Redeeming Love

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Redeeming Love is a literary masterpiece, reminding us that God’s love is unconditional. I read it twenty years ago and I knew then this book would be a classic and it is.” Apparently this is a retelling of a bible story. I think this may be only the second Christian themed novel I've ever read, which means its the first one I ever finished. While it was very inspirational it refrained from being preachy. 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.

Anyway, I thought I would have more to say about Angel, but she's just as empty as Michael. She's empty in a different way in that she seems like a self-contained unit piloting her way through the novel, going whichever way she is steered by the various characters. At least she had a career of sorts so she wasn't totally empty. And I didn't mean that as a hooker pun, but once you start denying hooker puns you've already kind of lost the battle. God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Honestly, my two biggest pet peeves were that epilogue and the fact that Paul got an HEA. The epilogue annoyed me because I felt like it wasn't realistic. I get that it was intended to be a miracle, but I really did not like it. I also really did not like Paul. He ill-treats her for 95% of the book, and then at the end of the book she apologizes to him. Ooh, I saw red when that happened. I kept thinking to myself, "If this were a bodice ripper, Paul would be killed in a stampede of cows, or in a cave-in while trying to steal someone else's gold." But this was not a bodice ripper, so Paul accepts Angel's apology, condescends to give one of his own, and gets his stinking HEA (the bastard). It's a retelling and retellings are (usually) awesome. I did find the fact that Michael's last name was 'Hosea' to be pretty on the nose (along with Michael drawing direct parallels between the book of Hosea and his situation. *eye roll*). But I still enjoyed the retelling aspect. But life isn't that easy. It's really not, and perhaps Courtney Love is the one for me, but I don't suspect that she is, and therefore I won't be busting my ass to try and convince her that a Derk/Love wedding is the ultimate fulfillment of god's plan. If it were, the good news is that we could at least all come together on the fact that good is crazy and has very bad taste in Fleetwood Mac covers.Another thing I want to share about this book. It has one of the most beautiful scenes I’ve ever read. There is a part in the story, right after Angel betrays and abandons Michael (and not for the first or last time) that he takes her to an unknown destination. She is frightened that he’ll hurt her as punishment, and their journey through the dark forest to get where they were going was intense. He ultimately leads them to the crest of a mountain and he points to the moon… yes, that ball of cheese in the sky, and he holds her tightly. After resisting him for some time, she finally stops to look at the beauty around her as the hours pass, the moon descends and the sun begins to set. He doesn’t say much, but he shows her the hope held in the renewal of a new day and the absolute beauty around you if you just stop to look and listen, rather than destroy it or pretend it doesn’t exist; and he simply tells her, “This is the life I want to give you.” *tear...sob* Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. The idea of the hooker with a heart of gold is very odd to me because it makes some very unfair assumptions. First, why would we assume that someone who has sex for money does not have a good heart? Why would our default assumption be that this person is heartless and mean as opposed to having a good heart? Why is this the only profession that we hear this about? When someone says their husband works at a grocery store, they don't throw in, "but he has a heart of gold." I've never heard of a baker with a heart of gold. And flipside, if these gold-hearted hookers are such an anomoly, how come I never read stories about hookers with hearts of wet garbage, or hearts of heart meat that perform their functions adequately if a bit coldly? I’ve often wondered. Especially when I arranged a way out of the situation for you and you refused. The doctor I sent you to would have taken care of the whole mess. He would’ve gotten rid—” This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. ( April 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)

She thought she had been saved by his love for her, and in part she had been. It had cleansed her, never casting blame. But that had been only the beginning. It was loving him in return that had brought her up out of the darkness. He has no personality, nothing that sets him apart from other men other than he's on the "good" side of the line that ALL characters in this book could be categorized by. Seriously, this really is like an Atari game in that you could easily divide the characters into two camps: good guys and bad guys. In spite of its flaws, REDEEMING LOVE is a good book, and I think secular readers will be able to enjoy it too (probably more so if they can find copies of that elusive 1991 edition). I'm very glad I finally got around to reading a Francine Rivers book. She is a good writer, with a sense of characterization and pacing, and absolutely beautiful descriptions of nature. Yes, religion is a definite focal point in this book but not to the point where it's utterly preachy, either. 4/10, would read more by this author later. Her Mark of the Lion series looks especially interesting, and I'm hoping I'll be able to get a copy of that on the cheap. I love Ancient Rome.

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A powerful retelling of the story of Gomer and Hosea, Redeeming Love is a life-changing story of God’s unconditional, redemptive, all-consuming love. The theme of the story is based on the Book of Hosea from the Bible, where God told the prophet, Hosea to marry a prostitute. Sarah bit her lip at the coldness in Papa’s voice, but before she could speak, Mama touched her shoulder gently. “Darling, be a good girl and go outside and play now.” I couldn’t do it. How could you expect me to kill my unborn child? Don’t you understand? It’s a mortal sin.” 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.