Rescued Heart
by Angela Hunt
ISBN-13: 9780764245176
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Bethany House
Released: October 7, 2025
Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.
Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
In Ur of the Chaldeans, Ishcah is old to be a bride when she marries Abram, a man she has never met and who renames her Sarai on their wedding day. Their union, arranged since childhood, tests her as she grapples with Abram's sole devotion to an unseen God--entirely unlike the idols she has worshiped all her life. When Abram reveals that Adonai has promised to make his descendants into a great nation, Sarai chooses to trust him and follow his God. As the years pass without conceiving a child, Sarai wrestles with doubt and faith within her marriage. Her skepticism that their descendants will "outnumber the stars" grows with time. It will take nothing short of a miracle to prove Adonai's faithfulness to His promise.
My Review:
Rescued Heart is a story of Abram and Sarai. While some parts of the Bible account are used, it's largely based on the account given in the book of Jasher. The original book of Jasher was lost, and, to quote Grokipedia, "Numerous forgeries purporting to be rediscovered copies of this lost book have been written." Angela Hunt admits she doesn't know it's accurate, yet she chose to go with a version of Jasher that she found even when it conflicted with the Bible. For example, Sarah is Abram's half-sister in the Bible (Genesis 20:12: "Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother.") but is Abram's niece in the book of Jasher.
Angela decided to make Sarai Abram's niece. Staying true to the Bible account would have meant going with half-sister, but she treated the book of Jasher as having the greater accuracy. There were several places where the Bible is clear about what happened but Angela chose to use the book of Jasher instead. I was very disappointed with this.
Unfortunately, I didn't even like Sarai. She's self-centered, wanting her own way and hurting others in the process until the day she died. I expected a story of Sarai's growth in her faith and relationships, lessons learned and things like that. Nope. She started strong in her faith in Abram's God after He saved Abram from dying when thrown into a deadly-hot, fiery furnace, but she quickly fell into self-pity and lack of trust after that. She died trying to go after Abram to stop him from killing Isaac--after Abram lied about what he was doing (traveling to relatives so Isaac could learn from Shem about God) but a "prophet" told Sarah that Abram was going to kill Isaac. So not really the type of story I was looking for.
There were no sex scenes or bad language.
If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.
Posts
