Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

The book's synopsis from the author's website:

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.  Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside. Then she meets Michael Hosea. A man who seeks his Father’s heart in everything, Michael Hosea obeys God’s call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel’s every bitter expectation until, despite her resistance her frozen heart begins to thaw. But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband’s pursuing love, terrified of the truth she can no longer deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael Hosea does…the One who will never let her go.  A life-changing story of God’s unconditional, redemptive, all-consuming love.

I loved this book! The story was just so full of forgiveness, hope and love. I have to say that Francine Rivers gets me everytime and this one was no exception, there were rivers of tears flowing from my eyes. This is just because Ms. Rivers is a very emotional writer. Redeeming Love was written in a simple way because it really is a simple story. But it is a beautiful simplicity and there's no need for convoluted plots to get through to the readers' hearts. Beautiful Angel will do it instead with the help of her savior, Michael Hosea, but most importantly, the real Savior, God will get the job done.

From what I understand, Redeeming Love is something of a christian fiction classic that changed multitude of lives. While I'm probably too much of a cynic to attribute my life changing to any one book, I can see how this particular novel could help others make some changes in their lives. I will tell you one thing though, my faith has definitely gotten stronger while reading Redeeming Love, because it is a book with a powerful message, even if it's in a form of a fiction book.

All and all, it's a wonderful comfort read that will make you feel better when you're finished. While it's a guaranteed tear jerker (there's no way you can read it and not cry), it's a book one would reach for to meet strong characters, to know what humility is and to have some food for thought in general. Not to mention it's also an interesting read as a historical fiction in a way that we get to see what the life in California was for all those boys and men coming in search of fortune and women who lived in brothels, and family and farm life in mid 1800's.

FTC Disclosure: I bought Redeeming Love.