A Lineage of Grace: Five Stories of Unlikely Women Who Changed Eternity [Paperback]

Francine Rivers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 2009

In this compilation of the five books in the best-selling Lineage of Grace series by Francine Rivers, we meet the five women whom God chose—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. Each was faced with extraordinary—even scandalous—challenges. Each took great personal risk to fulfill her calling. Each was destined to play a key role in the lineage of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.

2009 Retailer's Choice Award winner!

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; Original edition (September 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0842356320
• ISBN-13: 978-0842356329
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,504 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Religious & Inspirational > Historical

More About the Author

Francine Rivers began her literary career at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in English and journalism. From 1976 to 1985, she had a successful writing career in the general market, and her books were highly acclaimed by readers and reviewers. Although raised in a religious home, Francine did not truly encounter Christ until later in life, when she was already a wife, a mother of three, and an established romance novelist. Shortly after becoming a born-again Christian in 1986, Francine wrote "Redeeming Love" as her statement of faith. First published by Bantam Books and then rereleased by Multnomah Publishers in the mid-1990s, this retelling of the biblical story of Gomer and Hosea, set during the time of the California Gold Rush, is now considered by many to be a classic work of Christian fiction. Redeeming Love continues to be one of the Christian Booksellers Association's top-selling titles, and it has held a spot on the Christian best-seller list for nearly a decade. Since "Redeeming Love," Francine has published numerous novels with Christian themes--all best sellers--and she has continued to win both industry acclaim and reader loyalty around the globe. Her Christian novels have been awarded or nominated for numerous honors, including the RITA Award, the Christy Award, the ECPA Gold Medallion, and the Holt Medallion in Honor of Outstanding Literary Talent. In 1997, after winning her third RITA Award for inspirational fiction, Francine was inducted into the Romance Writers of America's Hall of Fame. Francine's novels have been translated into over 20 different languages, and she enjoys best-seller status in many foreign countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, and South Africa. Francine and her husband, Rick, live in northern California and enjoy time spent with their three grown children and taking every opportunity to spoil their grandchildren. Francine uses her writing to draw closer to the Lord, and she desires that through her work she might worship and praise Jesus for all He has done and is doing in her life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lineage of Grace by Francine Rivers, January 4, 2010

By 

A. Schafer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Lineage of Grace: Five Stories of Unlikely Women Who Changed Eternity (Paperback)

In Lineage of Grace we follow Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary through their lives as they are each intricately woven into the Lineage of Christ. Tamar shows the story of a woman betrayed, yet a woman determined to do what is right in the eyes of God. Rahab, a harlot, shows that no matter the sin God can still do wonderful things in each of our lives. Ruth, a love story of epic proportions...we see love given from daughter-in-law to mother-in-law, but we also see love shown from man to woman as Ruth takes her rightful place as the wife of Boaz. With Bathsheba, we again see how God can turn a sin into something that is for His glory, if only the participants are willing. And finally with Mary we get an interpretive look into the live of Jesus' mother and the struggles she went through watching her son, who she knew to be the Christ, grow up and be rejected by a world that was supposedly waiting for his arrival. We see with Mary how God can take the most illogical person to be someone that is important to His plan.

This book, Lineage of Grace, is a compilation of 5 separate books written by Francine Rivers several years ago. Each book (then called Unveiled, Unashamed, Unshaken, Unspoken, and Unafraid) included a section at the end called "Seek and Find" where the reader could take a deeper look at the Scriptures pertaining to each story. There were questions to consider and ideas to ponder in order to gain a better understanding of the story itself, but also of how the story and the Scriptures might apply to the reader's spiritual life. Thankfully, the "Seek and Find" sections are included in this new publication as well! Granted, each book is a fictional expansion of what the Bible gives to us, with Rivers using her imagination to add details. But the details added are historically accurate and do not take away from the basic story told within the Scripture. Rivers simply takes the verses from the Bible and puts the story into `real life' for the reader to gain a better understanding of what it might have been like to actually live that life.

I read this set of books when they first came out and loved them...but I gained new meaning and learned different things reading them again. They are easy to read and are the kind of book a person could read every few years and gain something new from them each time. Francine Rivers did an excellent job in her research for these books and in writing them. I look forward to reading her other series based on men of the Bible called "Sons of Encouragement."

79 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!, October 25, 2009

By 

megan (Oregon, United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Lineage of Grace: Five Stories of Unlikely Women Who Changed Eternity (Paperback)

These are amazing stories told by an incredible author. Rivers makes the Bible more understandable and interesting to women through this book. It is beautifully written and draws you to the heart of God more and more each day. The scripture and questions at the end of each "book" are great for individual devotions or Bible studies. They are great to dive deeper into the Bible for further understanding and application. This is a must-have, along with any other Francine Rivers books. My favorite--Redeeming Love.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Biblical characters come alive, October 26, 2009

By 

Lillie Ammann "author of Dream or Destiny" (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Lineage of Grace (Kindle Edition)

These books really brought this women of the Bible alive. Although they lived in very different times and faced different physical and social challenges than women of today, their spiritual and emotional lives were much like ours. My favorite was Mary's story. The mother-son relationship between her and Jesus was much like that of other loving mothers and sons, yet all the time she recognized He was the Messiah.