Unafraid

Title: Unafraid
Author: Francine Rivers
Genre: Historical Fiction


This is a novella about the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Each Christmas season, our focus is drawn to this young, peasant, virgin girl who birthed the Messiah. In this small book of historical fiction, Francine Rivers explores the life of our Lords mother.

I personally thought that the author had quite a challenge keeping the book focused on Mary, when so much of who Mary was revolved around her Son, Jesus. Keeping that thought in mind helped me get more out of the book. I had to keep telling myself that this story is not about Jesus; it’s about Mary’s reaction to Jesus.

The story starts at possible explanations surrounding the event of Mary’s birth and then jumps to her teen years where the angel Gabriel tells her that she is going to give birth to a son. The thing I love about Biblical, historical fiction is that you can learn about customs surrounding different events in the Bible. As it happens, so many girls in that day were hoping to give birth to the Messiah. As Mary’s life was at stake during this critical time, Mary clung to the promise that she did indeed would be the mother of the Messiah, savior of the Jews.

As Jesus grows up, Mary gives birth to other children, which we know is Biblically correct. I love how Francine Rivers weaves possibilities of what could have gone on inside that house in Galilee. As Jesus begins his ministry, our eyes are opened as to the effects of this on His family. And at the cross, we cry right along Mary’s side as she weeps for her Son. I have more understanding now of why Jesus gave his mother Mary to the care of his beloved disciple John, while he hung on the cross. (The answer is on page 170!) The author talks about what could have happened to Mary after the resurrection and during the persecution. We know that her other son James (who wrote the New Testament book) was martyred during this persecution and I wish that the author would have written a little more about what could have gone on during this time period and how Mary responded. As you can see, this book could have easily turned into a full-fledged novel, but she wanted it a novella, so I will be content with that!

Unafraid is the last in a series of novellas about the lineage of Jesus Christ. Other books in the series are about Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathesheba. All these women were just average women (ok, some were a little more racy than others!), who changed eternity forever. In the back of the books are study guides that are excellent for individual or small group study.