Ruth’s Redemption
Posted by admin in Marlene's Books on Feb 7, 2012
This is a different kind of slave era story. Ruth has known nothing but servitude and brutality since being separated from her mother at age thirteen. Purchased and sold primarily for breeding, her heart is hardened and overcome with bitterness.
Bo was educated while a slave then given his freedom as his master’s will instructed. Now he owns a farm and buys slaves to grant them freedom. A man of God and widower, Bo’s life is characterized by an unwavering faith and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. When God instructs him to purchase Ruth, both their lives are forever changed.
Ruth has never known a man like Bo. She wants freedom from slavery, from men and from her past. She is drawn to Bo but not to his Godly devotion. Bo is unwillingly attracted to Ruth. Can their relationship and love push through the personal and cultural hardships? Does love really heal all wounds? A gripping novel, Ruth’s Redemption is a story of love, forgiveness, and redemption. Surounding the events of the Nat Turner Rebellion the light of God’s unconditional love shines into the darkness of a woman’s heart, a man’s violent mission and a culture’s cruel and socially accepted inhumanity.
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Published by LEVB/Moody Publishers
Bo Peace, a free black man in pre–Civil War Virginia, meets his future bride, Ruth, on an auction block. In her debut Christian historical novel, Banks-Benn expertly immerses readers in Ruth’s painful past as the former slave is transformed by her husband’s deep faith and love. The narrative pivots quickly through the homes of slaves, like Mara, who is jealous of Bo’s marriage, or Ephraim, who risks his life to save Mara from immoral slave catchers who threaten the uneasy stability of the free blacks living on Peace’s land. A violent confrontation seals the couple together in peace, though the rebellion of Nat Turner unwittingly provides a new start for the Peace family that leads them on a journey beyond the confines of their former lives. Banks-Benn’s writing is vivid and engaging, with some familiar tropes related to the tenuous relationship between slavery and Christianity woven into the narrative. While redemption, forgiveness, and freedom inform most of the novel, its central love story is both familiar and unforgettable. Agent: Diana Flegal. (Feb.)