The Crimson Cord by Jill Eileen Smith was a library read. It is Biblical fiction and is the first book in the Daughters of the Promised Land series. This is a fictionalized story of Rahab from the Book of Joshua in the Old Testament.

The story begins with Rahab’s husband deeply in debt to the crown and Rahab fearful of his behavior. We quickly see the terror and compassion the young Rahab has toward and for the man to whom she is married. Her story takes many twists and turns as she goes from scared wife, unwilling prostitute, protector of spies, and convert to Judaism over the course of the novel.

Rahab comes alive in this novel, she steps out of the pages of the Book of Joshua and into your heart. Her journey from pagan to convert is detailed in this novel, which funnily enough is also my one grumble with this book. I thought her faith in the God of the Jews was too sudden in the book. She mentions the power of the God of the Jews several times before she ever meets and shelters the spies of Joshua, but suddenly announces she is a believer when the spies are escaping and offer to keep her safe during the invasion to come. It was too abrupt and without depth for me in an otherwise stellar novel.

All of the characters in this novel are welcome into the pub, except for the pagans. I can only imagine the stories they could share and how awe inspiring they would be.