Thursday, July 7, 2011

Divine by Karen Kingsbury


Comments from Good Reads: As a spokeswoman on behalf of abused and battered women, Mary Madison seems to have no equal. Affluent and respected, she moves with ease in the corridors of power. Beneath her dignified reserve, though, lurks a secret that threatens her image and her peace. Only one great, redeeming love can save her.

Mary Madison is a strong woman who has been through so much in her life.  After discovering her love for Jesus, her goal in life was to help battered women change their lives.  She did this by taking someone, like Emma, under her wing and explaining the story of her life.  Mary's difficult life began at age 5 with a mother who was a prostitute, drug user and homeless while trying to raise a daughter.  The things that she went through were unspeakable.  Every time she got a "break" problems would arise and be worse than before.

Emma is an abused woman with two young girls.  She took off on her boyfriend Charlie and found the help of a local shelter in Washington, DC where she met Mary Madison.  As Mary begins to tell Emma her life story, Mary has Emma promise that she will stay at the shelter until she finishes her story.  As the story of Mary's life unfolds, Emma starts to see similarities in her life and situation.  God had a plan for Mary and it was to help other women life herself and Emma find Jesus and turn their lives around.

I found this book to be gripping.  As Mary's life story unfolds, you can't help but get drawn in to see what happens next or how it turns out.  I've always wondered how people who have been through such traumatic situations survive emotionally and can continue on.  Once Mary discovered her faith, everything became manageable since Jesus was by her side to help her through it.

This is the first book that I have read by Karen Kingsbury and I really enjoyed it.  I read this book a my choice for my neighborhood book club.  It was a kindle freebie a few months back and since we are trying to read mostly Christian fiction, I thought it would be a good time to try it!

Although religion is prevelent through the story, it was not preachy by any means.  If anything, I found it to be thought provoking.  It made me think about the unconditional love that Jesus has for each of us and how important we are to Him.  It also made me realize that God has a plan for us and that everything happens, good or bad, as part of that plan to make us stronger people.

1 comment:

  1. If you liked Divine, you would love, absolutely love, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.

    ReplyDelete