Discover a Ruth you never knew: "Redeeming Grace" by Jill Eileen Smith
about the book....
One devoted woman is about to discover the power of love
When famine visits Bethlehem, some hold out hope for rain, while Naomi and her family make a long journey to Moab in search of greener pastures. The harvest there is plentiful, and for a time it appears the Lord is blessing them. But when calamities strike, one after another, Naomi is left alone in a foreign land with only her widowed daughters-in-law for comfort.
Downhearted and destitute, Naomi is determined to return to Bethlehem alone. But her daughter-in-law Ruth refuses to leave her side. Despite the fact that she and Naomi will almost certainly live out their days in widowhood and poverty, Ruth holds out hope for a better future . . . and maybe even a second chance at love.
my review....
Ruth has always been one of my favourite women to read about in the Bible, for her courageous decision to leave her people and her gods and to embrace Naomi as her true family and Naomi's God as her God. But I have often wondered what her life must have been like, why she didn't have any children with her first husband, why she was so motivated to leave her people.
Jill Eileen Smith has explored exactly those sort of questions in her beautifully written third installment in the "Daughters of the Promised Land" series, "Redeeming Grace". She has created a complex and likeable Ruth, a character who is true to the Biblical story from which she is drawn. Likewise, Smith also succeeds at bringing Boaz to life and giving him his own story and voice such that the tale of Ruth and Boaz became an addictive novel that I found difficult to put down. Smith's characters of both Ruth and Boaz struggle through such painful experiences that any reader will be able to relate to their experience of suffering and persevering, and the questions about God that inevitably accompany such journeys. And I think the character that I most grew to appreciate is the one of Naomi, a woman who struggled mightily to cling to God in the face of one setback after another, and yet who remains faithful despite it all. By the time I ended the book, I was greatly encouraged in my own faith! As with her other novels, Smith does an excellent job at capturing the culture and traditions of the Biblical characters she writes about, and I am so thankful for the tremendous research she clearly puts into her writing as it brings these characters to life in such an authentic way.
Redeeming Grace is another winner from Smith, and readers will love discovering Ruth in a way that they never knew before. I award this story a very solid rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Jill Eileen Smith has explored exactly those sort of questions in her beautifully written third installment in the "Daughters of the Promised Land" series, "Redeeming Grace". She has created a complex and likeable Ruth, a character who is true to the Biblical story from which she is drawn. Likewise, Smith also succeeds at bringing Boaz to life and giving him his own story and voice such that the tale of Ruth and Boaz became an addictive novel that I found difficult to put down. Smith's characters of both Ruth and Boaz struggle through such painful experiences that any reader will be able to relate to their experience of suffering and persevering, and the questions about God that inevitably accompany such journeys. And I think the character that I most grew to appreciate is the one of Naomi, a woman who struggled mightily to cling to God in the face of one setback after another, and yet who remains faithful despite it all. By the time I ended the book, I was greatly encouraged in my own faith! As with her other novels, Smith does an excellent job at capturing the culture and traditions of the Biblical characters she writes about, and I am so thankful for the tremendous research she clearly puts into her writing as it brings these characters to life in such an authentic way.
Redeeming Grace is another winner from Smith, and readers will love discovering Ruth in a way that they never knew before. I award this story a very solid rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
about the author....
Jill Eileen Smith is the bestselling author of The Crimson Cord, The Wives of King David series, the Wives of the Patriarchs series, and the ebook novellas The Desert Princess and The Shepherdess. Her research into the lives of biblical women has taken her from the Bible to Israel, and she particularly enjoys learning how women lived in Old Testament times. Jill lives with her family in southeast Michigan. Learn more at www.jilleileensmith.com.
Jill Eileen Smith is the bestselling author of The Crimson Cord, The Wives of King David series, the Wives of the Patriarchs series, and the ebook novellas The Desert Princess and The Shepherdess. Her research into the lives of biblical women has taken her from the Bible to Israel, and she particularly enjoys learning how women lived in Old Testament times. Jill lives with her family in southeast Michigan. Learn more at www.jilleileensmith.com.
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