife touched each other and thought about each other were special as well.

Thoughts - The inner thoughts of people were written about more than any book I've read. Instead of simply being filled with speaking between people, it described what each character was thinking. For example, something like "'He's not going to love me forever', Angel thought to herself" I especially enjoyed the parts where God was speaking to them. Those parts were in bold. Such as You are my beloved, and then it has a line where the character says something back to God. I feel that especially in my life, that is how it really works. I personally have a ton of inner thoughts, and only a few outer ones. I also feel sometimes God speaking to me. So I really appreciated that style of the book.

I enjoyed the story and the emotion. The entire work is definitely a masterpiece. It is actually very difficult for me to come up with any other post-1990 books I've read that are written as well. It is Courtney's favorite book.