What do you think?
Rate this book
Sweet Gift from Heaven: Rana's Story
Sweet Gift from Rana's Story - is book ten in the Mysteries & Wonders of the Bible fiction series.
Rana has only survived the streets of Egypt by becoming a very good thief. But eventually her special skill set gets her into trouble with the Medjay, the Pharoah’s police force. Desperate to escape, she stows away in a moving caravan. But it is not until she is far from the city that she realizes she has thrown in her lot with the Hebrews, who are leaving slavery and following their leader, Moses, into the Promised Land.
As Rana travels, she learns there is more in the wilderness than she could have imagined. She witnesses the miraculous parting of the Red Sea and makes some new friends willing to teach her about the One True God. But just as Rana starts to believe she has found a place to belong, she encounters Pharoah’s spies, who are ordered to bring the Hebrews back to Egypt. Rana must make a choice.
Will she allow their threats to turn her into a thief again? Or can she stand firm in her new convictions and still protect her new friends from harm?
Rana has only survived the streets of Egypt by becoming a very good thief. But eventually her special skill set gets her into trouble with the Medjay, the Pharoah’s police force. Desperate to escape, she stows away in a moving caravan. But it is not until she is far from the city that she realizes she has thrown in her lot with the Hebrews, who are leaving slavery and following their leader, Moses, into the Promised Land.
As Rana travels, she learns there is more in the wilderness than she could have imagined. She witnesses the miraculous parting of the Red Sea and makes some new friends willing to teach her about the One True God. But just as Rana starts to believe she has found a place to belong, she encounters Pharoah’s spies, who are ordered to bring the Hebrews back to Egypt. Rana must make a choice.
Will she allow their threats to turn her into a thief again? Or can she stand firm in her new convictions and still protect her new friends from harm?
243 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 31, 2025
26 people are currently reading
4 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 15, 2025
I have seen and read several stories based around the Exodus in my time, from The Ten Commandments and The Prince of Egypt to Mesu Andrews' Treasures of the Nile duology and Connilyn Cosette's Out from Egypt series. That's not even mentioning the beautiful novellas across the Guideposts Biblical fiction series. This one though, definitely wins my honor of Most Unique Exodus Story.
Anne Davidson's protagonist Rana is not the first "ordinary" main character of such a story. She is, however, the first example I've seen of someone embracing the Hebrews as her people, their God as her God, in the exact way she does. She wasn't supposed to be within fifty feet of the Exodus journey, and both her heritage and thievery could've easily made her an enemy. She in fact comes across prickly and disdainful of her new people group. Yet Anne makes clear, these responses are all Rana knows. She has absolutely no concept of love, family, or the moral framework of just one God who seeks a relationship with His people. She steals, lies, and runs because she truly sees it as her only purpose.
Yet Rana is also unique because she doesn't see herself as trapped; she hasn't accepted thievery as a purpose because life wore her down. That is, obviously, it did. But Rana also takes some pleasure in stealing and fooling honest people, at least initially. She longs for the love and friendship she finds in Keziah, Leah, and Gideon, but her longing is fierce rather than soft. It's fairly rare that I see an author willing to write an "unbeliever" or "skeptic" character like this in the Christian market. It's also rare that such a person maintains the deep compassion Rana has, under the armor of bitterness. The dichotomy is nothing short of brilliant.
Anne Davidson uses dichotomies with other characters, too. Keziah is the perfect foil for Rana: a chatterbox, winsome, naive, yet as fiercely faithful as Rana is guarded about God. What I love about her is, Anne gives Keziah's faith innocence and depth; Keziah isn't worldly wise, but neither is she a child. And though she does chatter on, her loquaciousness becomes the door to a heart growing in wisdom.
Gideon isn't as well-developed as I would like, which I'll get to momentarily. However, I did enjoy Anne's take on a blossoming relationship between a thief and a soldier--one might say, the ultimate example of a law-abiding citizen. He and Rana have chemistry, but it's understated--sometimes too understated, maybe. When they are together, when they start acknowledging their importance to each other, that subtlety lets us see how well they do and will work as partners with everyday problems.
Other secondary characters like Leah and Asim do fill expected roles--mentor and villain here, respectively. What's great though, is that their backstories and motives lend shading to those archetypes. Leah doesn't jump in and try to mother or convert Rana right away. Instead, she relates to her both as the strong woman she's had to become, and the searching one underneath--both of whom are Leah's equals. Asim has all the ingredients to become a cardboard villain with no core motivation except greed. Instead, Anne makes him just charismatic enough, and definitely intelligent enough, to make readers shiver.
