Bridge to Haven

I only made it a third of the way through this book. I stopped reading due to the sexual content--an extremely detailed bedroom scene which was effectively a rape as the victim had expressed that she didn't want to participate.

I have read some great books by Rivers and others that I really didn't like recently. This was probably the worst in terms of the graphic detail and I don't understand really why she included it. She managed to do a great job in The Atonement Child, which also has a rape scene, of dealing with the matter sensitively whilst still telling the story and without the graphic detail. But unfortunately Bridge to Haven is a definite fail.

I also was a little uncomfortable with an "innocent" romance developing between two show more of the main characters because although they were not biologically related, they had grown up in the same household and must've known each other as brother and sister from a young age. The scenes where the male party begins to experience lustful feelings towards the girl were a little weird given the original nature of their relationship. Also, the descriptions of them were again quite graphic.

I can't comment on the Hollywood storyline as I didn't read that far but others reviews state that it involves strip clubs and the like. If that is the case, then judging by the graphic details that I have already endured, I'm glad I stopped reading when I did.

I don't recommend this book due to the graphic sexual content. show less

Rivers crafts a beautiful story of infatuation and rebellion, of love and loss, and of grace and redemption. Bridge to Haven gives us a glimpse into Hollywood and it's dark side. I was always invested in the story and rooting for the characters. However, Bridge to Haven contains quite a bit of mature content, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone under 16. I know that Francine Rivers is controversial in the Christian community for her sexual and mature content, and I wouldn't disagree with the controversy. I'm still trying to figure out where I stand on this. If you set that issue aside, Rivers is a truly brilliant author who writes compelling and realistic stories.

Abra's life has been a struggle since the day she was born. Abandoned by her birth mother under a bridge, Abra's life was saved by Pastor Zeke. Pastor Zeke and his wife adopted Abra and things went well for a while. But the Pastor Zeke's wife - who had been in failing health already when they adopted Abra - dies and Abra is left full of grief and guilt. Did the strain of caring for her help cause her adoptive mother's death? Then Pastor Zeke decides that he cannot give the time needed to care for Abra on his own, and sends her to live with another family. You can guess she is going to have issues after that, and indeed she runs off to the Hollywood area with a man who entices her when she is a teenager. Try as they might, the people who show more love her from back home can't track her down for a while. It isn't until she is discovered by a talent agent and turns up on the big screen that the realize what has happened to her. Will Abra ever return to them?
This was a good examination of the factors that might cause someone to become entrapped in an abusive relationship, as Abra does with the men who are only after her for her beauty and talent. There was a nice contrast as the people who truly loved her for who she was were eventually able to break through to her and help her see that she was already loved (by them as well as by God) and did need to go looking for it elsewhere. Definitely work the read, it's an engaging and eye-opening story. show less

Francine Rivers’s books are some of my book club’s favorite all-time reads. When asked what book we liked the most in our 11 years of meeting, we overwhelmingly say Redeeming Love. Now we will probably have to declare Bridge to Haven to be our second favorite. All who read Rivers’ newest novel loved it.

Abra Freeman was found as an abandoned newborn under the bridge to the town of Haven. Loved from the beginning, she still struggled with feelings of unworthiness and abandonment. A child that tried desperately to please became a rebellious teenager and ultimately a runaway set on a course to become somebody. But what Abra, now Lena Scott, finds is not love or fame or fortune, but an emptiness that has her running away from who she show more has become.

Bridge to Haven is an excellent choice for a book club. We found a lot to discuss — great characters, the setting of the Golden Age of Hollywood and themes of unconditional love, the value of life and God’s forgiveness. We found many parallels in Abra’s story with the Prodigal Son of the Bible, as well as the mistakes people make in general. The novel was also deemed unputdownable even though at times it was a difficult read. I first thought the book was a bit predictable, but soon came to the conclusion that the choices that Abra made were predictable because of how often people in real life make the same choices. God must find us very predictable in our sin!

Another winner from Francine Rivers, my book club highly recommends Bridge to Haven.

Highly Recommended. show less

In het Nederlands gelezen: Verdwaalde ster

Wat heeft ze toch heerlijke boeken,boeken waar je helemaal in verdwijnt.Ook dit boek grijpt je weer vanaf het begin,Je ziet Abra als klein meisje opgroeien en leeft dan al mee met haar gevoelens sinds ze onder de brug is achter gelaten.Ook de wereld van het artiest zijn is erg mooi beschreven en ik heb toch wel even moeten grinniken toen ik las over beroemdheden zoals Marilyn Monroe en Elvis,ik moest toch wel even aan de Bavaria reclame denken.De titel verdwaalde ster vind ik erg goed gekozen en ook de kaft vind ik erg mooi .Ik hoop dat ze nog lang blijft schrijven want ze hoort toch wel tot mijn favorieten schrijfsters,al moet ik zeggen dat Leota’s tuin voor mij het beste boek blijft tot nu toe.

Unlike most Francine Rivers books I've read, I didn't really like this one and found it difficult to finish. I think my mistake may have been listening to it in audiobook format. I really did not like the narrator--to elderly sounding and not great at inflecting dialogue. The book's message was good overall, but I was too distracted by Abra's overall foolishness and Joshua's unbelievable perfection to really connect to the deeper message. Also, I found it realllllly easy to predict what was going to happen next in the story. There was little mystery, and the action moved so slowly. Abra did this, Abra did that. Joshua did this, Joshua did that. It just wasn't at all engaging. This story had so much potential for a really compelling plot show more -- but it fell completely short. Disappointing! show less

A story of a young woman’s search for love and belonging in 1950s Hollywood, inspired by a passage from the Bible in Ezekiel 16.

Pastor Zeke Freeman finds Abra abandoned as a newborn under the bridge leading into the small town of Haven. He loves her instantly, but after his wife’s death, he is unable to continue caring for her and must give her into the hands of a different family who happily adopt her. Unable to understand why the only father she’s ever known is giving her away, Abra is left feeling rejected and unloved. As a teenager, that hole in her heart leaves her vulnerable to the attentions of the bad boy who rolls into town, whisking Abra away in the middle of the night toward the life she thought she wanted.

Chasing show more dreams of fame and adoration, of being somebody, Abra struggles to reinvent herself into someone the world will notice. Meanwhile, her Father is calling out to her to return home to the abundant love that has always been hers… show less