Redeeming Love

by Francine Rivers

Redeeming love is a powerful retelling of the Biblical story of Hosea set within the period of the Gold Rush of 1850s California. As well as performing the function of a heartbreaking romance this book leaves you overwhelmed with the unequivocal love of God.

Child of Darkness

The story follows the life of a young girl, Sarah, sold in to prostitution by her uncle after being abandoned by her father and left by her mother. After years of being raised in a brothel, the once innocent child develops into a damaged woman known as Angel; desperate to escape the life of abuse and betrayal she has known. After successfully escaping to California she finds herself unable to do anything other than that which she had been accustomed and falls back into the same life under a new master. Her own attempts at changing her life had failed and she was left despondent, with no hope of release.

It is from this hopeless and in many ways horrific start that we are introduced to the good-natured Christian farmer Michael Hosea. Whilst in town to sell his wares, he observes Angel from afar whilst she is walking down the street, and God tells him that this is the woman he wants him to marry. Although he did not understand God’s plan and despite the resistance he encountered from Angel who held no belief in God or in the concept of a sincere, honest man, he manages to rescue her after she was nearly beaten to death, marries her and nurses her back to health.

As Angel begins to discover that Michael is not like any other man she has known she finds herself torn inside, battling new feelings she didn’t believe possible. Yet she is unable to believe that Michael can truly love such an unworthy person and is therefore unable to open her heart to him or share his belief in God and so she runs. It is not until she finally accepts the existence of God and listens to his guidance that she can learn to love and be loved.

How the book came to be written

Francine says she and her husband held Bible Studies in their home which were taken by their pastor. When they studied the Book of Hosea it moved her profoundly and she knew this was the love story the Lord wanted her to write.

Written shortly after her conversion this book is a statement of her faith, and as such there is a rawness and a fresh fascination with the love and faithfulness of God. Redeeming Love is a gripping read and leaves one feeling truly overwhelmed with God’s constant and unconditional love for us.

Redeeming Love continues to be one of the top selling titles of the Christian Booksellers Association