Skip to main content

My Favorite Christian Fiction Author

For a lot of years, Francine Rivers' books have been among my favorite Christian fiction books.  I have deeply enjoyed reading them.  I have several of them on my shelf and they are among the few books that I have reread over the years.  I usually only read a book once.  Her new book, Bridge to Haven, however, is different than the others.  I am glad I didn't purchase it and instead checked it out from our local library.

The story centers on Abra, a baby found by the river by a local pastor, Zeke.  For five years, she is raised by him and his wife, Marianne, with their son, Joshua.  The book tells Abra's story of growing up.  I don't want to give away any of the plot and details in case you do read it, which makes it difficult to write this review.

My issues with this book are different than what other reviewers have said.

My first issue is with Zeke's taking Abra home.  I don't understand how it is wrong that he took her home.  This part was quite confusing to me.  His wife wanted her in their home.  She had peace about it.  Did he or didn't he?  I think he vascillated, but he acknowledges that the other family wasn't ready to have another baby to take care of right then.  How he discusses this later with Abra doesn't jive to me.  It seems to be contradictory.

My second issue is when Zeke leaves his wife's room (he is a pastor!) and sees Abra in the hall.  He said something that will scar her for life--honestly, it would scar anyone for life.  He wondered if she'd heard it, but doesn't talk to her about it.  Then, she's given to another family where she overhears several conversations about how "they just don't know what they're going to do about her".  Yet, the characters don't understand why she doesn't trust anyone... why she closes herself off... really???  They should have asked--which they never do!  As a believer (which all of these characters were), they should have asked and cared.

Another issue I had was the unrealistic portrayal of what happens when a woman who has a brutal sexual history enters a healthy relationship.  No, it is not suddenly okay.  I have had several friends in this situation and usually--it takes years to form a healthy sexual relationship with their spouse.

Lastly, I was a bit surprised by how graphic Rivers was when it cames to the sexually intimate scenes.  Though she is a "romance" writer, I have never scene her as such. She is one author I have upheld in my mind as portraying romance as a part of life, but not the center and I haven't felt like she went towards the Harlequin genre... until now.  This book is more of a romance than her previous books (and more graphic about it) and that turned me off.

I still love Rivers other books, but I don't think I'll be reading this one again.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Missing Pieces

The other day I was discussing a book with my mom and explaining to her my concern about how "blame" is cast upon the child in the story.  My mom commented about how deeply I read and consider what is written. Sometimes I wonder if I go overboard.  Am I questioning too much?  Am I overreacting? Why am I reacting this way? I come back to knowing that God wired me this way.  But, I also reflect on how God has guided my path through the maze of books I've read over the past few years and what I've learned from the books themselves and from reading them.   Recently, I read a book that troubled me.  The book I finished reading was  Guiltless Living  by Ginger Hubbard.  When I began reading it, I found myself puzzled and then disconcerted. And in the end, I cried. But, I cried for a different reason than one might suspect. I'd like to explain. I did not read Ms. Hubbard's previous book “ Don't Make Me Count to Three ”, but I knew from f...
Post a Comment
Read more

listening or rather not listening to directions...

This week has been very eye opening. I am observing and noticing what I need to learn in order to be a better homeschooling mom and teacher and what my daughter needs to learn to be a good homeschooling student. My weakness when I was a teacher in a first grade classroom was not understanding how small concepts had to be broken down--and I lost my patience very quickly. This week, in particular today, I am seeing how detailed my directions need to be. I am going to be working very consciously and deliberately on this. On the other hand, I realized that my daughter does not listen! Wowsers! In a classroom, Autumn listens very well. She is a compliant child and very influenced by peer pressure and conformity. So, she listens along with everyone else and follows directions. But, at home, it's just Autumn and maybe Sami and Mommy. Very, very different! I had forgotten that most of kindergarten in the public schools is not focused on teaching students academic and learning co...
1 comment
Read more

Listening to the Bible

The Word of Promise (Bible on CD) I have been reading the Bible for as long as I can remember. I remember being given a Good News Bible when I was in third grade. When I was 14, my great grandmother gave me a copy of the Living Bible. When I went to college, I began to read the NIV and held onto a thin paperback copy for 4 years that I wrote all over. After I graduated from college, I really wanted a nice NIV study Bible and I saved up to buy one. I have held onto it ever since. Last year, I found a tiny ESV leatherbound Bible on clearance and it is now the one I carry with me in my purse. Interestingly enough, after all these years of reading the Bible, I have never listened to it on CD. I've often considered it. I've listened to lots of teaching on CD from Ravi Zacharias, John Piper, and others, but I've never actually listened to the Word on CD. Two weeks ago, I received a copy of the Word of Promise Bible on CD. I opened it up with excitement ...
Post a Comment
Read more