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what_ella_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Tessa Afshar is becoming one of my go to writers. There isn't a single book by her I haven't liked.
A Peal in the Sand is no exception.
This book focuses on Rahab, a woman from the Bible whose life I have always found intriguing.
How did a prostitute from an extremely ungodly city come to be a faithful woman who is a part of Jesus' lineage? This story explores what could have taken place to change Rahab and Salmone's lives forever.
One of my favorite thing about Tessa Afshar's books is that she always reminds her readers that her stories are works of fiction and that scripture is more accurate that her works could ever be. Since not much is written about Rahab's life before and after the events in Jericho in Joshua in the first few chapters of Joshua, Tessa Afshar did have to take a good bit of liberties to make a complete story.
I found Rahab to be an amazing character. She has great faith and is so loving, despite all she has been through. Because of her past, she does struggles with the ideas of mercy, grace, and forgiveness. It was heartbreaking to see her beat herself up over and over again. It was beautiful when she finally learned to accept God's forgiveness and the love of her husband, Salmone.
The only thing I didn't love, at first, was the romance. It seemed stereotypical and a little superficial at times. Salmone was the tough, brooding hero, who has a love-hate relationship with Rahab, the shy, but brave heroine. As they both they and their love matured, their romance bloomed into something more genuine and strong.
If you haven't read any Biblical fiction or anything by Tessa Afshar, I highly recommend you give her books a read!
My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
A Peal in the Sand is no exception.
This book focuses on Rahab, a woman from the Bible whose life I have always found intriguing.
How did a prostitute from an extremely ungodly city come to be a faithful woman who is a part of Jesus' lineage? This story explores what could have taken place to change Rahab and Salmone's lives forever.
One of my favorite thing about Tessa Afshar's books is that she always reminds her readers that her stories are works of fiction and that scripture is more accurate that her works could ever be. Since not much is written about Rahab's life before and after the events in Jericho in Joshua in the first few chapters of Joshua, Tessa Afshar did have to take a good bit of liberties to make a complete story.
I found Rahab to be an amazing character. She has great faith and is so loving, despite all she has been through. Because of her past, she does struggles with the ideas of mercy, grace, and forgiveness. It was heartbreaking to see her beat herself up over and over again. It was beautiful when she finally learned to accept God's forgiveness and the love of her husband, Salmone.
The only thing I didn't love, at first, was the romance. It seemed stereotypical and a little superficial at times. Salmone was the tough, brooding hero, who has a love-hate relationship with Rahab, the shy, but brave heroine. As they both they and their love matured, their romance bloomed into something more genuine and strong.
If you haven't read any Biblical fiction or anything by Tessa Afshar, I highly recommend you give her books a read!
My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
kristiacole's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was absolutely captivating from start to finish! I was so invested in the characters right from page 1!
e_gal's review against another edition
4.0
Solid ending and romance. The book picked up a lot after they married.
Key concepts: self-worth, forgiveness, and faith
Fave exerpts:
“She needed to remember that Salmone was not her Lord, only her husband”
“You may have been stepped on by many others, but that has not changed who and what you are: a child of God, made in His image.”
Key concepts: self-worth, forgiveness, and faith
Fave exerpts:
“She needed to remember that Salmone was not her Lord, only her husband”
“You may have been stepped on by many others, but that has not changed who and what you are: a child of God, made in His image.”
okiegirl4's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a book that really stays with you long after you read it. I would highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone!
reneesmith's review against another edition
5.0
“And Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.” (Matthew 1:5-6)
Why would God choose to give Rahab, a former Canaanite Harlot, the honor of bearing a son whose lineage could be traced to King David and then Christ? Because He is a God of forgiveness, grace, and second chances. And Pearl in the Sand, Tessa Afshar’s version of an Old Testament story, beautifully depicts this aspect of Rahab’s life.
In the first pages of the book, the author presents Rahab as a tender young girl who becomes scarred by the customs and practices of her native Canaan. She recoils in revulsion when she witnesses her baby nephew’s sacrifice. Then Rahab’s desperate father betrays her by giving her away to a rich man for enough gold to keep his family for a year. These two events drive Rahab to despair, but they also eventually drive her to seek shelter in the arms of Israel’s God.
I read this book as part of an online Christian Fiction Book Club. Those of us in the book club had a chance to think through the discussion questions included in the back of the book. I’ll answer a few of these here.
