Lineage of Grace:

This collection of novellas brings insight into the lives of five women who are named in the lineage of Jesus Christ. These were ordinary women, yet God chose them to accomplish His purpose in history and bring about a greater good than they could have imagined!

The individual novellas are titled: Unveiled (Tamar), Unashamed (Rahab), Unshaken (Ruth), Unspoken (Bathsheba), and Unafraid (Mary).

Tamar’s boldness, determination, and unconditional loyalty to her family; Rahab’s and Ruth’s simple, unshakable faith in the God of Israel despite being foreigners; Bathsheba’s growth in both character and faith in the face of incredible struggles and high stakes; and Mary’s journey to understanding her son’s true purpose on this earth – they all inspire me to live as they did, trusting in God wholeheartedly and striving to do His will in everything.

Always worth a re-read!

Of the adaptations in this series (and I've still got #5 to go), I'd say that this one had the most creative license to it. It also seemed highly inaccurate on account of the passage of time, and ages of Bathsheba's children. There was Solomon, who was supposed to have been a mere boy when he became king, and yet seemed to have a lot of observant things to say well before his father's reign had ended. This confused me, because if he Bathsheba's second son, then his other full brothers would have been even younger than him - yet none seemed to be even close to childlike at the time of David's death.

In terms of an exciting story, Unspoken WAS that, and did give an interesting angle on what could have happened throughout Bathsheba's life, it just wasn't very biblical. It did have the theme of faith, though, and I felt like it had the most drama, spanned the most years, and overall just seemed longer than the others in the series, and more like a book than novella. I did find myself wanting to see what happened next, so that is why I would still recommend this book. It's tricky to write about biblical characters, particularly if information about their lives is scant, so I have to give credit to Francine Rivers for making them come alive. But if you are looking for a more biblical account, this wouldn't be it. ( )

NO OF PAGES: 214 SUB CAT I: Fiction SUB CAT II: SUB CAT III: DESCRIPTION: The compelling story of Bathsheba and David as told by award-winning author Francine Rivers. Readers will see the familiar story unfolding in a whole new light through the eyes of Bathsheba.NOTES: Purchased online from CBD. SUBTITLE: Bathsheba--One of five unlikely women who changed eternity.

This is the fourth book in the Lineage of Grace series and it tells the story of David and Bathsheba. I enjoyed the re-telling, but it's not my favorite of the series. It was hard to connect to the characters' selfish motives. I know they were real people, but this particular re-telling focuses on Bathsheba's love of David from her childhood on. I enjoyed the questions at the end and it was a wonderful reminder of the consequences we face for our actions. ( )

I really like Francine Rivers because her stories bring Biblical stories to life for me. I appreciate the way she provides details of the setting and fills in the gaps with dialogue so that I can visualize, "hear", and "feel" with the characters. One of my biggest obstacles when it comes to reading the Bible is not being able to identify with the characters and the times. Francine Rivers bridges that gap for me without embelishing too much so that we stray from the Biblical message. It is important for me that an author stays as true to the Biblical story as possible. I am not interested in turning the Bible into a soap opera like some re-telling authors do. I am looking for just enough dialogue and detail to bring the characters to life and make them memorable. Francine River's stories do that for me. ( )