“How Can Compassion be Considered Wrong?
When life is weighed down by challenges, pillars of enduring hope and love are always waiting to be discovered.
Ida Dempsey has grown up in a privileged life of luxury thanks to her aunt and uncle. Although Second Street—where women of ill repute ply their wares—is off limits to respectable citizens, her heart of compassion compels her to frequent the area, hoping to make a difference in their lives. Ida has also befriended Qui Shau, a Chinese woman who keeps house for her family, but friendships between the whites and Chinese are taboo in Eureka. Ida tries to keep secret her forbidden compassion, but someone is watching and will use it against her.
When Blaine Prescott meets Ida at a church picnic, his parents warn him away from any relationship with the young lady who has been seen on Second Street in the company of a Chinese woman. But how could such a kindhearted, lovely young woman be anything but good? But when riots break out in Chinatown and Ida disappears, Blaine will do anything to find out where and why she has gone.”
Series: Book #1 in the multi-authored series “Enduring Hope” and does not seem like it will be connected to any of the other books.
Spiritual Content- Scriptures are quoted, mentioned, & remembered; Prayers; Witnessing to others; Church going, singing hymns, worshiping, & trying to focus on the sermon; Many talks about God, witnessing to others, & His will; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Blaine has been praying for God to direct his steps to find the right woman to marry and shortly after meeting Ida, believes her to be the one; Ida desperately wants to share about Jesus with others, especially with the women of ill repute and the Chinese people she knows; Ida and Blaine both notice hypocrisy from others about helping missionaries in foreign countries, but not being willing to witness to people in their own area; Ida doesn’t like to “bother” her heavenly Father with every little thing in her life, but prays about an overwhelming event; Ida’s best friend reminds her that women can’t be preachers and later Ida pretends when alone in her church by reading a Scripture from the pulpit (she doesn’t want to get up in front of everyone and is very embarrassed by being caught by her reverend because “women were not allowed to preach!”, but he is kind about it); Ida is discouraged when her reverend says that God will use her in ways she is better suited for (compared to her hopes of witnessing to the prostitutes), but their next conversation is him apologizing for discrediting her; When at church, Ida wonders if her prayers will be more effective there or even in front of the altar; Blaine wonders if there are situations where God approved of duplicity (in terms of deceit and lies), but sincerely doubts it; Ida struggles with thoughts about Scriptures telling one to obey their parents when she is hiding her actions from her guardians; Blaine believes that Jesus is the answer to everything, including poverty and crime; Ida thinks that going against what Jesus has called her to do will grieve her soul and thus continues to do it even if it grieves her conscience to disobey her aunt; Mattie, Ida’s best friend, says she gets enough religion on Sunday in church; Many mentions of God, Jesus, witnessing to others and sharing the gospel, faiths, & God’s will; Many mentions of churches, church going, services, sermons, hymns, & a reverend; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & Bible studies; Mentions of those, events, & books of the Bible; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of missionaries; Mentions of a Chinese gang forbidding for their people to convert to Christianity & possible persecution; A few mentions of a nativity scene; A few mentions of sins; A couple mentions of Christian denominations; A mention of the Holy Spirit; A mention of morning devotions; A mention of Sunday school; A mention of Ida making a “holier-than-thou” impression on some of the prostitutes;
*Note: Ida’s best friend says she prays for finding a rich husband; Chinatown is called a pagan community twice; Someone says the Chinese has their own religion and it isn’t possible for a Chinese woman to understand Christianity as it will only confuse her because of her own religion; A few mentions of mythological creatures (nymphs, gnomes, and fairies).