1. In chapter 3, we see Rahab being drawn to the Lord. What qualities does she perceive in God that draw her to Him? I loved how the author portrayed Rahab being drawn to the Lord. First, she hears a tale of a Hebrew spy who cried at the sight of children being sacrificed in the Canaanite temple. The following lines relate her astonished thoughts:
“Rahab turned toward Debir holding her breath. A god who cherished life? A god who cared for unnamed babies? A god who could see Canaan’s iniquity and declare them beyond redemption? Again she felt that longing, stronger than before. The irony of it didn’t escape her, the pitiful irony of a prostitute of Jericho longing for the God of the Hebrews.”
Rahab views Canaanite society through new eyes as she contrasts the cruelty of her people with the compassion of the Jewish God. When she looks at her city, she says to the God of the Hebrews, “Am I seeing what You see when you look at Canaan?” Rahab then goes on to ask God’s pardon and experiences an inexplicable peace. This whole scene came alive to me as vivid picture of repentance. For I have learned that repentance is not real in me until I see my sin the way God sees it.
2. In chapter 21, Salmone calls Rachel his Jericho. What does he mean? I also thoroughly enjoyed the scenes between Rahab and Salmone. For me, the author’s spiritual insights heightened the romance and added depth to the budding relationship. Salmone refers to Rahab as his little Jericho, because he feels God has given him the job of loving Rahab enough that she will pull down her defenses and allow him into her heart.
3. In chapter 23, Salmone tries to explain the difference between shame and true guilt. Explain this in your own words: When Rahab can’t quite understand how God (or Salmone) can pour out mercy when she expects judgment, Salmone explains:
“I suppose our sins warp our expectations. I mean that the reason God seems to act in ways that make no sense to us is that our perceptions are wrong. Our expectations are subtly twisted. We long for things that harm us and run from the things that grow and heal us. We think good is bad and bad is good. God acts rightly, but to us, it seems confusing. Or sometimes plain wrong.”
His words brought to mind some of my favorite verses, II Corinthians 7:10-11: “Godly sorrow [true guilt] brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow [shame] brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.”
True guilt is produced in our hearts by the Holy Spirit for one purpose: to bring us to repentance. I John 1:9 promises, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins, and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
So once we confess something and God forgives, it’s over—no matter what our feelings tell us.
Shame or false guilt plagues us when we doubt God’s love or fail to trust His forgiveness. We needlessly beat ourselves up again and again over the things we’ve brought to God. It’s a major victory in the story when Rahab is finally able to realize this truth.
Why would God choose to give Rahab, a former Canaanite Harlot, the honor of bearing a son whose lineage could be traced to King David and then Christ? Because He is a God of forgiveness, grace, and second chances. And Pearl in the Sand, Tessa Afshar’s version of an Old Testament story, beautifully depicts this aspect of Rahab’s life.
In the first pages of the book, the author presents Rahab as a tender young girl who becomes scarred by the customs and practices of her native Canaan. She recoils in revulsion when she witnesses her baby nephew’s sacrifice. Then Rahab’s desperate father betrays her by giving her away to a rich man for enough gold to keep his family for a year. These two events drive Rahab to despair, but they also eventually drive her to seek shelter in the arms of Israel’s God.
I read this book as part of an online Christian Fiction Book Club. Those of us in the book club had a chance to think through the discussion questions included in the back of the book. I’ll answer a few of these here.
1. In chapter 3, we see Rahab being drawn to the Lord. What qualities does she perceive in God that draw her to Him? I loved how the author portrayed Rahab being drawn to the Lord. First, she hears a tale of a Hebrew spy who cried at the sight of children being sacrificed in the Canaanite temple. The following lines relate her astonished thoughts:
“Rahab turned toward Debir holding her breath. A god who cherished life? A god who cared for unnamed babies? A god who could see Canaan’s iniquity and declare them beyond redemption? Again she felt that longing, stronger than before. The irony of it didn’t escape her, the pitiful irony of a prostitute of Jericho longing for the God of the Hebrews.”
Rahab views Canaanite society through new eyes as she contrasts the cruelty of her people with the compassion of the Jewish God. When she looks at her city, she says to the God of the Hebrews, “Am I seeing what You see when you look at Canaan?” Rahab then goes on to ask God’s pardon and experiences an inexplicable peace. This whole scene came alive to me as vivid picture of repentance. For I have learned that repentance is not real in me until I see my sin the way God sees it.
2. In chapter 21, Salmone calls Rachel his Jericho. What does he mean? I also thoroughly enjoyed the scenes between Rahab and Salmone. For me, the author’s spiritual insights heightened the romance and added depth to the budding relationship. Salmone refers to Rahab as his little Jericho, because he feels God has given him the job of loving Rahab enough that she will pull down her defenses and allow him into her heart.
