Pearl in the Sand

 Title: Pearl in the Sand

10th Anniversary Edition

Author: Tessa Afshar

Publisher: Moody Publishing

Genre: Biblical Fiction

Synopsis :

Can a Canaanite harlot who has made her livelihood by looking desirable to men make a fitting wife for one of the leaders of Israel? Shockingly, the Bible's answer is yes.

Pearl in the Sand tells Rahab's untold story. Rahab lives in a wall; her house is built into the defensive walls of the City of Jericho. Other walls surround her as well--walls of fear, rejection, and unworthiness.

A woman with a wrecked past; a man of success, of faith...of pride. A marriage only God would conceive! Through the heartaches of a stormy relationship, Rahab and Salmone learn the true source of one another's worth and find healing in God.

My Review:

The cover of The Pearl in the Sand is beautiful, especially with the placement of the scarlet cord. I enjoyed reading this fictional account of Rahab's story. I love how the author fills in the details of what could have happened. Afshar is true to the Biblical details that the story is based on, yet adds a lot of details to make an incredible novel. While an obvious work of fiction, this book has quite a few profound moments.  It had me wondering if certain parts were from the Bible, or if they were from the author's imagination. It made me want to reread Rahab's story in the Bible, to understand better the difference between fact and fiction.

At one point in the book Joshua says, "Like Noah's flood, this part of our history is constrained to a season. This is only a short part of our story. It is meant to reach an end." While this fit the situation in the story, it also gave me hope for the current season we are in. It is constrained to a season and will only be a short part of our story, praise God!

Another  section of the story was Salmone thinking and realized that "Beneath the layers of godly obedience and faith, here still lay this unconquered chasm of self-will. He wanted to be be his own master. He wanted to bend God to his own desires." Ouch, how often do we want the same thing?

This is an incredible story of redemption, hope and healing. Readers will relate to Rahab's doubts about herself and self-worth. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves historical fiction, and stories based upon people from the Bible

I received a complementary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to give a positive review, but was happy to do so. All opinions are entirely my own.