"The Atonement Child" by Francine Rivers [Book Review]

The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My favorite part of this book began in the later chapters when the main character finally decides whether or not to abort her child, conceived by rape. The intensity of such a decision was well written. Francine Rivers also does an excellent job of calling out individuals claiming to be "Christian" and challenging all Christians in their belief of life, death, and choices. Because I believe GOD creates life from conception, I felt that abortion, no matter the circumstances, would leave a woman with long lasting effects, but I didn't know how to put it into words. Francine does that. The reason why astounded me. On her website, http://francinerivers.com/about/faqs, she was asked to explain how she got the idea for each of her books and she described this book with her own personal testimony, "Is there complete forgiveness and restoration for a woman who has aborted her child? Does abortion have any effect on the woman and the man involved in the crisis pregnancy? Does it impact people around them? (This was my most painful and personal book because I needed to face and deal with my own abortion experience. The character of Hannah is based on my story; Evie is based on my mother’s.)" And yes, she answers each of those questions. When asked which book was the hardest to write, she explained it was this one. Her reason is obvious, "The Atonement Child was the most personal and difficult to write because I had to face my own abortion experience. Added to the considerable research I did, and women who shared their experiences with me, I went through an intensive post-traumatic stress Bible study for post-abortive women at our local pregnancy counseling center. Reliving all aspects of my abortion decision and experience was excruciating – but healing. After twenty-six years of being imprisoned by guilt and shame, I was free through the power and love of God. Though the book was the most heart-wrenching to write, it also proved to be the most life changing. I’ve received countless letters from other post-abortive women and have learned my experience is not unique. Our nation is filled with wounded men and women. The character of Hannah is based on my story, Doug is based on Rick’s, and Evie is based on my mother’s." I feel Francine's testimony is reason enough to read this book and take her seriously.  To share her own personal testimony of how abortion affected her own life took some guts. She opened all kinds of doors for criticism and judgement. Testimonies have the ability to change lives and that was obviously her goal. It was also quite obvious, by reading this book, that her experience was excruciatingly difficult. It was an all around, incredibly infuriating, devastatingly sad, read.

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P.S. As a result of this book, I decided to write a blog post all about my favorite quotes from each of the books where I've written a review. There's a lot of quality quotes that I can't wait to share! Stay tuned.