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A Lineage of Grace: Five Stories of Unlikely Women Who Changed Eternity

(Lineage of Grace #1- 5)

Francine Rivers (Goodreads Author)

4.49 · Rating details · 10,946 ratings · 736 reviews

The complete biblical historical fiction compilation by the New York Times bestselling author of Redeeming Love and A Voice in the Wind.

The Bible is filled with inspiring stories of unlikely candidates God chose to change eternity. This bestselling compilation in one volume contains five novellas about such people--women in the family tree of Jesus Christ.

Tamar. Rahab. Rut ...more

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Paperback, 542 pages

Published October 1st 2009 by Tyndale House Publishers (first published 2001)

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Start your review of A Lineage of Grace: Five Stories of Unlikely Women Who Changed Eternity

Jan 24, 2012 Laura rated it it was amazing

I am a big fan of historical fiction, and historical fiction that stirs my affection for the Lord is even better. I really enjoyed these five stories. In each book I was struck by how awesome God is -- that he would use such broken, unremarkable people in such amazing ways. A prostitute, a foreigner, an adulteress, a peasant -- all used by God, ultimately leading to the birth of the son of the God of the Universe.

The stories themselves are also enjoyable and quick reading. I am familiar with eac ...more

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Mar 05, 2011 Meredith White rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Overall, this book was a terrific read, and it was difficult for me to put it down, because it was easy, intriguing and engaging. I appreciated the addition of the Bible study incorporated at the end of each novella, even though I did not engage myself in them. I was more interested in reading the book rather than lengthen the time by engaging in the Bible study at this time.

Particularly, I am looking for leadership principles and this gave five women, each of historic and Biblical validity and ...more

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Jul 04, 2019 Adrienne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: christian-theme, historical-fiction, all-time-favourites, biblical

A magnificent book. Francine Rivers has told the story of five biblical women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary. Rivers has fleshed out of their stories to guessimate their feelings, hopes, fears and eventual understanding of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings. Unputdownable.

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Jul 25, 2011 Kathy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

These 5 woman in the linage of Christ are simply amazing ladies! Francine Rivers tells their stories in such a heart warming way. You laugh, cry, get angry and truly feel for each of them. I have read their stories several times over the years in the Bible account but never really felt that I understood them like I do now! Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary. It's no wonder they are listed in the blood line of Christ. Francine follows the Biblical account but has researched the historical asp ...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Natalie Weber rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

A Lineage of Grace profiles the lives of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary with imaginative and fictional stories created by the author. Sometimes the accounts seem overly romanticized and probably more true to modern western thinking than historic Jewish culture. It is helpful, though, to remember that these biblical women were real people. It’s also a good reminder that God uses the humble, lowly, sinful ones among us to be part of His overarching plan of redemption.

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Feb 12, 2013 Adrienna rated it really liked it

Shelves: adrienna-reads, borrowed-book, biblical-fiction

This is all five stories via five women and how they find the grace of the Lord including the lineage of Jesus Christ. I believe this is the first time I read this author and loving it so far!

Unveiled: Tamar's story of being unloved but not forgotten. It was believed that she had a curse on her husbands, or the first two line of Hebrew men since it was there custom on both sides (Canaanite and Hebrew Jew) to marry next male child in line if your first husband dies. She had to dress and become a This is all five stories via five women and how they find the grace of the Lord including the lineage of Jesus Christ. I believe this is the first time I read this author and loving it so far!

Unveiled: Tamar's story of being unloved but not forgotten. It was believed that she had a curse on her husbands, or the first two line of Hebrew men since it was there custom on both sides (Canaanite and Hebrew Jew) to marry next male child in line if your first husband dies. She had to dress and become a harlot to get what was rightfully hers; to carry the seed of her husband. It showed disobedience can be life-threatening, but she held on to the promise regardless of the lie Judah told her in the fear of losing his youngest son after the first two died. She made it happen under life-threatening circumstances because when a woman is accused of adultery, this leads to her very death by family members (and others). I've always liked this Bible story but she crafted and weaved a well-needed and written story. 4.75 stars.

Unashamed: Rahab's story of believing a god that demonstrated its power: One and True God. She risked her life by helping two Israelites who were spies to see how they can take what was rightfully there's--seize it at all costs. I love the message of the "scarlet cord" which is the scarlet curtain hanging to signify to pass her home and all those inside like the lamb's blood across the doorposts in Egypt during the worst plague. 3 stars.

