Redeeming Love

Redeeming Love is a novel by Francine Rivers. Set in California during the gold rush, it tells the story of a woman named Angel. The book is based on the Biblical book Hosea, which is about a prophet commanded by God to marry a prostitute. In Redeeming Love, Michael Hosea is instead a farmer who marries Soiled Dove Angel.

Angel has been abused for years, was sold into prostitution at the age of eight, and believes she is guilty for even existing. Because of her horrific background Angel finds it impossible to trust the people around her. Through Michael's love she gradually learns to have faith in people, God, and finally herself.

The book presents Christian teaching on the love of God through the relationship of Michael and Angel.

Tropes used in Redeeming Love include:

Babies Ever After: Despite supposedly being surgically sterilized, Angel is able to have four children with Michael at the end of the novel.
Children Are Innocent
Deliberate Values Dissonance: Miriam is sixteen, but no one is concerned when she falls in love with and wants to marry Paul, a man in his twenties.
Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Mostly Averted. Although Angel is a protagonist, the psychological effects of her life, specifically being abused and sold into prostitution, are treated as significant. Angel is not happy about her life. Most of the prostitutes in the book are portrayed as very unfortunate people.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Angel leaves Michael for the final time, because she believes that when she is gone, he will eventually marry Miriam, and be happy with her.
Law of Inverse Fertility: It's revealed that Angel cannot have children.
Lie Back and Think of England: How Angel feels about sex. This causes conflict in her relationship with Michael, who believes that the emotional connection during sex is important.
Love Redeems: Played straight in that Michael's love starts the healing process that Angel goes on throughout the book, but he puts in several years of effort and it's Angel who makes the final decision about what her life will be.
Luke, You Are My Father: Angel reveals her true identity to her father after having sex with him. It's a contributing factor in his suicide.
A Man Is Not a Virgin: Played with, played straight, averted. Being a prostitute, Angel mostly runs into men who are very interested in sex. Michael, however, is a virgin when he meets Angel, a fact which surprises her.
Meaningful Name: The main characters, provided you are familiar with Biblical names. Their significance is lampshaded within the text.
- Michael Hosea: Hosea is the name of a Biblical Prophet who marries a prostitute.
- Sarah: The name of a woman from the Bible who for a long time had no home and was barren. Later, she is miraculously able to have children.
Narrative Profanity Filter: The word "cursed" are often used in place of actual swear words, but the reader is given enough information to imagine what the swears would be.... given Angel's situation.
Not So Different: One of the primary conflicts in the novel, between Paul and Angel.
Parental Abandonment: Angel's mother dies when she is eight, and prior to this her father did not acknowledge her as his daughter, because she was illegitimate.
Parental Incest: Angel's father visits her in the brothel when she is sixteen. She remembers him, but he doesn't realise that Angel is his daughter. Angel waits until the next morning to tell him.
Rape as Backstory: Angel is sold into prostitution at the age of eight.
Sex Slave: Angel was a virtual prisoner from the age of eight, until she finally escaped ten years later.
Stockholm Syndrome: Angel tells Michael that at one time, she believed that she was in love with Duke, her rapist and pimp. She subsequently confided in Duke about her parents, which Duke would eventually use against her.
Where Are They Now? Epilogue