"Beyond All Measure" takes place during an exciting time in our nation's history: the postbellum (after the Civil War) South. In the middle of a love story, we begin to understand what it means to surrender our will to God (whose plan is always so much better than anything we could've come up with on our own!) and we also learn a bit about how our country recovered from perhaps the most devastating war our country has ever faced.
This wonderful 1865 quote from Miss Carolina Berg sums up the lesson of the story perfectly:
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best--
Lovingly, its part of pain or pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.
I must note, I like likeable characters (duh, who doesn't?) and I must also note that Ada, our heroine, is a very cantankerous woman who really isn't very likeable until the last half of the book. Her character is rounded and changes through her circumstances into someone I would like and would want to call friend. It's obvious that Wyatt, the hero of the book, who is very charming from the start, only likes Ada at first because she's pretty. Or perhaps, much like God sees something in us of value when others may not, Wyatt sees something in Ada that no one else can.
"Beyond All Measure" is nice reading. It may teach you a little history, it may teach you about faith, and it may touch your heart. Now y'all head over yonder to here and read the first 3 chapters of the book! Decide for yourself whether it's something you'd take a fancy to.
This book was provided to my by the wonderful people at Thomas Nelson in exchange for a thoughtful and honest review.