A Passionate Hope: Hannah's Story (Daughters of the Promised Land #4) by Jill Eileen Smith: A Book Review!

A Passionate Hope: Hannah’s Story (Daughters of the Promised Land #4)
Author: Jill Eileen Smith
Genre: Christian, Historical Fiction, Biblical Fiction
Publisher: Revell
Release Date: 2018
Pages: 370
Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis: Hannah and her husband, Elkanah, share a deep and abiding love, for each other, for their God, and for his tabernacle at Shiloh. Greatly disturbed by the corruption of the priests, they long for restoration and pray for a deliverer. But nothing changes as the years pass. Years that also reveal Hannah to be barren.

Pressured by his family to take another wife, Elkanah marries Peninnah, who quickly begins to bear children. Disgraced and taunted by her husband's new wife, Hannah turns again to prayers that seem doomed to go unanswered. Do her devotion and kindness in the face of Peninnah's cruelty count for nothing? Why does God remain silent and indifferent to her pleas?

Travel back to the dusty streets of Shiloh with an expert guide as Jill Eileen Smith brings to life a beloved story of hope, patience, and deliverance that shows that even the most broken of relationships can be restored.

My Review: A Passionate Hope tells the story of Hannah, who is the mother of Samuel. Hannah has married the love of her life, Elkanah. She believes that she will have a happy life for him and bear him a son. However, Hannah’s dreams do not come true. After years of being barren, Elkanah is pressured by his family to take another wife. Hannah is forced to watch in humiliation as the other wife bares her husband’s children while she has none. Hannah questions why God will not grant her deepest desire? Hannah embarks on a deep journey of her faith and devotion to God.

I have always been intrigued by Hannah’s story. She is one of the strongest believers in the Bible. She never once lost her faith in God. In A Passionate Hope, Mrs. Smith focuses on Hannah’s long years of suffering. The novel begins when Hannah is young and optimistic. She marries the man she loves and believes that she will soon give him children. Hannah is a very sympathetic figure. I felt her despair when she is forced to watch her husband marry another and now the other wife gives her husband what she cannot. Penniah was not a kind woman to her. She would often laugh and torment Hannah. Therefore, I empathized with Hannah’s sorrow. However, Hannah’s trials made her stronger. While she did question God, Hannah never wavered in her faith. She never gave up hope that she would bear Elkanah a son.

Overall, this novel is about faith, trials, and hope. The message of this book is to never give up. It is because of Hannah’s persistence and trust in God that she was finally granted a son. I thought all the characters were well-written. The story is richly detailed, and it was a very faithful retelling. There were some repetitive scenes in A Passionate Hope, and a few parts of the book read like a soap opera. However, Jill Eileen Smith proves why she is one of the top authors of Biblical fiction! Mrs. Smith astounds us again with another uplifting read! A Passionate Hope will thrill fans of The Red Tent, Rachel and Leah, and The Pharaoh's Daughter.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki: A Book Review

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post Author: Allison Pataki Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Ballantine Release Date: February 15, 2022 Pages: 381 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Mrs. Post, the President and First Lady are here to see you. . . . So begins another average evening for Marjorie Merriweather Post. Presidents have come and gone, but she has hosted them all. Growing up in the modest farmlands of Battle Creek, Michigan, Marjorie was inspired by a few simple rules: always think for yourself, never take success for granted, and work hard—even when deemed American royalty, even while covered in imperial diamonds. Marjorie had an insatiable drive to live and love and to give more than she got. From crawling through Moscow warehouses to rescue the Tsar’s treasures to outrunning the Nazis in London, from serving the homeless of the Great Depression to entertaining Roosevelts, Kennedys, and Hollywood’s biggest stars, Marjorie Merriweath

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn: A Book Review

The Rose Code Author: Kate Quinn Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Harper Collins Release Date: 2021 Pages: 635 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: 1940, Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire. Three very different women are recruited to the mysterious Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla has the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses – but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, working to translate decoded enemy secrets. Self-made Mab masters the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and the poverty of her East-End London upbringing. And shy local girl Beth is the outsider who trains as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts. 1947, London. Seven years after they first meet, on the eve of the royal wedding between Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, disaster threatens. Osla, Mab and Beth are estranged,

The Seven Sisters (The Seven Sisters #1) by Lucinda Riley: A Book Review

The Seven Sisters (The Seven Sisters #1) Author: Lucinda Riley Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance Publisher: Atria Release Date: 2015 Pages: 463 Source: My State Public Library Synopsis: Maia D’Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, “Atlantis”—a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva—having been told that their beloved father, who adopted them all as babies, has died. Each of them is handed a tantalizing clue to her true heritage—a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once there, she begins to put together the pieces of her story and its beginnings. Eighty years earlier in Rio’s Belle Epoque of the 1920s, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into the aristocracy. Meanwhile, architect Heitor da Silva Costa is devising plans for an enormous statue, to be called Christ the Redeemer, and will soon travel to Paris to find the right sculptor to

History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

Search This Blog