The Scarlet Thread

"When Sierra discovers her young ancestor's handcrafted quilt and reads her journal, she finds that their lives are very similar. By following her ancestor's example, she learns to surrender to God's sovereignty and unconditional love."

I should have taken the last sentence of that synopsis as a red flag, but when I had the chance to read this book after coming across it in a Little Free Library, I just couldn't pass it up because I love historical fiction, and regardless of whatever issues I have with the author's stories, her historical research and description are lovely.

I should have known. After reading Redeeming Love by the same author and being disappointed at the contrived, shoved-down-your-throat Christian message amidst people show more making shitty choices, I hoped this might be better. It was not. Apparently God just wants women to be doormats, because the husband walks all over his poor wife, uproots the family, cheats on her, etc etc etc, yet she's supposed to be in the wrong for being angry. God apparently just wants her to forgive everything he put her through. Turn the other cheek and all that shit.

GOD FUCKING DAMN THIS SHIT. HELL TO THE NO.

There are some situations and instances where sure, forgiveness can/should be asked for, and deserved/earned, but there are some situations where it is absolutely justified to be angry and withhold forgiveness, especially when the transgressor continues to make shitty choices. FGSFDS. show less

Sierra and Alex's marriage takes a downward spiral when she resents him moving their family to Los Angeles to pursue his career dreams and he resents her griping. At her lowest point, she meets a believer in Jesus who invites her to church, where she begins to repent and find hope in Christ and help in accepting her husband's attempts at reconciliation. Interspersed with this story are journal entries from Sierra's ancestor who struggled with difficult circumstances with her family, her husband, and God before eventually finding the "scarlet thread" of redemption that God weaves through our lives and throughout history. At first, I was annoyed and irritated with Sierra's selfish attitude of wanting and demanding her own way ... and then show more realizing the same attitude in myself. Ouch. Content considerations: deals with the subject of marital relations and adultery. show less

I’ve enjoyed quite a few of Francine Rivers’ books now, and as I’ve come across her works, I’ve made a point of collecting them. This is one I’ve had on the shelf for several years now, and was eager to read at some stage. I finally fit it into my reading schedule recently, a little nervous about what I might discover in its pages, but also hopeful of finding another gem.

One of my favorite parts of this story was the character development, especially in a spiritual sense. I found Sierra’s challenges and the things she had to work through and learn (especially in regard to bitterness and surrendering her wishes) quite challenging.

Unlike some of Rivers’ other books, however, I struggled to connect with the main character show more until fairly late in the book—I’m guessing I was a good 30 or 40% in before I really started liking that character. That was a bit of a disappointment. My other disappointment (and something I’ve struggled with some of Rivers’ other books, so at least it wasn’t a surprise) was the numerous times the marriage bed was alluded to or directly talked about. It was overdone for my personal preferences.

There was a lot to love in this story, though. I loved that part of this story was epistolary; it was a lot of fun to read those sections. This story also has one of the better descriptions of the Oregon Trail that I’ve read; it certainly brought to life the hopes and dangers for those who traveled at that time!

If you love character-driven stories, especially the dual-timeline kind, you’d probably end up loving this book. I was disappointed that I didn’t, but at the same time, I’m glad I had the chance to read it and meet these characters.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it. show less

I had high hopes for this book due to having enjoyed The Atonement Child and And the Shofar Blew, however, I was disappointed.

There are two stories which are meant to be running parallel and presumably woven together. But, they don't actually fit with each other and could easily be extracted from the book and told independently. The first story is about a gradually declining marriage leading to an affair and the other is told through the journal of a girl that used to live in the first couple's family home. I lost interest in the second story about halfway through the book so skipped over the remaining journal entries. I have read a number of books with two storylines and they really need to either be properly entwined so the reader show more has to read both or both as intriguing as each other. These were not.

This book was far too long. I am aware that this is a Rivers trait and actually the books that I have previously enjoyed were also long but held my interest.

The main characters were both selfish particularly the husband. The author is clearly making the point that it takes two to cause problems in a marriage and that blaming each other rather than working towards reconciliation is not the Christian response. I agree with this to a certain degree. However, I feel that she goes too far--the husband uproots his family against the wishes of his wife to pursue his selfish dreams. He forces them into a materially wealthy social group that she isn't ready for and begins spending more and more time at work, he ignores her requests to discuss things, his behaviour just gets worse and worse.....I won't ruin the storyline but I think in this case the author has unfortunately made a case for women to allow themselves to be treated like doormats. AND then to take all of the responsibility for the problems.

The Christian message was also somewhat lost. Some of the characters experience something of a conversion which seems to be about falling in love with Jesus rather than understanding the truth of the Gospel. There is no clear repentance or turning away from sin although the characters do refer to changes due to their belief in God. There is also a section about God being found through Catholicism (as well as Protestantism)--it almost reads as if we can get to God any way we like as long as we are sincere. It is not clear that the only way is through Jesus and His death on the cross.

I didn't read the part about a character suggesting that someone who had died may have been saved without knowing jesus due to being sincere which I read in another review...I would have objected to that as well.

I don't recommend this as it is so long and full of arguing back and forth. I wouldn't describe it as profitable or edifying. In a way it reminded me of the Christian movie Fireproof which I do recommend. But in both I don't think the heart issues will be as easily resolved in real life as they seem to be in fiction. The only good point the book made really was that giving up on a marriage isn't the solution and that all things can be worked through with God's help.

There is no bad language, very limited non-graphic violence and some romantic scenes which are not graphic but may make some uncomfortable. show less

Ik heb veel boeken van Francine Rivers gelezen ,maar deze viel me toch een beetje tegen. Zodra Sierra met Alex gaat verhuizen zie je Alex helemaal veranderen,ik ergerde me vaak aan hem maar ook aan Sierra dat ze dit allemaal pikte. Het verhaal uit het dagboek van Mary was erg triest maar ik had toch graag willen weten hoe dit allemaal afgelopen was. Als Sierra eenmaal haar geloof terug vind leert ze ook te vergeven, allemaal prima hoor maar ik denk dat je dan wel heel sterk in je schoenen moet staan. Het geloof speelt in dit boek een erg grote rol zeker tegen het einde van het boek, dat had van mij wel iets minder gemogen.

I believe it's always difficult to maintain two separate plotlines throughout a book and somehow link them together. Rivers manages to accomplish this - I had an equal interest in both. She presents a very realistic scenario of two marriages troubled and destructive and manages to bring the story to a close in a believeable way. I've always loved all her books but this one deserves special mention.

This was the first Francine Rivers book I ever read! I couldn’t get enough and immediately got my hands on Redeeming Love and then the Mark of the Lion trilogy. I’ve been a fan of her writing ever since!

Sierra Madrid’s perfectly happy life is turned upside down when her husband accepts his dream job and uproots their family to move to California. Her ancestor, Mary Kathryn McMurray, tells of her own troubles on the Oregon Trail in her journal that Sierra finds in her mother’s attic. Although the two women live in very different worlds, they face similar problems in their marriages and relationships with God, and ultimately must learn the same lessons of faith, humility, and trusting in God’s goodness and sovereignty.