Unshaken: Ruth's story and her change of heart after losing her husband. She was encouraged to go back to her mother's land and have a fresh start to remarry since she was young. Her sister-in-law, lost her husband a year prior and stayed around until all their husband's died and Naomi would go back to her homeland. She left to go back to her former homeland and gods, but Ruth was determined and adamant about going with her mother-in-law, Naomi. Naomi warned her about their customs and religion which they were forbidden to worship any other god, Ruth agreed that she'd worship her god; also forewarned about the four deaths of stoning, burning, strangling, and slaying with a sword but this didn't easily scare Ruth off. She continued to follow. Overall, most single Christians always refer to this story; finding their Boaz. "A good wife is more precious than rubies." This story was heart-felt and could imagine being in Ruth's shoes; the writer not only written a great story but evokes emotion and seeing Ruth through your own eyes. 4 stars.

Unspoken: Bathsheba's story starts off with an eight year old Bathsheba having a crush and dream of marrying David someday. At the time of his visit, she sat on her grandfather's lap and admired David like the others, but she believed and knew someday she would be his wife regardless of his three wives already, also fighting a war against King Saul and his armies at the time. (For me, this opening was hard for me to believe she was only a child dreaming of marrying the soon-to-be king.) Later, she does marry Uriah and get into the part where David watched her on the roof bathing, to summoning her to his palace to make love to her. The author carefully wrote these parts and only certain parts gripped at my heart but oddly felt no pity for Bathsheba for committing adultery even though her husband was away at war most of the time and didn't want to lay down with her when he had the chance. You do learn a valuable lesson in this story that deals with not only adultery, but murder and losing their son after all this scandal. "When you grow up, you will understand the wisdom of worshiping God and not man." 2.75/3 stars.

Unafraid: Mary was touched by the Holy Spirit and heard the angel speak to her that she would be with child. She also was attacked by a chorus of dark voices that tried to discouraged her. This was a plus to the story since it would seem that the enemy would speak the opposite to her while the angel was telling her that she would be with child, Jesus. This story shared that she had other children after Jesus, at least several, and how she took the death of her son. Ultimately, she learned that she couldn't view him as her son any longer after his death and sacrifice on the cross, that he was her Savior and Lord. 3 stars.

Out of every one of these women in the lineage of grace series, each woman carried the promise seed and saw the importance of worshiping the one and true God.

Oddly, my least favorite book was Unspoken (Bathsheba's story) which I thought would have been the one of best stories of the series. For some reason, these was something missing and didn't seem consistent to me as far as what I've learned about this woman as a biblical figure.

However, I loved the first story with Tamar entitled Unveiled(which I gotten even more clarity than I already knew about her story from the movie Joseph, and read on it in the past with one of the books that tells the stories of the women in the Bible.) The other favorite was Ruth's story, Unshaken, which I shared briefly on my DYRP Midnight Hour program recently on unconditional (agape) love. Rahab's story, got more insight since I rarely read or heard this one taught before but was a mediocre read.

Adrienna Turner
Author of "The Day Begins with Christ"
www.adriennaturner.webs.com ...more

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Jan 21, 2020 Sarah Marie added it

Shelves: to-review, books-i-own

Unveiled- the story of Tamar and Judah was told in a different way, but was immersed in historical context and Biblical truth. 5 stars
Unashamed- the story of Rahab and Salmon (the spy who goes to Canaan). This story was suspenseful and founded on hope and faith. I loved the intensity and Rahab's character. 5 stars
Unshaken- the story of Ruth and Boaz (as well as Naomi). The only book based off of an entire book in the Bible instead of a chapter or passages. This story is well-known and I enjoyed ...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Rachel rated it liked it · review of another edition

This book is a mixture of 5 different women's stories from the Bible. I think the biggest obstacle for any writer tackling the Bible is turning it into somewhat of a fiction story while still keeping the original message in tact. I loved the first two stories immensely (Tamar and Rahab). Not a lot of information is in the Old Testament about the two women and the way Francine wove in historical information and their faith really inspired me. Ruth was decent, but by Bathsheba, I was losing intere ...more

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Jan 24, 2011 Hallie rated it it was amazing

Loved this book! The story of Mary (Unafraid) was especially moving to read right before Christmas!

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Sep 23, 2018 Rissa rated it really liked it

We follow 5 empowering females that changed the biblical world and it was beautiful.
It was more of a retelling with a fictional aspect but she alwaysdoes an amazing job.

