The Atonement Child
by Francine Rivers
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Book Summary Information
Author: Francine RiversEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-03-01
ISBN: 084230052X
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780842300520
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of The Atonement Child
Book Review: More preachy than enlightening
Summary: 2 Stars
This review is for those who are openminded enough to consider an opinion opposite to Rivers'. If you adore the book and are convinced Rivers is totally right and abortion is never justified even for the most desperate woman, I suggest you skip this.
In this book, Dynah is a young woman who's brutally raped one night on her way home from work. The rape, however, is not the main focus of the book; her decision about whether to get an abortion once she finds out she's pregnant is. In fact, the rape itself, which I'm glad that many before me have pointed out, is pretty much brushed aside as soon as Dynah finds out she's pregnant. One of River's main faults was devoting the book too much to her own political views, which are clearly anti-abortion. In fact, she seems in such a hurry to get to the abortion issue, she doesn't even get some of her facts right; for instance, she gives Dynah a male doctor for the rape exam and describes the exam itself as really painful. If she had really researched this issue, she would have found that hospitals always provide female doctors and nurses for female rape victims and the exams are as painless as possible so the patients will not have flashbacks. To her credit, she does focus on many of the issues Dynah faces with friends, family, and a love interest after the rape, but she tries very hard to make abortion look utterly evil. I know many of you are thinking "this is bad?" and I can understand the opinion of Rivers and many others that abortion can be damaging to a woman; I just wish Rivers had made her tone a little different. Almost every character who supported abortion in the book was portrayed as hard-fisted and mean and I didn't appreciate this one-sided treatment. If you think abortion's bad, that's all fine and dandy, Ms. Rivers, but do you think you could try to be a little more understanding of people who don't? After the horrendous ordeal Dynah went through, could you truly blame her if she'd chosen not to have it? Try to imagine how it would feel to carry something a stranger placed inside you against your will. Whether you believe abortion's bad or not, you should at least respect what rape victims go through. It was wrong for people to pressure Dynah to have an abortion, but it would've been just as wrong to pressure her to keep the embryo and, honestly, I've seen anti-abortionists be just as harsh and forceful about their point of view as the pro-abortionists in this book were.
Everyone who loves the book says that they're glad Dynah didn't succumb to pressure from those around her, but I can't help wondering if their reaction would've been different if the people pressuring her had been against abortion instead of for it. Would that have made it right for them to pressure her? Even if you think abortion's wrong, I think you should leave that to God and the woman to decide. Someone said that they couldn't imagine a person saying abortion was okay and calling themselves a Christian and I think this is an example of how grossly judgemental even Christians can get.
I know many disagree with this and that my review may be attacked because of it, but this is how I feel. Rivers is a wonderful writer, but I didn't like her approach here; some say that she wrote this book without a judgemental tone, but her statement that women who get abortions "sacrifice children on altars of selfishness and fear" sounded pretty judgemental to me. If I wasn't Christian, this book would discourage me from seeking any Christian help if I went through what Dynah did. Some women couldn't bear having a baby after being raped, but this does not make them bad and I'm sure that God would not condemn them for an early abortion, nor can I magine how anyone could judge them so harshly. Rivers says at one point in the end of the book that she talked with women who suffered from abortion, but it was very clear that she never spoke to anyone who actually thought that abortion was the right choice for them; thus, she refused to acknowledge the possibility that abortion is not wrong for everyone. Women should be allowed to recover properly from rape, but a baby would make this considerably hard and a miraculous recovery and speedy happy ending like the one Dynah experienced as soon as she gave birth is very unlikely.
Overall, I highly recommend "Redeeming Love" over this book. It's beautiful as well as far more open-minded.
Summary of The Atonement Child
A beautiful repackaged edition of Francine Rivers's classic novel that breaks through the many taboos surrounding abortion. In one terrifying moment, Dynah Carey's perfect life is shattered by rape, her future irrevocably altered by an unwanted pregnancy, and her doting family torn apart. Her seemingly rock-solid faith is pushed to the limits as she faces the most momentous choice of her life?to embrace or to end the untimely life within her.This new edition includes discussion questions for individual or group use.
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