A commentary at the end of the book tells of California's Gold Country in the 1850 which was a time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women their bodies for a place to sleep. This, in essence summarises this novel - of a christian genre - which is an analysis of human nature as it was, is and is to come. As the title reveals, it is also a story of love that redeems from the depths that we might find ourselves. The story line is simple but there are enough 'tributaries' in the story line to necessitate greater discussion and debate. It is the sort of book, I would entice my friends to read.
The story of Mae is one of hopelessness...of one who crossed the Rubicon from where there was no turning back. She sought but found neither forgiveness nor redemption as her failures were judged unpardonable and her prosecutors unrelenting. The double jeopardy was that the 'jury' ensured that she paid an extremely high price for the choices she made.
Mae's daughter, Sarah, trod a path similar to the one trodden by her mother before her. Her options were limited and her only choice was to accept the cards that had been dealt her and play them the best and only way she knew how. Her saving grace was that she received a life line - which she avoided at all costs - but her redeemer was unrelenting. Reading about Sarah, I pondered at length about SLM and what it was that drove her towards the choices that she took and whether we, her family, didn't love her enough but consigned her to a life so unmerciful yet so courageous.
Mingled in this storyline are the characters of an otherwise 'upright' citizenry, who aided and abetted the oldest trade in the world. In this day and age, the debate around commercial sex work is that it is a profession like any other and those who tinker in it - either out of choice or circumstance - have unalienable rights. Lest we conclude that these are stories of another time and place, we might recall that an unmerciful media has recently bombarded us with the foibles and weaknesses of great men (leaders of nations and potential presidents) who have dabbled in this trade. It is both the hypocrisy of men/women such as these but also the shame of others that draws the reader to further examination.
In between the continuum of many characters, I gleaned lessons that gave me a better understanding of human nature and realised that, in one way or other, there is a little bit of each one of them in me and that ultimately most of us long for redeeming love both in this world and in the world to come.
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