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Fall from Grace
Eli Baine has sinned. Spectacularly. When he's caught using a prostitution ring, the news blasts across print and broadcast the son of a reality TV evangelical clan, whose Christian lifestyle is showcased regularly in Baine Family Values television episodes, is exposed as a hypocrite. Carted off to rehab, Eli chafes at being lumped in with molesters and serial adulterers. But when he escapes to visit his wife, Ruth, he finds no solace there. She can hardly bear to look at him, let alone admit him back into her life with their infant child. This sets Eli off on a hard journey toward redemption, understanding and reconciliation. His first stop is at a mainline Protestant church that embraces him with tolerance and support, but where he must endure counseling from a “she-priest” and an ultimate betrayal by someone who'd offered a helping hand. Meanwhile, Ruth herself sets out on a healing path, being counseled by a new, young pastor at her parents' fundamentalist church who offers her more than just spiritual guidance. Both Eli and Ruth wander in the wilderness of heartbreak, distrust, and eventual tragedy until they finally transform into different individuals who can see the light of hope and love in their marriage and their lives.
“Fall From Grace is an engrossing portrait of Christian life in America today, spanning social and religious worlds from the evangelical to the progressive. At the same time, Fall From Grace is a convincing character study that portrays the growth of a man beyond crippling, parochial entitlement to selfless love, and the parallel emergence of his wife from self-effacing submission and naiveté to self-realization. A deeply moving examination of the struggle between compulsion and conscience; of the power of faith; and of Christian approaches to sin, hypocrisy, responsibility, remorse, forgiveness, and the true meaning of love.” Mitchell James Kaplan, award-winning author of By
“Fall From Grace is an engrossing portrait of Christian life in America today, spanning social and religious worlds from the evangelical to the progressive. At the same time, Fall From Grace is a convincing character study that portrays the growth of a man beyond crippling, parochial entitlement to selfless love, and the parallel emergence of his wife from self-effacing submission and naiveté to self-realization. A deeply moving examination of the struggle between compulsion and conscience; of the power of faith; and of Christian approaches to sin, hypocrisy, responsibility, remorse, forgiveness, and the true meaning of love.” Mitchell James Kaplan, award-winning author of By
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First published September 1, 2017
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About the author
Libby Sternberg
29 books11 followersLibby Sternberg is an Edgar finalist, a Launchpad Prose Top 50 finalist, and a BookLife quarter-finalist twice.
She writes historical fiction, women’s fiction, and more under the names Libby Sternberg and Libby Malin, and one of her romantic comedies was bought for film.
She has written two retellings of classic stories:"Daisy" ("The Great Gatsby") and "Sloane Hall" ("Jane Eyre").
"Sloane Hall" was one of only 14 books highlighted in the Huffington Post on the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Bronte's birth.
"Daisy" has been hailed by Publishers Weekly's BookLife contest as "A delightful portrayal of a female character claiming the story as her own, repossessing her own voice.”
Born in Baltimore, she now lives in Lancaster, PA with her husband Matthew. She has three grown children.
She writes historical fiction, women’s fiction, and more under the names Libby Sternberg and Libby Malin, and one of her romantic comedies was bought for film.
She has written two retellings of classic stories:"Daisy" ("The Great Gatsby") and "Sloane Hall" ("Jane Eyre").
"Sloane Hall" was one of only 14 books highlighted in the Huffington Post on the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Bronte's birth.
"Daisy" has been hailed by Publishers Weekly's BookLife contest as "A delightful portrayal of a female character claiming the story as her own, repossessing her own voice.”
Born in Baltimore, she now lives in Lancaster, PA with her husband Matthew. She has three grown children.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 2, 2024
The only thing I appreciated is that now I know something more about different Protestant churches in USA.
I wrongly believed that the beliefs and the behaviors accepted were all the same, but it looks like every church has a different orientation and different interpretations of the Bible, so we have some who accept divorce and remarry, others who don’t. Some are male chauvinistic and approve some extreme behavior, as women being poorly dressed and not much made up, and some don’t accept gays, or they don’t like them very much.
