Book Review: Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers

It's not that I fancy myself an authority on good writing and what makes a good book. I just need something to write about while waiting for the more exciting times of my life (uh, hello? Can you say "marriage"?!), so why not the book I just read.

This book was suggested to me by my fiancee Emily a couple of years ago. I have a tendency to fail in reading what she suggests, however, and so it took two years and an upset fiancee to finally get me to read it. It was described to me as simply a "retelling of the story of Hosea and Gomer." If, of course, you don't know that story, then you should put down your laptop and pick up your Bible and read at least the first three chapters of Hosea. It's a beautiful tale.

But what the Bible lacks in breathtaking detail and wiz-bang writing, Francine Rivers packs in. Redeeming Love is overall an exquisite tale of, well, redeeming love. Michael, a simple farmer living in 1840's California, is told by God to fall in love with Angel. It would seem to be no hard task--she's beautiful and one of the few women out in the gold-rushed West. Problem is, she's a prostitute, hardened by a marred career and a sexually-abused past.

I recently watched the movie 27 Dresses. I couldn't enjoy the otherwise amusing movie simply because I had no compassion for the protagonist. She was a compulsive people-pleaser who eventually took out her anger in a terrible way. You would expect to feel the same way about Angel, a prostitute who refuses to be loved by the man who saved her life and is showing her true, God-pained love. She leaves Michael over and over again, usually intending to return to her life of prostitution. However, I had the uttermost pity on a girl who was so swallowed up by her past that she couldn't see hope staring her right in the face.

The book - just as Hosea 1-3 does - reminds us that no one is unworthy of forgiveness or love. No one. Michael is truly a hero for the fact that he never leaves Angel or forsakes her. Reminds me of a Savior I know who, for whatever reason, doesn't forsake me whenever I screw up.

In terms of critique, the book waxed a bit long, especially considering an epilogue that wrapped up too many loose-ends all at once, something that could have been done much more eloquently in a more tightly edited script. The book definitely does not follow a typical five-point plot structure as well, which is both good and bad for the reader. On the one hand, you're never really sure where the plot is going...but then again, you're never really sure where the plot is going.

Overall, this book needs to be read both by those who are struggling to forgive others and by those who are struggling to forgive themselves. The fact is, there is hope for all, no matter what you've done or has been done to you.

Overall 4/5