The Masterpiece by Francine Rivers ~ Book Review

Roman Velesco is a successful artist who has the world at his fingertips.  Living the high life he can have whatever he wants but avoids most relationships beyond how they can serve him at all costs.  His past keeps him a bitter loner with walls and secrets.  His art brings him money, fame and fortune but not satisfaction or joy.  When he hires a young single mother to be his new assistant he can't imagine how she will change his life.  Grace has some secrets of her own.  Taking the job for Roman was a desperate move to move beyond her self-doubt and guilt and try to make it on her own and build a life for her and her infant son.  Grace is a believer and has never tried to hide her faith, but as she starts to finally think her life is on track her faith starts to clash with Roman's lifestyle and his expectations.

First of all, the cover...it is beautiful!  I loved this book.  In fact, I think it might be my favorite from this author.  She has taken a story of two broken people who had traumatic childhoods and wove a beautiful story of  sin and it's consequences, mercy and redemption and love.  Both Grace and Roman had very traumatic childhoods and rejection that scarred them deeply.  The way they handled it as they grew up could not have been more different and it went on to reflect in their adult lives.  I loved how the author explored how childhood trauma follows you into adulthood and affects all your decisions.  The main characters really drew me and made me think about how we as adults are shaped by what might have happened to us as children.  The paths Grace and Roman chose and the reactions and feelings they had were real and raw and it was easy to cheer them on and to hope for the best for them.   I really liked the secondary characters too and loved the stories that connected them to the main characters.  The story has been criticized by some as not being biblically truthful to some events that happened within the story.  Yes, it might not have been 100% biblically accurate.  But my personal take on that is that I  like to take stories at face value and I am not necessarily reading a fiction novel to get a theological dissertation to be within the story.  As long as it doesn't overtly and purposefully cross the foundations of the Word I am ok with an author taking a few liberties in trying to get a point across.   This story just sucked me in with real characters who make mistakes, who are trying to survive their pain, their reactions were honest, raw and real.  It re-opened my eyes to the fight of good and evil over a soul and it made me re-realize the love of God and how He reaches out to us where we are at throughout our lives and in ways that we as individuals with different backgrounds and experiences can relate to even though it might not sense to others. 

And for that I gave it a 10/10