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I wonder why Jody Hedlund titled this book, The Preacher's Bride. I had this on my shelf for twelve years, it is signed by her, she wrote " May this book strengthen and encourage you to persevere". As I read this book, I found that the main character, Elizabeth Whitebread is a strong example of perserverance and modesty.

This book is starts May 1659 in Bedford, England. The time of Cromwell and the tremendous change from life under a monarchy. Elizabeth was a Puritan, a religious reform group that came from the Church of England, they thought that the Church of England was too similar to Catholicism, they wanted to get rid of ceremonies and practices that cannot be traced to the Bible. I have read some reviews of this book and saw that one reviewer was surprised that dancing was not permitted, that did not surprise me, I knew of the plain clothes too but I did not realize that the Puritans did not have wedding rings in the wedding ceremony, the kiss of course was not in the ceremony.

This started very slow and gradually speeded up. What really strikes me is that women really had very little choice in who they would marry, it was all up to the important men of the Puritan groups.
Of course they were not allowed to have many choices in what they could do. Elizabeth had the gift of persuasion and intelligence. Had she lived today, she would have been a lawyer. Her skills were well known among her community. Living with her family, and caring a lot for the welfare of the children of a recent widower who was poor and had little time to feed, clothe and care but not because he want to but his life was too demanding.

I admired the main characer very much but was struck by the strick limits of her life. I was very surprised by the author's reveal at the end of the book. It is very loosely based on the life of John Bunyan who wrote Pilgrim's Progress, which I have read a long time ago. The author changed the last name of John to Costin. That threw me off but then after reading it, pieces of John Costin fit John Bunyan. I would have liked the author citing the information that she built his wife's story. ( )

Anyone interested in the life of John Bunyan, author of "Pilgrim's Progress," and christian fiction in general, I recommend reading this book. It is a fictionalized story of Elizabeth Bunyan, how she met and married John, and supported his ministry. Excellent read. ( )

Somehow, I skipped the fact that this book was historical fiction. Had I realised, I would have assumed that as with most books in this genre, the setting was historical rather than the characters. There is no mention anywhere obvious that this book actually tells the true story of John Bunyan, the author of The Pilgrim's Progress and his wife, the preacher's bride. The author's note at the end of the book reveals this not so minor detail and explains which parts are true and which have been creatively adapted. I think the publisher has missed a trick here as I'm sure readers would have been more interested in this book if they had known the historical significance. I did a double take on finding this out as coincidentally, I am actually also reading Bunyan's classic book at this time!

Regardless, the book was a good read. John is called to be a preacher in England, but on losing his young wife, finds himself with the sole care of their four young children, the oldest is blind. The local Christian community rallies round to enable him to continue his calling and Elizabeth becomes his housekeeper and nanny to the children. However, John's calling to be an independent, unqualified preacher, with no state licence, results in serious persecution from those in power. He is faced with an impossible choice--give up his calling or be imprisoned and possible killed and what of his young children and the housekeeper that he has come to rely on?

The characters are well developed and the emotional struggles realistic. I thought the priorities for a man with a family and a calling to the ministry were also depicted well--the author argues from different perspectives and shows how difficult the issues can be. Ultimately, she concludes through an Elder in the story,

God would not have us use our gifts to the detriment of our families. I have heard it said 'Father's first reform your families, and then you will be fitter to reform the family of God.'

There is no bad language in this book, there are some violent scenes with some graphic detail which is border-line for me, there are romantic scenes that get a little heavy but no sexual detail is described.

I recommend this book for Christians. I would have preferred a Gospel presentation at some point, this maybe could have been done using Bunyan's writings which are referred to in the story. I'm sure the man himself would not have wanted the Gospel to be missed from any book written about his life, even one that is largely fictional. However, it is an easy and enjoyable read and you can learn some details about the Bunyan family in the process.

( )

I could hardly put this book down and was pleased to learn at the end that it was based on the life of John Bunyan. I enjoy reading historical fiction, especially if it's about a bit of history I did not know much about. I will certainly try to read more of this author's books. ( )