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘balderdash’, a ‘blast it’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘stupid’, and two ‘idiot’s, A bit of eye rolling; Blaine thinks of a sarcastic retort to something his mother says, but chooses to reply with respect instead; Being hit, Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Ida lies & tells half-truths often because of her plans; Ida struggles with hiding her plans and her feelings from her aunt (which she wonders if that’s part of growing up and if so, she doesn’t like it; She thinks the deception of it all and disobeying doesn’t suit her and is unsettled by going behind her aunt’s back); Ida’s aunt forbids her to go to Second Street (known for prostitution) because it could shame their family if she’s seen there, so Ida has the idea to dress like the prostitutes to blend in with them (she keeps this a secret from her aunt and feels twinges of guilt; She wonders if the end justify the means and hopes it does; Later, Ida consoles herself that the greater good demands the skulking around; Her best friend joins her as well, but is more excited to toe the line and go to taboo places; Towards the end, Ida grieves going against her aunt, but the idea of going against what she believes Jesus called her to do would grieve her soul); Ida has not specifically been forbidden to visit Chinatown, so she ventures there (despite knowing it’s not a place for moral young ladies to visit); Ida’s cousin drinks from a flask and offers it to her (which she does not partake in); Mentions of deaths & grief (Ida’s parents); Mentions of a massacre (which killed women and children as well) & planned hangings; Mentions of gangs, rival gangs, violence, and shootings (which causes a death); Mentions of criminals, thieves/looters, & stealing; Mentions of a man drinking from a flask, drunks, saloons, & bootleggers; Mentions of lies, lying, & deceit; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of opium dens, gambling dens, & gamblers; Mentions of pipes & smoking; A mention of a woman threatening to drown herself in the sea (not seriously);
*Note: Blaine’s parents are against him courting Ida, but he continues on with that plan because he believes she is the woman God has for him; Blaine’s friend wants his help deceiving her parents, but she doesn’t think of it like that because they refuse her happiness because of their misconceptions and says it wouldn’t be her fault; Blaine recalls his mother saying that women who attend college are unfit for domestic life; Many mentions of prejudice (towards Chinese workers and prostitutes; There are talks from business men in the town about removing the Chinese people, burning down Chinatown, making it illegal to hire them, and making them board an outbound ship; Blaine doesn’t see the problem if the Chinamen do their jobs and handle things themselves as along as no one on the outside gets hurt; Towards the end, tensions continue to rise and the white townsmen call for the Chinese to be hanged; Blaine doesn’t understand how some of the men like his father can go to church every Sunday and still be so prejudice); A couple mentions of a book & a quote from it (Pride and Prejudice).
Sexual Content- a cheek kiss (barely-above-not-detailed), a nose kiss, four head/forehead kisses, two blown kisses, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and a semi-detailed kiss (which makes Ida think afterwards “So that was kissing. No wonder people did it” and wishes to “explore this kissing thing” with Blaine again; Later, her aunt who witnessed the kiss tells Ida that she is too young for such things and makes Ida promise her not to let that happen again); Wanting to kiss & Thinking about kisses/kissing (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Cuddling/Snuggling (including falling asleep next to each other on a couch over night), Hand holding, Tingles, Warmth, & Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Winks & Blushes; Noticing & Staring (barely-above-not-detailed); Two ‘hussy’s; Ida thinks her father might have been a “rogue” based on the way her aunt avoids talking about him (*Spoiler* Ida was conceived out of wedlock and Mrs. Prescott holds this against her, adding to Blaine that no one knows what blood flows in her veins and will be passed on to her children; *Major Spoilers* Towards the end, she finds out that her mother is still alive and is a prostitute; Ida is very upset and feels like her life is a lie *End of Spoilers*); Ida asks Blaine if he has ever visited Second Street (known for the red-light district) and he has not; Ida has the idea to dress like the prostitutes to blend in and not be noticed (so she won’t bring shame to her family) and her best friend joins the plan, asking if they can show cleavage (which makes Ida blush; Later, her friend says they are “missionaries with cleavage” and they try on their form-fitting dresses which makes Ida blush and Mattie proclaim to liking the bare shoulders; Ida feels older and less innocent in the dress, which she doesn’t understand because it’s not like she’s done anything impure in her life; Mattie says one of the prostitutes is jealous of the two of them because they aren’t “droopy” anywhere like her; Mattie comments on the prostitutes covering up with a lot of make-up and Idea says they are covering up the wrong thing; Ida wears her “provocative” dress and does a “sultry sashay” like she’s seen the prostitutes do; One of the prostitutes asks