Description: Wife to a gambler who took one too many risks, Rahab finds herself sold as a slave to cover her husband's debt. Forced into prostitution by Dabir, counselor to the Syrian king, Rahab despairs of ever regaining her freedom and her self-respect. But when Israelite spies enter Jericho and come to lodge at her house, Rahab sees a glimmer of hope and the opportunity of a lifetime. In one risky moment, she takes a leap of faith, puts her trust in a God she does not know, and vows to protect the spies from the authorities. When the armies of Israel arrive weeks later, Rahab hopes they will keep their promise, but she has no idea what kind of challenges await her outside Jericho's walls--or if she will ever know the meaning of love.
My Thoughts: This is either the third or fourth novel I have read, detailing the story of Rahab. With each new telling, I start to fear that the authors will not be able to come up with a new way to tell the story. Once again, I have been proven wrong.
The Crimson Cord is the first I can remember where Rahab was previously married. It gave her a new light to have been sold out, not by her father, but by her husband. The whole ordeal with Gamal was one I had not expected but really enjoyed. As a retelling of one of Jesus' parables, I found it interesting who was cast in each part.
The second part of the book was not as good as the first in my opinion. A lot of what is said by the characters is exactly as it is in the Bible (at least in one translation). While I understand its Biblical accuracy, it made the conversations seem a bit stilted and jumpy. Since the English Bibles we read come about through translations of Hebrew into Greek and then into English, if not first Latin, I think she could have taken more liberty with the conversations (not the story itself) in order for them to flow better. Though I know not everyone would agree with me on this.
In all, The Crimson Cord is a well told story of Rahab, one I will soon add to my bookshelf of Biblical retellings.
I received this book from Revell publishing in exchange for an honest review.
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I really enjoyed this review. Have you read Tracy Groot's Flame of Resistance? It won a Christy Award and is a wonderful retelling of Rahab's story. It's set during World War II. God bless.
ReplyDeleteI have not. So far. the only Rahab retellings I have read are set in the same time period. I will have to check it out. Thank you!
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