Sabrina - Lori Wick

I was thrilled when I first saw the summary for Sabrina, the second book in Wick's Big Sky Dreams trilogy. The title character is a prostitute, which is, to say the least, an unusual occupation for the heroine of a work of Christian fiction. It's a stretch for Wick, who tends to stick to a very safe, conservative line of storytelling, so I was really interested in what she'd do.

And yes, I was painfully disappointed. I've read, both fiction and nonfiction, about the lives of prostitutes in nineteenth-century North America, and Wick presents such a painfully sanitized version it's almost impossible to read. Yes, she caters to a conservative readership. But even conservative people understand that the lives of prostitutes were never pretty, nor were they relatively safe, tidy, and without contracts, madames, pimps, violent johns, diseases and social stigma.

The novel itself is the story of Sabrina, a young prostitute in Denver who is convinced by a caring police officer and his former-prostitute wife to leave her way of life and turn herself over to Jesus. That itself is wonderful. I'm sure there were young women who were given such a gift in 1880's Western America. Sabrina, afraid of the men who continue to ask to be serviced by her (never growing rude or violent), chooses to leave Denver for Token Creek, Montana, where she is instantly and miraculously taken in by the whole town. She begins a thriving ministry to the independent, madame-and-pimp-less prostitutes in town, whose feelings actually get hurt when their customers are attracted to other women. She falls in love with a man who does not even flinch at her past, in spite of the fact that, in that time period, in that location, a woman with even one lover in her past would be considered ruined and unmarriable. In general, the highly sanitized process Wick presents is so glaringly impossible it takes a great deal away from what could be a great story. Yes, God can help humans to forgive one another, but that takes time, thought, and inner struggle, and a great deal of prayer.

Not Recommended, for the fact that Wick ignored some really extraordinary opportunities here. There are far better ways to spend reading time than reading this particular book.