Review: In the Field of Grace

In the Field of Grace by Tessa Afshar
My rating: 💛💛💛💛

The narrator played a big part in my enjoyment of this story. She did a great job of pulling me into the story and delivered a very entertaining story.

I've seen a lot of positive and negative reviews on this book, negative mainly because the author added a lot of fiction to Ruth and Boaz' story. This is Biblical fiction, and as such, we do expect some of the author's creative input to give a bit of a backstory to the characters, things we won't see in the Bible, but might have been applicable to that time period. For me, I see that as what it is, fiction and giving a bit more colour to the Bible's sketch of the story - everyone chooses their own colour, but the main drawing remains unchanged.

The positive - the author grabbed me with her way of bringing Biblical characters - who I sometimes forget was real and also had struggles - to life. I enjoyed how she brought Ruth and Boaz to life. From Ruth's story (in the Bible), we know she was sacrificial and unconditional in her love and care to Naomi and that still came across for me.

I enjoyed this and look forward to the next book I get to read by this author.

*I listened to this on Scribd.*

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About the book:

Love resurrected from lifeless arms happens in the arms of a loving God.

Without wealth or family, the widow Ruth left her people and followed Naomi, her beloved Hebrew mother-in-law, to rebuild Naomi’s home in Israel. Provisions gone and starvation at the door, Ruth used all that she had left — a strong back and a willing heart — to gather grain in a field, abandoned after the harvest.

Tormented by others, Ruth is shocked to find the owner of the field watching her. Talking to her. Bringing food to her and Naomi. Boaz tells himself his kindness toward Ruth is repayment for the love she has shown to his cousin Naomi. But his heart knows better.

About the author:

Tessa Afshar is an award-winning author of historical and biblical fiction. Her novel, Land of Silence, won an Inspy award, and was voted by Library Journal as one of five top Christian Fiction titles of 2016. It was also nominated for the 2016 RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Inspirational Romance. Harvest of Gold won the prestigious 2014 Christy Award in the Historical Romance category. Her book, Harvest of Rubies was a finalist for the 2013 ECPA Book Award in the fiction category. Her first novel, Pearl in the sand, won her “New Author of the Year” by the Family Fiction sponsored Reader’s Choice Awards 2011. Tessa was born in Iran and lived there for the first fourteen years of her life. She moved to England where she survived boarding school for girls and fell in love with Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, before moving to the United States permanently. Her conversion to Christianity in her twenties changed the course of her life forever. Tessa holds an MDiv from Yale University where she served as cochair of the Evangelical Fellowship at the Divinity School. She serves on the staff of one of the oldest churches in America. But that has not cured her from being addicted to chocolate.