A Passionate Hope by Jill Eileen Smith

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A PASSIONATE HOPE: Hannah's Story

Hannah's Story

This is book four in Daughters of the Promised Land series.  This is the story of Hannah, Samuel's mother.

Obviously, it is a work of fiction as we really don't have many details about Hannah's life, but I thought Jill did a nice job bringing to life Hannah's character and the circumstances that might have surrounded her life. We do know she was barren and Elkanah's other wife made life difficult for her.  Jill portrays her as a woman of kindness despite the insults Peninnah threw her way. She shows Hannah as a sad, but loving wife to Elkanah.

Jill also portrays the desperate times Israel was in with wicked priests. Obviously, she had to use her imagination once again, but I think what she portrayed very likely could have been the real story as well.

I am not always a huge fan of Biblical fiction, but I think Jill did a good job of telling the story and making it interesting and not too far-fetched. The only thing I did find a bit stretched maybe was Hannah giving birth at 54 years old. I realize that people may have had children at an older age then than what they do today, but I wouldn't have thought they lived much longer than they do now by this time in history. But I could easily be wrong.

I really liked the emphasis placed on Hannah and Elkanah's dedication to serving the Lord and wanting to follow His laws and commands. And as a mom, I cannot imagine how hard it must have been to leave Samuel at the tabernacle, especially at a time when the priesthood was so corrupt.

I enjoyed this book and would definitely read more books by Jill

I received this book from Revell and was not required to write a positive review.

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