Rescued Heart, The Story of Sarah, by the amazing wordsmith Angela Hunt is one of the best Biblical fiction books I have read. Author Hunt did extensive research and has given readers a plausible detailed account of what could have been Sarah’s life. I was captivated throughout the entire book.
I love Biblical fiction if it is done well. This one truly is. It stays true to scripture. The characters come alive on the pages. Their daily life was extremely interesting. I loved how faithful Abraham was to God. He was gentle and loving as he taught Sarah.
There were many twists and turns in this novel. A lot of them explained how things might have happened in the biblical account. The explanations made perfect sense.
At the end of the story is a section titled “Author’s Notes.” In it she explain where she researched and why she wrote the story way she did. It is a must read. I was fascinated by it.
This is a fabulous book. It would be a great book for any reading club or as a gift. It receives a 5 out of 5 star rating from me. A copy was provided by Celebrate Lit, but these are my honest words.
About the Book
Book: Rescued Heart
Author: Angela Hunt
Genre: Biblical Fiction
Release Date: October 7, 2025
In Ur of the Chaldees, Ishcah faces the daunting prospect of marrying Abram, a man she has never met and who renames her Sarai on their wedding day. Their union tests her as she grapples with uncertainty and Abram’s devotion to an unseen God. Her skepticism toward seemingly impossible promises grows, and only a miracle can prove Adonai’s faithfulness.
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About the Author
Angela Hunt is a New York Times bestselling author of more than 160 books, with 5.5 million copies sold worldwide. Angela’s novels have won or been nominated for the RWA RITA Award, the Christy Award, the ECPA Christian Book Award, and the HOLT Medallion. Four of her novels have received ForeWord Magazine‘s Book of the Year Award, and Angela is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from both the Romantic Times Book Club and ACFW. Angela holds doctorates in biblical studies and theology. She and her husband make their home in Florida with mastiffs and chickens.
More from Angela
Can you please provide a brief summary of your novel Rescued Heart?
Rescued Heart is the story of Sarah—taken from Scripture and another ancient manuscript, the Book of Jasher. Scripture tells us relatively little about the first matriarch of our family, so this novel explores more of what her life might have been like.
What drew you to write about Sarah as the first subject in your new MATRIARCHS series?
I have been writing biblical historical fiction for a few years now, and I had yet to go back this far in history. It’s a challenge to find authentic history about the bronze age, but when you can find something, it’s fascinating.
How did you research daily life in ancient Mesopotamia and the nomadic existence Sarah would have experienced?
As I mentioned above, I used the Book of Jasher to fill in many of the details that Scripture does not give us. Jasher does not claim to be inspired Scripture, but it does give us ideas about what daily life in that age could have been like.
Sarah faces many difficult situations in her journey, including barrenness in a culture that deeply valued fertility. How did you approach writing about her emotional struggles?
Writing about infertility was easy for me, as my husband and I personally experienced it— though not nearly as long as Sarah did. I simply took what I knew and multiplied it by decades of years.
The relationship between Sarah and Abraham spans decades. What challenges did you face in portraying their evolving relationship over such a long period?
A marriage, like any relationship, goes through seasons—the honeymoon phase, the getting to-know you phase (especially in an arranged marriage), as well as various struggles regarding finances and leadership. Sarah put up with a lot—Abraham’s lies about their relationship, for one thing, and Sarah’s twice ending up in harems of foreign kings—yet they remained committed to each other.
How did you balance staying true to the biblical account while creating a full narrative with dialogue and interior thoughts?
Whenever I write in this genre, I aspire to 1) never contradict the biblical record, 2) never contradict the historical record, and 3) fill in the rest with what fits with what we can know about society, environment, governments, and technology at that time. The rest is emotional, because human nature does not change.
Sarah is often remembered for her laughter when told she would bear a son in her old age. How did you interpret this pivotal moment in her story?
Wouldn’t you laugh if someone told you—at ninety—that in a year you’d be nursing your own baby? I would! Sarah was not only old, but she had also been through menopause, so she thought of herself as a dried husk, no longer a woman. No wonder she laughed.
What surprising insights about Sarah did you discover during your research and writing process?
I don’t know if I “discovered” this, but I portrayed her as a woman who trusted in God through her husband. After all, Abraham was the one who talked to God, saw Him, prayed to Him—Sarah simply believed in her husband, who believed in God. But when God told Abraham to sacrifice Sarah’s beloved son, she had a real crisis of faith, and Jewish tradition holds that the shock of that realization was what resulted in her death. If you examine Scripture, you’ll see that Abraham and Isaac left Beersheba, where the family had been living, and went to Mount Moriah for the sacrifice . . . but Sarah doesn’t die in Beersheba, where she must have been living, but at Mamre, where Abraham had built an altar. And that’s all I can say without spoiling the ending of the book.
What do you hope readers take away from Rescued Heart?
That our relationship with God must be personal, not secondhand.
What are you working on next?
I am currently writing Righteous Heart, the story of Rebekah. Loving the research.
Blog Stops
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 10
Mary Hake, October 10
Inspired by Fiction, October 11
Devoted Steps, October 12
Texas Book-aholic, October 13
She Lives to Read, October 14
Pause for Tales, October 14
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, October 15
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, October 16
Lily’s Corner, October 17
Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, October 18
For Him and My Family, October 19
Stories By Gina, October 20 (Author Interview)
Book Butterfly in Dreamland, October 20
Cover Lover Book Review, October 21
Holly’s Book Corner, October 22
Leslie’s Library Escape, October 23
The Bookish Pilgrim, October 23
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Angela is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Barnes & Noble Gift Card and a copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
Gradually stores would begin to open at noon for a few hours. That was scandalous but tempting so people slowly went. The half days expanded into full days and restaurants had jumped aboard the train. That made for a lot of Sunday workers taken away from church and family, but don’t forget the shoppers, too. You can’t have family time in a store, just ask my hubby. I’m not innocent in the Sunday shopping situation. It is so convenient to go out to eat with family after church and even swing by a store on the way home.
Before you start fussing at me, I realize there are people that must work on Sundays. Where would we be with hospitals that closed on Sunday? That would be a disaster!
When the weather permits, the perfect place for reading is on my back porch on my swing. Listening to nature, feeling sunshine and a breeze with a good book while in my swing is a great way to recharge for the coming week. It is a wonderful place to pray, also. How about you? What relaxes you?
Published by Barbour, this inspirational 160 page book has a vibrant eyecatching cover with a golden sunburst overlaid with four biblical heroes. Inside are stories printed on thick glossy paper of fifty heroes and heroines from the Bible. Each story is three pages long and written for easy understanding. Readers will find a reference where each story is in the Bible, scripture relating to the story, followed by the story or devotional and a prayer, and finishing up with discussion/study questions to help dig deeper into what was just read.
Abba's Prayer Warrior Princess 