Review: Until the Mountains Fall by Connilyn Cossette

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About:

Recently widowed, Rivkah refuses to submit to the Torah law compelling her to marry her husband's brother and instead flees Kedesh, hoping to use her talents as a scribe to support herself. Without the protections of her father, Kedesh's head priest, and the safety of the city of refuge, Rivkah soon discovers that the cost of recklessness is her own freedom.

Malakhi has secretly loved Rivkah for years, but he never imagined his older brother's death would mean wedding her himself. After her disappearance, he throws himself into the ongoing fight against the Canaanites instead of dwelling on all he has lost. But with impending war looming over Israel, Rivkah's father comes to Malakhi with an impossible request.

As the enemies that Rivkah and Malakhi face from without and within Israel grow more threatening each day, is it too late for the restoration their wounded souls seek?

My Thoughts:

Until the Mountains Fall is another beautiful piece of Biblical fiction in the Cities of Refuge series. This is the story of Malakhi and Rivkah and delves into the law of the Levirate marriage and shows us how and what that may have looked like.

First off, my words are not going to do justice to this truly lovely story. I was mesmerized from the first page and knew just from the back cover there was going to be some heartbreak. I was right there with Rivkah and understood the entrapment feelings she had. Doing her best to obey her loving father yet knowing within herself she would not be happy with Malakhi whom she still saw as her childhood tormentor. 

However, like the rest of us we can’t see past the nose on our own face and we tend to make more of a mess with our lives when we step out of the way we know to be right. Rivkah learns this fairly early on but believes as a true prodigal daughter, and a lot of us, that there is no hope for us. That we need to make the best of a bad situation.

And then there was Malakhi who has loved Rivkah for so long and truly wants to honor his deceased brother’s family line and to love Rivkah as the wife he now has a chance with. My heart broke for him as he must endure Rivkah’s abandonment and her callous treatment toward his love and feelings for her. Both of these characters I was rooting for and knew that whatever they were going to endure, that by the end of the story their love would be all the stronger for it.

If you have not given Biblical fiction a chance yet, I suggest you try this author out. Her stories consist of great characters, unbelievable odds, and takes the Mosaic laws that seem so far removed from us today and shows just how invaluable they were to the Hebrew people while also mirroring our own culture. Simply wonderful storytelling and writing.

I was provided a copy of this novel from the publisher. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.