Description: A Timeless, Beautiful Allegory of the Biblical Love Story of Ruth and Boaz
The Great Rebellion of 1857 was a remarkably bloody business. At a time when Britain’s imperial influence in India was sparking brutal clashes on both sides, no one could have expected Rena, an Indian woman, to marry a British officer—nor do they understand her decision to follow her mother-in-law to England after her husband’s tragic death.
Once the two widows are in Abbotsville, the stern yet compassionate Lord Barric attempts to help them despite his better judgment. Soon he is torn between the demands of reputation and his increasing desire to capture Rena’s heart for his own.
My Thoughts: I love Biblical fiction and am often interested in historical retellings of these stories. And the premise for this book intrigued me. Ruth as an Indian woman coming to England after the death of her British husband? Definitely a story that appealed to me.
As a historical novel, I thought this was good. The treatment of Rena and her mother-in-law was believable, and I enjoyed learning about how Rena and her first husband met and found their way as a mixed couple. However, I was not as impressed with this story as a retelling of the Biblical story of Ruth.
This book sticks to all of the "plot points" of the original book of Ruth, but it changes the motivation for most of the decisions the characters make. To some extent, this was to be expected. The culture of England during this story was vastly different than that of ancient Israel. However, this meant that some of the events of the Biblical story did not fit as well into this narrative. Also, Barric's character was vastly different from that of the Biblical Boaz in a way that made him less likeable in comparison.
I think this book would have been better had it diverged farther from the book of Ruth, with Ruth's story being the inspiration for the narrative rather than the plot. There are things which were important to the story and culture of the book of Ruth which made no difference in the story of Rena. As such, I liked this book, but not as much as I had felt that I could have with a few changes.
I have provided an honest review after having received an ecopy through Netgalley.
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