Ruth's Redemption by Marlene Banks - REVIEWED

About the Book: (from Moody Publishers)


Set in the 1800s, Ruth's Redemption, is an unusual depiction of the lives of slaves and free blacks in pre-Civil War America. Bo, was educated while a slave. He was given his freedom and now owns a farm buying slaves for the sole purpose of giving them their freedom. Bo is also a man of God and widower whose life is destined to change when he meets the proud and hard-hearted slave girl, Ruth.


Ruth has known nothing but servitude and brutality since being separated from her mother at age thirteen. Purchased and sold primarily for breeding, Ruth struggles to adjust to life outside of bondage. She wants no part of Bo's Godly devotion. Yet Bo is unlike any man she's known and her experiences with him will leave her forever changed.


A gripping slave era novel, Ruth's Redemption is a story of love, forgiveness, and redemption. Set against the backdrop of the Nat Turner Rebellion in Tidewater, Virginia, this novel shines the light of God's unconditional love in the darkness of a culture's cruel socially accepted inhumanity.


My Thoughts:
“I figure if it’s Him when things go right then it’s Him when things go wrong.” (p 192)

At the point these words are spoken in the story, Ruth, the main character, still has a pretty warped view of redemption. And well she should have if you look at the reality of her life up to that point. The lives of many other characters in the story are just as broken, tattered and torn, as Ruth, and it’s easy to see, from a human standpoint, why faith in Jesus’ death on the cross means anything when they are suffering through the brutality of slavery. But GOD….

When God gets to work in the hearts and lives of this precious woman, and her husband Bo….watch out!! Folks, I knew this book was going to be special, but I never imagined the full impact of the truth that the author would weave into every fiber of this story!! Marlene Banks understands redemption and has written a story that tells the story of all men and women – regardless of the color of their skin – and their need for redemption from the sin that enslaves us.

This story is rich and powerful, and everyone who reads the words of Ruth’s Redemption will be touched and changed. I’ll close with words Bo utters after a particularly bitter loss – words that are as true in 2012 no matter what life circumstance we face: “God has taken what life has torn apart and made it whole again.” (p. 155)

About the Author:

MARLENE BANKS lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended Westminster College in Pennsylvania and has an Associate of Theology Degree from Rhema Bible Institute in Keysville, Virginia. She is a member of Bethel Deliverance International Church pastored by Bishop Eric A. Lambert II in Wyncote, Pennsylvania.Marlene worked in nursing for over thirty years and in business as an administrative coordinator for over eight years. Her goal as a writer is to create inspiring, gripping and realistic tales with an emphasis on African American literature. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, she considers her writing a Kingdom assignment from the LORD.

ISBN: 978-0-8024-0217-2

Publish date: January, 2012Page Count:

304Dimensions: 5.25 x 8.25Format: PaperbackWeight: .68 LBS