Reviewing A NOBLE GROOM by Jody Hedlund

Reviewing A NOBLE GROOM by Jody Hedlund
   Besides being a great story, I enjoyed this book because of a
theme contained in the story that you do not often find in "Christian" fiction. This story, while about German immigrants to Michigan in the late 1800's which a lot of us didn't know about, struggles with typhoid fever etc, it also reveals something that "Christians" often do not want to admit or talk about.  What is that you say?  The emotional and romance side to a courtship and marriage.
    This story reveals in a considerate and non-graphical way, the issues of spousal abuse, whether verbal or physical, and describes a relationship kin to Song of Solomon and other Biblical themes.  In the author's own words, to "expect love and joy from marriage rather than mere survival...that she could find so much pleasure in the kisses and touches of a man was altogether new, but not unpleasant. Was it possible to actually desire intimacy with a man?"    These are things mostly not discussed in Christian circles, but like she states in the story, the 'heroine' was "glad her daughter could see the blazing affection between a man and a woman [parents]..."  
    She did an excellent job of showing how/when to draw the line and not fall into sin; she explains in many different ways that 'tradition' taught by different cultures is not precisely what the Bible intended.  She shows the woman's "submission" in a correct light and how the husband should also 'love' his wife.
    One of the beliefs was "women and eggs, the more you beat them, the better they get"... they were taught that true love and the hope in the 'happily ever-after' was only in fairy-tales... not real life.  She makes the reader question "why is doing the right thing sometimes the hardest" ...
   All in all, I enjoyed the book and highly recommend it. I think that young women should read it before they become involved with anyone. Sometimes Christianity puts a damper on the 'romance' and that is not what God intended for a married couple.  The difference is in 'marriage' but the attraction should be there before.  Enough said!
    I received this book free from Bethany Publishers, to review with my own opinion.  No limits. 
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