It was an eye opening journey, for sure, I’m from a catholic country and our religion never differs from church to church. I don’t want to judge or make some kind of remarks about it, to me everyone can believe in what they want provided that they don’t hurt other people.
Apparently the hero and the heroine were from a very closed church, they believed they should have sex only after marriage and for procreation only, that is, close your eyes and think of England and the hero who has been raised in that community, not wanting to use his wife after he had a child, and not wanting to have more children soon, ends having sex with prostitutes, until he’s framed and found out, being him a very famous person who preached sanctity and pure behavior.
I loved how he was treated, in a sadistic way. Karma I would say, if he and his minions believed in it, since it’s a concept of another religion. He’s basically treated like a criminal and in a way he was, because he represented an image of honesty and purity that allowed him to make a lot of money, so he was dishonest and a fraud.
So he deserved what he had. When you make money from values you can’t behave in complete opposition of them. Either he should have been an engineer, or a sailor, or a car seller, whatever. And no one outside his church and family would have attacked him like they did.
But he was dishonest and he cheated people who paid to follow him and bought his gadgets and stuff believing in what he and his family preached.
It was a Clinton like experience. Had Clinton been a common man, he would have been one of the many cheaters and the only one to blame would have been those in his family and friends. But he represented the country and it was expected for him to always tell the truth and be honest. And he lied. So his cheating became the distraction of his public credibility , and more so this hero who preaches against sinner and he became the worst of all.
Beside the sad part that made he behave like that , and believe me, many men until the 40s did what he did, that is, treat properly their wives, and go with whores to have raunchy sex. Not because they didn’t love their wives but just because they did. Because you don’t use your wife for sex.
So, we are one hundred years later that belief. And the hero had to learn that sex is natural and good even for Cristians.
But honestly I didn’t like the book.
There is much to go on here, but I never felt their love.
They only stayed together because their circle didn’t allow them to remarry in case of divorce, but there was no love between them.
The heroine even years later thinks she wants a divorce and admits she doesn’t love him and how could she.
But they stay together and make it work because their religion says so, and in the end they love each other.
I didn’t like it.
I wished they were in love and that the hero showed her that he really was acting under wrong beliefs he had all his life, and not because he didn’t love the heroine but apparently he didn’t.
He fell in almost love with his counselor. He kissed her.
And the heroine was in love with her pastor, and I so wished that the hero had died so she could marry the pastor and be happy, I know I’m a bitch and I know I shouldn’t say it, but it’s fiction and I wanted her to be free and married to her good and hot pastor. lol!
There’s no trace of romance here, it’s basically how these religious groups work.
I don’t want to say anything but only this, if you keep repressing all human natural instincts like sex, limiting them and taking off the goodness that is inside them, well, sooner or later something will explode and usually it won’t be nice.
So too much limitations and restrictions on what is natural, and too many rules, discarding what is most important, that is love, will do no good to anyone.
I felt sad and depressed for this couple, I didn’t feel they were happy and I never ever felt like they were good together.
I wrongly believed that the beliefs and the behaviors accepted were all the same, but it looks like every church has a different orientation and different interpretations of the Bible, so we have some who accept divorce and remarry, others who don’t. Some are male chauvinistic and approve some extreme behavior, as women being poorly dressed and not much made up, and some don’t accept gays, or they don’t like them very much.
It was an eye opening journey, for sure, I’m from a catholic country and our religion never differs from church to church. I don’t want to judge or make some kind of remarks about it, to me everyone can believe in what they want provided that they don’t hurt other people.
Apparently the hero and the heroine were from a very closed church, they believed they should have sex only after marriage and for procreation only, that is, close your eyes and think of England and the hero who has been raised in that community, not wanting to use his wife after he had a child, and not wanting to have more children soon, ends having sex with prostitutes, until he’s framed and found out, being him a very famous person who preached sanctity and pure behavior.