if Ida is working around the area); Ida’s aunt, uncle, and reverend are concerned about her being exposed to the seedier side of town and her innocence being tarnished; Ida only goes to Second Street in broad daylight (because her “timidity disallowed going at night”) and doesn’t see any men; When referring to the prostitutes’ “work”, Ida stumbles and is awkward when referring to it; Ida’s best friend is also interested in Blaine and Mattie asks if she can have him (it causes a rift in their friendship for a bit); Many mentions of the women in an area known for prostitution, brothels (including one with the name “Joy Emporium”), the women (who have fake names like “Delight” and “Midnight Joy”; Ida comments she would have a Bible name and her best friend offers “Jezebel”), & them working at night and sleeping late into the day; Mentions of the prostitutes being checked for health concerns every two weeks, conditions such as “syphilis” and “gonorrhea” (which Ida does not know what those are), some of the women receiving pills to “set herself right” after missing their monthlies (which Ida isn’t sure what that means either and asks her best friend about it), & women lifting their dresses for a doctor (which makes Ida think that the others might be right and she’s too young to see this); Mentions of women having to turn to prostitution because of desperation; Mentions of out-of-wedlock pregnancies & unwed mothers (one says that her baby is her biggest blessing); Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of the men (also called “clients”) who visit Second Street and the women there; A mention of a woman being found beaten and having torn clothing outside of an opium den; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Blaine has to change his wet clothes, but a female friend won’t leave the room and turns around instead which makes him unable to change his britches; A couple mentions of a mother nursing her baby; A couple mentions of scandalous dresses with high slits; A mention of modest, virtuous women not visiting men in their private rooms; A mention of a theater not being of a burlesque nature or of otherwise questionable on moral grounds.
-Ida Dempsey, age 17
-Blaine Prescott, age 24
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1884-1885
256 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
You could say this book was a wild card for me. I’m hesitant about reading books that deal with prostitution because that always adds in some sexual content and sexual innuendoes; but on the other hand with this book, I was interested in seeing Chinese characters in a Christian Fiction book. It’s unfortunately not the most positive representation or treatment, but our main characters are determined to do right for the Chinese workers and the prostitutes in their town even when prejudice runs rampant.
As far as our main characters: Ida feels like God has put not only the Chinese workers on her heart, but also the prostitutes. I mean this as nicely as I can say it: Her heart was in the right place, but her brain wasn’t fully in a logical place. Her first idea is to blend in with the women of ill repute is to dress like them and go to town during the day. Thankfully, nothing happens to her, but there’s so many ways this could have gone wrong. It was good to see the final plan and how it impacted not only the women, but also Ida and her best friend. It took some trials and errors on Ida’s part, but that final idea was a better one.
I will note that Ida is seventeen and she felt every bit of it. I don’t mean to say that rudely, but it’s a fact that she’s been coddled by her lavish lifestyle and act very young for most of the book. Perhaps that’s an element of her child-like faith and these experiences will grow her, I’m sure, but she had her moments of being a teeny-bopper that made me cringe.
With Blaine, it was very much love at first sight for him and yes, they were definitely cheesy together, but I really liked that they both had strong faiths and encouraged each other to pray and seek what God has for them to do. Overall the plot-line was pretty simple with a basic writing style, but it had some cute parts and strong faith content.
I will say that while the prostitution parts were lightly handled in regard to the details of their actions and “work”, I found it sad to see a doctor hand the women pills that would take care of the problem interfering with their periods. Ida isn’t sure what this all means, but because we can read between the lines to know it’s a birth control pill that will kill a baby, it’s not commented upon negatively or frowned upon. Yes, that’s life and it happened in this setting, I’m sure, but for a Christian Fiction book to just brush it under the rug really disappointed me. Compared to the other Christian Fiction books I’ve read that feature prostitution, this was definitely on the lighter side, but it’s still not one I would recommend because of Ida’s actions. She means well but has little tact or grace when handling what she thinks she’s been called to do.
The ending was really rushed and a bit choppy. An event that is shared on the back-cover doesn’t happen until the last five percent, which felt added in at last minute for some additional angst/grief for the couple. Not a bad story as a whole, but not one I’m going to highly recommend.
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Barbour) for this honest review.
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