The plot itself is both familiar and refreshing. Watching the Israelites complain and romanticize Egypt did needle me with conviction. Yet Anne pushed this plot and spiritual thread beyond the boundaries of a "Sunday school lesson" by contrasting the Israelites' attitudes with real deprivation. That is to say, I think it's easy for readers like me to tell ourselves, "I'd have known better, I'd have stuck with Moses no matter what." But--would we, given such harsh conditions and mental and emotional burdens? Such contrasts and questions set up Asim's scheme and Rana's final test of character perfectly. They also remind us that the Exodus wasn't just Moses, Aaron, and Miriam leading a tiny "flock" from Egypt. These three took on responsibility for thousands of real people, of all ages and walks of life--all of them painfully, beautifully human.
I dropped a star for a couple mild to moderate reasons. Gideon and his relationship with Rana was the big one. He is important to the story, and he and Rana have some strong moments together. Yet compared to Keziah, Leah, or even Asim, I don't feel I knew him well enough to say, "Yes, he is Rana's 'person.'" What I did know about him sometimes seemed too familiar, like his rigidity and tendency to underestimate and criticize his sister. I've seen characters like Gideon act this way a lot. There's nothing wrong with it, but I wanted slightly deeper characterization.
Additionally, I love Rana's journey toward God as a whole. I like that she doesn't become a "meek and mild" follower, and that her conversion if you must call it that, is shown in real time. I also applaud Anne for putting Rana through a high-stakes, raw test of character. Yet, I debated whether this might've worked better had Rana let herself open up a little more. For instance, what if Leah had taken her in as an adopted daughter of sorts? What if she spent more time within the group of Israelites, so that the pull between her old life and new became painful even before Asim got involved? And, since both the title and cover reference the manna, what if that element had come into the story earlier? I think this would've been a great spiritual thread and a better way to showcase Rana's growth.
Anyway, as I said, these are fairly minor notes, and as often happens, I point them out because of my writer's eye. Aside from those issues--and some readers may not see them as such--Sweet Gift from Heaven is indeed a sweet, filling gift. It seems like this will be the last book in the Mysteries and Wonders of the Bible series and if so, I'm disappointed because they've mostly been so wonderful. But even if this is the last one, it's a great note on which to end. Grab a copy and catch up with the series as soon as you can.
Anne Davidson's protagonist Rana is not the first "ordinary" main character of such a story. She is, however, the first example I've seen of someone embracing the Hebrews as her people, their God as her God, in the exact way she does. She wasn't supposed to be within fifty feet of the Exodus journey, and both her heritage and thievery could've easily made her an enemy. She in fact comes across prickly and disdainful of her new people group. Yet Anne makes clear, these responses are all Rana knows. She has absolutely no concept of love, family, or the moral framework of just one God who seeks a relationship with His people. She steals, lies, and runs because she truly sees it as her only purpose.
Yet Rana is also unique because she doesn't see herself as trapped; she hasn't accepted thievery as a purpose because life wore her down. That is, obviously, it did. But Rana also takes some pleasure in stealing and fooling honest people, at least initially. She longs for the love and friendship she finds in Keziah, Leah, and Gideon, but her longing is fierce rather than soft. It's fairly rare that I see an author willing to write an "unbeliever" or "skeptic" character like this in the Christian market. It's also rare that such a person maintains the deep compassion Rana has, under the armor of bitterness. The dichotomy is nothing short of brilliant.
Anne Davidson uses dichotomies with other characters, too. Keziah is the perfect foil for Rana: a chatterbox, winsome, naive, yet as fiercely faithful as Rana is guarded about God. What I love about her is, Anne gives Keziah's faith innocence and depth; Keziah isn't worldly wise, but neither is she a child. And though she does chatter on, her loquaciousness becomes the door to a heart growing in wisdom.
Gideon isn't as well-developed as I would like, which I'll get to momentarily. However, I did enjoy Anne's take on a blossoming relationship between a thief and a soldier--one might say, the ultimate example of a law-abiding citizen. He and Rana have chemistry, but it's understated--sometimes too understated, maybe. When they are together, when they start acknowledging their importance to each other, that subtlety lets us see how well they do and will work as partners with everyday problems.
Other secondary characters like Leah and Asim do fill expected roles--mentor and villain here, respectively. What's great though, is that their backstories and motives lend shading to those archetypes. Leah doesn't jump in and try to mother or convert Rana right away. Instead, she relates to her both as the strong woman she's had to become, and the searching one underneath--both of whom are Leah's equals. Asim has all the ingredients to become a cardboard villain with no core motivation except greed. Instead, Anne makes him just charismatic enough, and definitely intelligent enough, to make readers shiver.
