I almost didn’t post a review of this book.  I finished it last week, but since we also started school last week, I’ve had very little time to blog (or read, even).  However, I really didn’t want to not review a book by an author I admire and and whose works I enjoy so much, so I’m spending a little bit of the time I had reserved for exercising to write up this brief review.  (When I still don’t lose any of my DLM weight, I’ll blame my blog instead of that blueberry muffin I just ate! )

To me, reading Her Mother’s Hope is a little bit like reading a Christian soap opera script.  I don’t know if it’s because I don’t read much in the Christian fiction genre any more, or if other people might feel this way, too.  Although I am not a fan of soap operas, that isn’t to say I didn’t like this book.  I suppose what I really mean is that a whole lot happens in this one novel–almost too much.  It’s one of those novels that spans many, many years, but it focuses on two main characters:  a Swiss woman named Marta and later, her daughter, Hildemara.  The prevailing theme of the story is the conflict and difficulty of their relationship.  Due to Marta’s own difficult childhood, she is determined to make Hildemara strong enough to withstand whatever her life might bring.   The story covers much of Marta’s life–when it begins, she is a teenager leaving her home in Switzerland; by the end of the novel, she is a older adult with adult children.  The first part of the novel is told from Marta’s perspective, while the last part is told from Hildemara’s.  

I reacted quite strongly to Marta’s treatment of Hildemara while I was reading this book.  The saving grace that prevented me from dismissing Marta as simply a very mean person (and mother, at that) is Rivers‘ use of letters to tell the story.  Marta writes to her childhood friend back in Switzerland and in these letters, Marta expresses her love for Hildemara but also her exasperation with her.  Without this insight into Marta’s heart, I’m pretty sure I would’ve really disliked Marta by the end of the novel.  Even with the letters, it is sometimes hard to perceive Marta as anything but cruel, especially because she is so much kinder to her three other children than she is to Hildemara.  I almost think Rivers overdid the meanness, but then again, Marta is a very strong-willed woman.  Without her strong will, she certainly wouldn’t have survived the trials and tribulations of her life.  By the end of the story, we do see a few chinks in her armor, mainly because she has suffered a great loss in the death of her husband.  Rivers does a good job of making Marta more likeable in the end. 

Another criticism I have of this story is that sometimes it was just a little difficult to follow.  I’m not sure if it is a lack of editing or if I was just too sleep-deprived while reading it, but I would briefly lose the narrative strand once in a while.  This was mainly due to a lack of transition to indicate the passage of time.  For example, several months (possibly even years?) might pass from one paragraph to the next, with no warning that this is going to happen.  For this reason, I do not think this is one of Rivers‘ best works in terms of writing.   

All in all, I really enjoyed this book.  Nothing Rivers writes is without the theme of redemption, but it is conspicuously absent in this story.  Of course, the story ends in something of a cliffhanger, and its sequel is due out next month.  I will definitely try to be first in line at the library for the next one!  While I don’t think Her Mother’s Hope would be the novel I would recommend first to someone unacquainted with Francine Rivers, it is an engaging story that I’m glad I read.