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Oct 17, 2016 midnightfaerie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: religious

Beautifully written and easy to comprehend, this book gives the stories of five prominent women of the bible and their struggles. Rivers does an excellent job of putting biblical allegory in laymen's terms and even includes studies at the end of each story. I highly recommend this book. The only reason it didn't receive 5 stars is because the study questions were not as thought provoking as they could have been. I suppose I was looking for a study that was a little more atypical, however, the qu ...more

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Oct 01, 2020 Lucy Fifield rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I got this book for my birthday- and adored it! Francine Rivers went through stories of different women throughout the lineage of David and Jesus in the bible and dramatized their stories. We heard the artist's interpretation of the lives of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and, of course, Mary. While I think that some things were a little off from my personal interpretations, I still loved this book. I especially appreciated the questions and verses provided in a study guide format after each cha ...more

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Apr 15, 2020 Micaela Rojas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Oh my goodness. I absolutely loved this book! This has got to be one of my favorite books I've ever read. Five stories of women in the lineage of Jesus: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary. It adds color, details and life and sparked my imagination to familiar Bible stories. I couldn't put it down. Highly recommend! ...more

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Jan 18, 2020 Saralee Amason rated it liked it · review of another edition

Some of the stories were really helpful in understanding the depth and seriousness of the stories of these women. But parts were not as biblically true as I wished. Example; the story of Ruth there are certain details that were not aligned with the details given in the Bible and I just couldn’t really get past that. The story of Rahab and Mary was fantastic and even brought me to tears a points

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Apr 25, 2019 Sheila Dailie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-novel

I was well into the fourth novella before I realized how Francine Rivers had woven all of these books together. One of the things I really appreciate about her writing is the way she intertwines Scripture into the stories, not word for word, but enough that I could find the verses if I looked a minute or two.

From now on, the "rest of the story" gaps that Francine has filled in will help me understand these women of the Bible a little better than ever before.

If you love to learn about the women o ...more

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Jul 27, 2010 Caylene rated it liked it · review of another edition

Francine Rivers is the only Christian fiction author I can stand to read. She develops plots and characters in an enchanting way. This collection of stories is particularly wonderful because it is Rivers' interpretation of the lives of five women who made up the lineage of Christ. Rivers reconstructs what their lives must have been like in biblical times and the struggles they overcame to bring a royal Messiah into the world. ...more

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Oct 13, 2010 Joan rated it it was amazing

I am just about done with this book.... and I LOVED it! (love it...since I am still in the midst of the last story about Mary). The first story just kind of....ended. However as you read the following stories, they are much more in depth and very well written. Although it is historical fiction...I understand so much more about these women and why they may have made the decisions they made. Very well written, very intriguing. And that cover! Beautiful!!!

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Jul 24, 2018 Megan Lewis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

What a book. I feel driven to God’s word as I read this book. Yes, it is only one author’s interpretation of scripture BUT there is so much truth in it too that the stories have such meaningful life. The way that the biblical tales are retold brings new animation and it makes my mind consider what it was actually like to be in Biblical times and in the shoes of these women.

Beautifully written.

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Jun 29, 2013 Kristi Kunselman rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Amazing, amazing stories featuring women of the Bible. This brings stories to life!

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May 11, 2020 Beth rated it liked it · review of another edition

This book includes five women in the lineage of Christ in fictional accounts by the author. This is the second book I have read by this author, the first was “Redeeming Love.” The author is highly esteemed with reviewers as a Christian writer. Here are my thoughts on this reading:

Pros: I was glad to read again about these important women; Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary and their faith and trust in God during difficult circumstances. Especially noteworthy was that three of these women wer This book includes five women in the lineage of Christ in fictional accounts by the author. This is the second book I have read by this author, the first was “Redeeming Love.” The author is highly esteemed with reviewers as a Christian writer. Here are my thoughts on this reading:

Pros: I was glad to read again about these important women; Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary and their faith and trust in God during difficult circumstances. Especially noteworthy was that three of these women were Gentiles and yet became part of Christ’s lineage through the family of Judah. A great reminder that God sees into the real hearts of his believers. The author did a good job providing a look at the cultural lives of the main characters which helped to bring the stories to life. Since I don’t read Christian fiction very often, I do find it strange to read biblical stories that are not necessarily true but do give a sense of the time period and what could have happened.

Cons: The author tends to write in what I find to be an overly dramatic style. I find the use of emotion in the book overdone. The characters were often tearful, crying, wailing or sobbing. It really got to be too much and took my focus away from other things in the stories. The author writers in a repetitive style - conversations, thoughts, ideas, concepts are frequently repeated making the book over long in my opinion. I was very disappointed with Bathsheba’s story. Although King David ordered that she be brought to the palace, she was made out to be the person at fault, with everyone despising her. Her constant self demeaning was also over the top. David, although certainly in the wrong at times was made out to be weak and wishy-washy, not the powerful, confident ruler that I find him to be in the Bible.