3. In chapter 23, Salmone tries to explain the difference between shame and true guilt. Explain this in your own words: When Rahab can’t quite understand how God (or Salmone) can pour out mercy when she expects judgment, Salmone explains:
“I suppose our sins warp our expectations. I mean that the reason God seems to act in ways that make no sense to us is that our perceptions are wrong. Our expectations are subtly twisted. We long for things that harm us and run from the things that grow and heal us. We think good is bad and bad is good. God acts rightly, but to us, it seems confusing. Or sometimes plain wrong.”
His words brought to mind some of my favorite verses, II Corinthians 7:10-11: “Godly sorrow [true guilt] brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow [shame] brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.”
True guilt is produced in our hearts by the Holy Spirit for one purpose: to bring us to repentance. I John 1:9 promises, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins, and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
So once we confess something and God forgives, it’s over—no matter what our feelings tell us.
Shame or false guilt plagues us when we doubt God’s love or fail to trust His forgiveness. We needlessly beat ourselves up again and again over the things we’ve brought to God. It’s a major victory in the story when Rahab is finally able to realize this truth.
megobrien81's review against another edition
3.0
Tessa was a preacher at my dad’s church so I have received all of her books as Christmas presents each year they’re published. Figured it was time to begin reading them. I enjoyed this, despite my own very complicated feelings and relationship to the Bible. I like the way Tessa writes. This was easy to read and complete in a few hours.
katie_pbd's review against another edition
2.0
So for my first religious historical romance fiction novel, I think it was okay. Unfortunately, the entire book is written in a fairly dry way. There are huge time skips covered by just a paragraph. In the second half, major personal traumas are brought to light which originated during those huge time skips. Following Rahab's life for the entire novel and only seeing the deep traumas when her husband learns of them is weird and immersion-breaking for me. Also my worst gripe is that Rahab's husband's way of "healing" her trauma is inconsiderate to say the least. He is demanding, pushy, relentless, and selfish. The most immersive point to me in this book is the feeling of dread I shared with Rahab every time her husband decided to make her talk about her abusive past that brings her shame. He always brought it up without warning and essentially forced her to talk about it. I understand working through traumas and sharing burdens with loved ones, but that is NOT the way to emotionally connect. Yikes.
I did really enjoy the dedication of Rahab's faith as it grew and refined itself throughout the book. Even though I'm not a religious person, I can still appreciate her dedication and her effort to live closer to God. It helps me understand those who do believe in a deity a little better. In general, I'm not sure whether knowing the biblical stories upon which this book is based would help me with my immersion/enjoyment. I think the balance between biblical/historical story (battles, historical happenings) and personal story of the characters is decent, but I wish there was a greater depth to the author's emotional storytelling.
Because of the big time skips, I had a hard time taking stock in the main relationship. They fell in love with each other but both absolutely suck at showing it or understanding it.
I wanted to like this book, but it's not one I'd recommend.
I did really enjoy the dedication of Rahab's faith as it grew and refined itself throughout the book. Even though I'm not a religious person, I can still appreciate her dedication and her effort to live closer to God. It helps me understand those who do believe in a deity a little better. In general, I'm not sure whether knowing the biblical stories upon which this book is based would help me with my immersion/enjoyment. I think the balance between biblical/historical story (battles, historical happenings) and personal story of the characters is decent, but I wish there was a greater depth to the author's emotional storytelling.
Because of the big time skips, I had a hard time taking stock in the main relationship. They fell in love with each other but both absolutely suck at showing it or understanding it.
I wanted to like this book, but it's not one I'd recommend.
kayathebookworm's review against another edition
4.0
Well, Tessa Afshar has done it again. Another amazing, life-changing book. She always does such a wonderful job of keeping the LORD at the center of her books and making sure that there is a lesson behind everything in them. I learned so much from this book and my heart was truly touched by it. Through Rahab's story, the book teaches what it looks like to give your past mistakes to the LORD and accept His mercy and redemption, how to overcome fear by lifting our anxieties up to God (Philippians 4:6-7), how to forgive those who have deeply hurt us, how to serve others well, what true romance looks like… and so much more!!
Overall, I give this book 4.5 stars and recommend it to everyone wanting to read a beautiful biblical fiction novel.
Overall, I give this book 4.5 stars and recommend it to everyone wanting to read a beautiful biblical fiction novel.
teewilliams's review against another edition
5.0
This took me so long to finish but I’m so glad I did. This story made me cry, reconfess my faith in God, scream and beg for forgiveness that I didn’t trust God enough to forever my past.
Thats all . Read it
Thats all . Read it
protagonistspub's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0