The plot itself is both familiar and refreshing. Watching the Israelites complain and romanticize Egypt did needle me with conviction. Yet Anne pushed this plot and spiritual thread beyond the boundaries of a "Sunday school lesson" by contrasting the Israelites' attitudes with real deprivation. That is to say, I think it's easy for readers like me to tell ourselves, "I'd have known better, I'd have stuck with Moses no matter what." But--would we, given such harsh conditions and mental and emotional burdens? Such contrasts and questions set up Asim's scheme and Rana's final test of character perfectly. They also remind us that the Exodus wasn't just Moses, Aaron, and Miriam leading a tiny "flock" from Egypt. These three took on responsibility for thousands of real people, of all ages and walks of life--all of them painfully, beautifully human.
I dropped a star for a couple mild to moderate reasons. Gideon and his relationship with Rana was the big one. He is important to the story, and he and Rana have some strong moments together. Yet compared to Keziah, Leah, or even Asim, I don't feel I knew him well enough to say, "Yes, he is Rana's 'person.'" What I did know about him sometimes seemed too familiar, like his rigidity and tendency to underestimate and criticize his sister. I've seen characters like Gideon act this way a lot. There's nothing wrong with it, but I wanted slightly deeper characterization.
Additionally, I love Rana's journey toward God as a whole. I like that she doesn't become a "meek and mild" follower, and that her conversion if you must call it that, is shown in real time. I also applaud Anne for putting Rana through a high-stakes, raw test of character. Yet, I debated whether this might've worked better had Rana let herself open up a little more. For instance, what if Leah had taken her in as an adopted daughter of sorts? What if she spent more time within the group of Israelites, so that the pull between her old life and new became painful even before Asim got involved? And, since both the title and cover reference the manna, what if that element had come into the story earlier? I think this would've been a great spiritual thread and a better way to showcase Rana's growth.
Anyway, as I said, these are fairly minor notes, and as often happens, I point them out because of my writer's eye. Aside from those issues--and some readers may not see them as such--Sweet Gift from Heaven is indeed a sweet, filling gift. It seems like this will be the last book in the Mysteries and Wonders of the Bible series and if so, I'm disappointed because they've mostly been so wonderful. But even if this is the last one, it's a great note on which to end. Grab a copy and catch up with the series as soon as you can.
November 16, 2025
Rana is an Egyptian who is alone in the world and to survive she steals. She is caught by the Medjay but escapes and flees into Goshen. Everyone is packing up and leaving. She goes with them thinking she'd return after a bit. You guessed it the Hebrew slaves are leaving. Rana witnesses the column of fire and the cloud and the parting of the Red Sea. but she hides in plain site stealing food and water. She steals a scarf one day and her victim protects her and feeds her. Rana learns in this journey to trust, she realizes the power of the Hebrew God. After making another friend she decides she wants to stay with the people and learn more about their God. But trouble is brewing the Medjay that almost killed her captures her first friend and forces her to steal water skins, his object to be the hero when he convinces them to return to Egypt. She's caught but what will become of her and the Sweet Gift From Heaven: Rana's story? Anne Davidson lays out Rana's choice, to return to Egypt or to stay with Leah and learn to weave, and Keziah and her brother Gideon, to return to the many God's of Egypt or to trust the one God has placed her where she needs to be, no longer alone but with Him and her new family.
September 12, 2025
Romance
I'm a sticker for true romance, not sexual exploits or sensual tidbits. Romance. Finding someone that sees into the truth of another's heart. We all desire to be loved and free to love without strings. The beauty of that can only be found in God, but there are those few godly people that desire to find it in others. Truth be told there are those who only seek to find what is good for them and at the cost of others. And there are those who know this to be true of those who sometimes have the prettiest of faces. But, when those looking can see the truth of a heart, even a heart that is guarded, that longs to love and be loved my heart is made glad. This is that story and I loved it.
Her character is one of horrible circumstances and made to feel nothing in order to survive. I love her from the beginning because she is me. She is you. We all have been hurt, abused, betrayed, or abandoned. Yet, we still desire to be loved and to love.
What a beautiful truth when it is found by anyone.
I love this story.
I'm a sticker for true romance, not sexual exploits or sensual tidbits. Romance. Finding someone that sees into the truth of another's heart. We all desire to be loved and free to love without strings. The beauty of that can only be found in God, but there are those few godly people that desire to find it in others. Truth be told there are those who only seek to find what is good for them and at the cost of others. And there are those who know this to be true of those who sometimes have the prettiest of faces. But, when those looking can see the truth of a heart, even a heart that is guarded, that longs to love and be loved my heart is made glad. This is that story and I loved it.
Her character is one of horrible circumstances and made to feel nothing in order to survive. I love her from the beginning because she is me. She is you. We all have been hurt, abused, betrayed, or abandoned. Yet, we still desire to be loved and to love.
What a beautiful truth when it is found by anyone.
I love this story.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews