Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsPuzzled
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2021
I've been an admirer and follower of Elisabeth Elliot since the 1950s when her husband was among those killed by natives in Ecuador. I've read many of her books and often listened to her radio broadcasts. I was also an admirer of Rachel Saint who continued the work that her brother, also martyred by the Aucas, began with Jim Elliot and others. I recall Rachel being interview by Hugh Downs on television many years ago about her work in the jungles of Ecuador. After she left the studio, Hugh turned to his co-anchor, and with a trembling voice said, "I feel like I've been in the presence of greatness." He was so moved by Rachel's testimony that he was near tears.
I had never heard of the acrimony and sheer dislike these two women of God had for each other until I read this book. I can't believe they would have given their approval to this exposure for all the world to see. Valerie (Elisabeth's daughter) apparently provided access to the diaries her mother had written over a period of several years which detailed Elisabeth's serious problems with Rachel. The tension was so great between them that Elisabeth permanently left the mission station that she and Rachel shared.
I feel that I was privy to information about both women that would have been better left unsaid. They were, after all, not saints but had feet of clay like the rest of us.
The author is a skilled writer but I found the last few chapters a bit tedious and "preachy." I wish she had written about Elisabeth's later marriages but she's likely saving them for her promised sequel to this book.
