Luther and Katharina by Jody Hedlund|Book Review

Suggested Age: 18+: Situations of graphic physical and sexual violence.

Katharina von Bora has seen nothing but the inside of cloister walls since she was five. In a daring escape, Katharina finds refuge with Martin Luther and seeks his help to pair her with the noble, wealthy husband she desires.

As class tensions and religious conflicts escalate toward the brink of war, Martin Luther believes that each day could be his last and determines he will never take a wife.

As the horrors of the bloody Peasant War break out around them, the proud Katharina and headstrong Martin Luther fight their own battle for true love, in one of the greatest love stories of history.

Luther and Katharina is a fictional account of Katharina Von Bora, the woman who would become the wife of the protestant leader, Doctor Luther. I’ve sat on writing this review for a while…in fact, since October. Now, I have had some things going on in life that honestly just pulled me away from blogging but also…this book was just so dark. When you go through tough times in life, a book like this can just crush your spirit and that’s really what happened to me when I read this book.

Now, I’m no prude. Not at all. I do read secular fiction and sometimes a secular book will have graphic content in it.  What is so damaging is when you read a Christian book under a Christian label and it has content that is far too graphic for the genre. It’s not saying that awful and dark things cannot happen to Christian people. However, I do feel like Christian authors  should exercise great care in handling those topics as delicately as possible.  It isn’t so much about sugar coating all the bad things in life as much as it is about being careful of how we retell accounts of those bad things. Should we really use the same language or   imagery as one that does not know Christ?

Jody Hedlund is a wonderful author. She has a great way with words and with character building.  I’ve previously read her young adult fiction and had the pleasure of speaking with her in the past. I do feel like she’s a wonderful author and it near broke my heart to share what I thought about this book.  I’ve always promised to be honest though and I have to admit that this book bothered me. It just did. Despite reading content by other authors that would be considered  graphic–I simply hold a Christian label to a higher standard.

I would advise caution for sensitive readers before picking up this novel–beware that not all books in the Christian genre are a “safe” read.

Posted By: Kristin Filed Under: Book Reviews, Historical Fiction, reviews