Redeeming Love

The biblical story of Hosea is retold in the setting of the California Gold Rush, where most women earned their living on their backs. Michael Hosea follows God's prompting and marries one of these working women, despite the hardship his choice will entail. Kate Forbes's gentle narration brings out the author's compassion for lost souls. A slight deepening of tone for male characters becomes more pronounced for the antagonists in the story. The women are marked with dignity and depth, even the ones who have not yet chosen a higher path in life. Children are less believable, suffering a slight case of squeakiness, but they appear so little in the story it makes no difference in the overall performance. R.P.L. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine