Reviewed by Ashley Merrill
Enthralling in every aspect of the word, Redeeming Love, truly did redeem my love of books. I had been in a minor rut of good books to read, but this pulled me up from the dark depths and put a contented smile on my face. From page one I was hooked into the characters of this story and fell more and more in love with Sarah and Michael with every turn of the page.
Sarah, otherwise known as Angel, Amanda, Mandy, etc. was introduced to prostitution at the age of seven. She knows no other way, and learns to survive by closing her heart and her emotions to every man that comes her way. When Michael sees her walking down the street one day for her walk, he knows right then and there that she is the woman that he wants to marry and spend his life with. Weeks and months go by and Michael continues to visit her at the Pair-a-Dice brothel trying to convince her to come away and live with him on his farm. Sarah thinks he is just like any other man, someone who will promise her the world because of her physical beauty, but eventually will get sick of using her body and will discard her.
After Sarah almost gets killed, Michael makes a bold move and marries her while she is in and out of consciousness. When she finally wakes up she finds herself in his cabin on his farm. The story continues with the struggle that Michael has, trying to show her all the love that he has for her, and to show her that he is not like any man that she has ever met. Sarah struggles throughout the story with herself; she starts to feel emotions, and is not sure how to handle them, so she runs.
Francine Rivers intertwines this story with religion. Michael is a very religious man who is able to speak to god through prayer and he tries very hard to teach Sarah to trust in god. This story is filled with hope and love and would be appropriate for anyone who is willing to read a truly amazing book. I hesitantly admit that I even shed a tear after reading the last page of this book. I was at work when this happened, so I quickly wiped it away and replaced it with a very contented smile, knowing that this would be a book I would revisit again and again in the future.
I cannot
say enough, please, please take the plunge and indulge your soul by
reading
this book. You won’t be sorry and you
will feel a new sense of peace with the world and have knowledge that
you can
really find beauty and happiness in a situation that seems helpless. Francine Rivers is an extremely talented
author and I look forward to hopefully many more books from her.