One of the best books on the life of Tamar I've ever read and quite informative on the life and times of Hebrew and Canaanite people in that time period. I'm not 100% sure if she got all the details right, but I almost don't mind because of the engaging writing style and interesting characters. I do like how Francine Rivers not only makes it about Tamar and her struggle to be part of Judah's lineage, but also sheds some light on Judah's journey and maturation from abandoning Joseph in a cistern to offering to give himself up for Benjamin. It really sheds some light of his growth as a person. ( )

Loved. Great. So interesting learning about a Biblical person in the setting of that day. ( )

Lineage of Grace:

This collection of novellas brings insight into the lives of five women who are named in the lineage of Jesus Christ. These were ordinary women, yet God chose them to accomplish His purpose in history and bring about a greater good than they could have imagined!

The individual novellas are titled: Unveiled (Tamar), Unashamed (Rahab), Unshaken (Ruth), Unspoken (Bathsheba), and Unafraid (Mary).

Tamar’s boldness, determination, and unconditional loyalty to her family; Rahab’s and Ruth’s simple, unshakable faith in the God of Israel despite being foreigners; Bathsheba’s growth in both character and faith in the face of incredible struggles and high stakes; and Mary’s journey to understanding her son’s true purpose on this earth – they all inspire me to live as they did, trusting in God wholeheartedly and striving to do His will in everything.

Always worth a re-read!

My Bible study/book club, Faith And Fiction, chose Unveiled as an easy summer study. We spent 6 weeks studying the scripture guide at the end of the novella. The questions are easily accessible for all people at all stages in their faith journey. While not terribly in-depth, they did promote great conversations. I chose to do the study first, and then read the fictional account of Tamar and Judah so that I wouldn’t color my perception of the scripture. I did like Rivers’ take on Tamar and Judah. These two flawed characters were fleshed out realistically and credibly. I always have a lot of what-ifs about Biblical figures, and Unveiled helped me imagine the culture that the two were part of. It also fueled my imagination about Judah’s son Er’s wickedness. Rivers did a great job detailing all the possibilities with his personality and attitudes. Of course with Biblical fiction there is a lot of filling in the gaps, and Unveiled is no exception. But I did not find anything that was inconsistent with the Biblical record. A short and quick read (I read it in an afternoon), the novella and accompanying guide is a good place to begin exploring the women who are named in Jesus’ genealogy.

Recommended.

Audience: adults.

(I purchased this book from Amazon. All opinions expressed are mine alone.) ( )

This was an interesting read that achieved the objective to make the historical characters have more depth than the way they come across just when reading the Bible accounts for Judah and Tamar and their respective families. The only lament I have is that the book could have been longer, but I understand that that is out of the author's control - she could only write what is recounted. I get that. Despite it all, the story was very engaging, very believable, and true-to-life, reminding me of the same sort of writing by Kacy Barnett-Gramckow, whose Genesis Trilogy was the first time I'd read anything that portrayed biblical characters.

Traditionally, not much is ever said about Tamar, Judah's daughter-in-law, except to say that she was married to two of his sons, and then widowed and childless. But then, not a whole lot is mentioned about Judah, either. Francine Rivers did a good job of "fleshing" them out to create a backstory that filled in the gaps in logical fashion - both in their thoughts and motives, and in how they interacted with one another. I can't say I ever thought much about them having much of a conversation until I read this book!

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