This book follows the lives of four women who leave their homes in Columbus, Ohio, to spend a two-week mission exploration tour among South Africa's poor but capable women looking to make a better life for their families.

The four include a woman reporter with no particular faith background, a woman whose recent miscarriage was her last chance at having a family, and a widow and her stepdaughter working through the issues of their relationship along with an unplanned pregnancy.

The South African women they meet are both middle class and poor, many struggling with the complications of AIDS-related illnesses brought to them by wandering husbands.

The way these people interact and their stories unfold tells a redemptive story of God's love and His ability to impact lives through the lives of those He has touched. I loved this story. ( )

I received Beaded Hope as part of the First Reads program. Let me admit that had I known that this was classified as "Christian Fiction", I probably wouldn't have entered to win a copy. Not that there's anything wrong with Christian Fiction. It's just that I'm not a particularly religious person so I tend to shy away from anything with a religious slant to it (unless it's non-fiction or horror). Probably due to my preconceived notions of Christian fiction, Beaded Hope ended up exceeding my expectations.

I thought that Beaded Hope was a great book. There was a bit of "The Lord will help you if you believe" type of praying, but I felt that was more about the characters personal problems and a part of what they did on their day-to-day life. I didn't feel like I was being beaten over the head with the preaching so that definitely made me enjoy the book more.

I ended up liking all of the main characters. They were all extremely flawed women and I was interested in whether or not they were going to solve their problems. The supporting characters in this book were amazing! I found myself shedding tears from one of their storylines and inspired by the countless others. Some of the book was a bit predictable (mainly the end to Gabby's storyline), but it didn't dampen my enjoyment of this book or its characters (mainly Cassandra, who I found hilarious).

So, in the end, I enjoyed reading Beaded Hope. It did drag a bit in the middle, it picked right back up after that. This was a great inspiring novel about the good of the human spirit and about what comes from helping one another. It's definitely recommended. ( )

This was a truly inspiring book. I knew from the moment I picked it up, that I would have a hard time putting it down. That's just what happened too! I finished it in a few hours!
We often hear of such heartbreaking stories and wonder how people can be so good through so little, the answer is always LOVE. You learn that once again with this story of these women and their journey to South Africa. It makes you wish you had your own triumphant battle of overcoming the odds. Generally we are ordinary people. So we look up to the stories of extraordinary from little or nothing.
Kudos to the author for sharing this story, adapted from their own experiences. ( )

This book was amazingly put together. Four women, one goal, all with secrets. The suspense of that alone pulled me to the story. But once I sat down to read, I was immediately hooked from the first page. I wanted to keep on reading and reading until I got to the end to see what happened to these 4 new friends. This book has so many struggles that are dealt with, ranging from grief, to depression, to longing and hope.

The four women in this story, set out on a journey to South Africa and are immediately met with people who have even bigger problems than their own, like AIDS and HIV. Through this book, I was actually able to feel as though I was on this mission trip with these ladies, feeling what they felt and seeing what they saw. I cried, I smiled, and I prayed. But most of all, I felt God's love through this story and to know that there is hope in everything....no matter how hard life may seem.

This book has a little of something for everyone, from love, to friendship, to suspense, to God's loving grace. I highly recommend this wonderful read with a 5 star praise!

This book was provided for review by Tyndale House Publishers. ( )