Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers is a historical romance novel set in the 1850's Gold Rush in California. The story is taken from the book of Hosea from the Bible. Its central theme is to portray the redeeming love of God towards sinners.
Plot introduction
The story starts off in New England, 1835. Sarah, a beautiful young girl, meets her father, Alex Stafford, for the first time. Eight-year-old Sarah learns that she is the product of Stafford's adulterous affair with her mother, Mae. Mae was urged to abort the child, but refused to do so. This decision alienated her from Alex, whom she continues to love in hopes that he will leave his family and marry her. Alex refuses. Mae and Sarah then move to a shack on the docks, where Mae resumes her job of prostitution to make ends meet. Her reputation is known all over town, and little Sarah is forced to suffer the rejection of the townspeople because of it. Through this experience, Sarah learns to mask her emotions and replace them instead with a hard exterior. Within the space of a few months, Mae succumbs to a terrible illness, leaving Sarah alone with a drunken family relation known as Uncle Rab. Unsure of what to do with the small child, Rab seeks a home for the child. He finds a man that is looking for a little girl for his wealthy master. Thinking that this is Sarah's lucky break, Rab takes Sarah to the wealthy neighborhood. They are greeted at the door by a woman who urges Rab to take Sarah away and not come back. Not dissuaded, Rab insists that Sarah is perfect for this rich man. The woman admits the pair and sends them to a bedroom upstairs where they are instructed to wait until her master can see them. Duke, the master of the household, welcomes Sarah and Rab; minutes later, Rab is strangled before Sarah's eyes, his body dumped in a nearby alley. Duke had been scouring the town not for a new daughter, but a new mistress. Duke informs Sarah, or Angel, as he renames her, that there are many things he wants to teach her. He gives her her first "lesson" that very night. After about 10 years with Duke, Angel finally escapes and boards a ship bound for California. Robbed by the other passengers, she disembarks in San Francisco with nothing more than the clothes she is wearing. Angel is taken in by 'The Duchess', the owner of The Palace, a brothel in Pair-a-Dice. Employed by the Duchess, Angel is guarded constantly, her meager earnings kept from her. Her only solace is Lucky, a fellow prostitute who befriends her.