To sum up, the writing style of Ms. Rivers does not really appeal to me. I had the same concerns with her book “Redeeming Love” due to the over dramatics, constant repetition and hence too many pages long. I don’t plan to read anything else by this author but did appreciate the opportunity to read two of her books. ...more

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Oct 22, 2019 Cassie Durrance rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I loved this book! Francine Rivers really brought these stories to life for me. She follows the scripture closely, but fills in the gaps with her own estimation of conversations, feelings and general life at that time. Her vivid descriptions of the time really put the scriptures into the proper context for me. I was really able to connect with these women from the Bible. I could feel their struggles and emotions deep in my soul. This book just left me so awestruck at what an awesome God we serve ...more

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May 23, 2017 Nick S. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: the-very-best, biblical-fiction

I can't even explain the spiritual effect that book had on me. Yes, it was just a book full of old, some well known, others not as familiar Bible stories of women as perceived by one author. But if anything is clear about this book it's that God used it in my life. May God bless every person who uses there talents for the good of His Kingdom. I highly recommend this book, as well as the author, to anyone who enjoys reading. ...more

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Dec 18, 2018 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It was an enjoyable read - definitely brought out some aspects of the Bible stories I hadn't thought of before and helped me see even more how incredible it is that God writes each of our stories. Also, the study guides for each story were comprehensive and thought-provoking - they'd be perfect for small groups or books clubs. ...more

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Jan 29, 2019 D'Linda rated it liked it · review of another edition

The stories were slow in spots and I felt like she may have embellished a little to much in other spots. It was difficult to read it side by side with the Bible story because it was easy to confuse the two.

Overall fun to get more of the feel for what the women's live could have been like. It was worth it. ...more

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Sep 21, 2019 Jas rated it it was amazing

A Lineage of Grace, in my humble opinion, is a must read. Francine Rivers does a phenomenal job coming up with back stories for each woman essential to the coming of JESUS. She takes you through the stories of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary and helped, in my opinion, to understand what went on in those times in clearer writing. A 10/10 must read.

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Jul 23, 2020 Robin rated it really liked it

Such redemption and grace! Each story has grace, mercy and love woven throughout the pages. You’ll laugh, cry and smile as you read this book. Definitely a reminder of the beauty God can bring when we give him our ashes (pain and hurt) in exchange for his beautiful grace and mercy.

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Apr 15, 2017 Michelle rated it it was amazing

Great book. Loved how the author made their stories relatable and personable while staying true to the Bible's account. ...more

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Sep 21, 2018 Ruth Llandeg rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Was given this as a gift...wasn't sure I would like it but lived it...those old bible stories with a female twist...excellant.... ...more

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Jul 13, 2020 Sabrina rated it really liked it

3.75 stars. I just did not like Bathsheba’s story, but the rest were pretty good.

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Nov 10, 2020 Erin Powe rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

She did a wonderful job with this. Amazed at God's strange, gracious and redeeming love/choices in the crafting His family line, the family line of Jesus! ...more

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
DSPC Book Group: February Book	14	5	Feb 22, 2016 11:59AM
Triple B: 5th story/Mary	6	5	Aug 04, 2013 06:47AM
Triple B: 4th story/Bathsheba	1	5	Jul 19, 2013 08:44PM
Triple B: 3rd story/Ruth	1	4	Jul 12, 2013 08:12PM
Triple B: 2nd story/Rahab	1	4	Jun 27, 2013 08:30PM
Triple B: 1st story/Tamar	3	7	Jun 24, 2013 07:09PM

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About Francine Rivers

Francine Rivers

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New York Times bestselling author Francine Rivers continues to win both industry acclaim and reader loyalty around the globe. Her numerous bestsellers include Redeeming Love, A Voice in the Wind, and Bridge to Haven, and her work has been translated into more than thirty different languages. She is a member of Romance Writers of America's coveted Hall of Fame as well as a recipient of the Lifetime ...more

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Lineage of Grace (5 books)

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An Echo in the Darkness (Mark of the Lion, #2)

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Quotes from A Lineage of Grace

“I think about what I've lost instead of thinking about what I have.” — 2 likes

“who’d gazed at David with adoring eyes and dreamed dreams about him. David could have anyone he wanted! Even before he was king, women were falling in love with him. She was stricken with regret and fear as the days passed. If only she had” — 1 likes

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