I loved how he was treated, in a sadistic way. Karma I would say, if he and his minions believed in it, since it’s a concept of another religion. He’s basically treated like a criminal and in a way he was, because he represented an image of honesty and purity that allowed him to make a lot of money, so he was dishonest and a fraud.
So he deserved what he had. When you make money from values you can’t behave in complete opposition of them. Either he should have been an engineer, or a sailor, or a car seller, whatever. And no one outside his church and family would have attacked him like they did.
But he was dishonest and he cheated people who paid to follow him and bought his gadgets and stuff believing in what he and his family preached.
It was a Clinton like experience. Had Clinton been a common man, he would have been one of the many cheaters and the only one to blame would have been those in his family and friends. But he represented the country and it was expected for him to always tell the truth and be honest. And he lied. So his cheating became the distraction of his public credibility , and more so this hero who preaches against sinner and he became the worst of all.
Beside the sad part that made he behave like that , and believe me, many men until the 40s did what he did, that is, treat properly their wives, and go with whores to have raunchy sex. Not because they didn’t love their wives but just because they did. Because you don’t use your wife for sex.
So, we are one hundred years later that belief. And the hero had to learn that sex is natural and good even for Cristians.
But honestly I didn’t like the book.
There is much to go on here, but I never felt their love.
They only stayed together because their circle didn’t allow them to remarry in case of divorce, but there was no love between them.
The heroine even years later thinks she wants a divorce and admits she doesn’t love him and how could she.
But they stay together and make it work because their religion says so, and in the end they love each other.
I didn’t like it.
I wished they were in love and that the hero showed her that he really was acting under wrong beliefs he had all his life, and not because he didn’t love the heroine but apparently he didn’t.
He fell in almost love with his counselor. He kissed her.
And the heroine was in love with her pastor, and I so wished that the hero had died so she could marry the pastor and be happy, I know I’m a bitch and I know I shouldn’t say it, but it’s fiction and I wanted her to be free and married to her good and hot pastor. lol!
There’s no trace of romance here, it’s basically how these religious groups work.
I don’t want to say anything but only this, if you keep repressing all human natural instincts like sex, limiting them and taking off the goodness that is inside them, well, sooner or later something will explode and usually it won’t be nice.
So too much limitations and restrictions on what is natural, and too many rules, discarding what is most important, that is love, will do no good to anyone.
I felt sad and depressed for this couple, I didn’t feel they were happy and I never ever felt like they were good together.
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June 13, 2018I have found a new good author. I'd heard her on the Eric Metaxas show. As I told my husband, no one gets a pass in this novel. No church or Christian tradition gets a pass either. Such a good writer. Eager to read more of her books.
The book gave me a lot to think about. Only predictable at one point!
I appreciated the last part of the book where the author answered some questions.
The book gave me a lot to think about. Only predictable at one point!
I appreciated the last part of the book where the author answered some questions.
August 19, 2017
I enjoy a story that draws me in and has an ending worth hanging on to.
February 28, 2022
I read this book about four years ago and somehow forgot to write a review. I thought this was a very well-written story. I didn't realize when I was reading it that I had not finished reading the book description, so I was surprised by some of the topics included. This book is not like most of the Christian fiction novels I have read over the years. It covers some serious issues and while I wish some parts had been less descriptive, I appreciated that the author was writing a story about redemption and forgiveness.
September 23, 2017
I'm so disappointed in this book. It is marketed as a "Christian" book but there is so much in this book that should not be in a Christian book. The language and sexual acts made me cringe. The story had so much potential to show God's love and forgiveness but it failed. I can't recommend this book to anyone.
September 2, 2019
While I didn't find the storytelling or prose especially strong, I wish all Christian fiction were as willing to explore stories with as much nuance and dark reality.
July 16, 2024
No point to this story other than an entitled man’s poor me attitude.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews