Once the dangerous secret comes out that Elise, a young mother, has Negro blood, it spells the end of her marriage—and the beginning of her enslavement. A minister's compassionate wife may be able to provide some urgent help for Elise, but it'll mean facing the fire and brimstone of the minister, Benjamin, who's determined to convert the lawless sinners of Texas in Texas Angel by author Judith Pella.

Some time ago, I read and enjoyed The Russians series, a sweeping historical saga by this ChristFic author, even though I had some issues concerning the style. So when it came to this historical Western novel, I wasn't surprised by the occasional overuse of exclamation points, some overdramatic depictions of the main characters, and an overdone villain.

On a different note, I expected I'd probably be somewhat uncomfortable with the handling of race in this book, but I was curious to see how that aspect of the plot would play out.

On at least two different occasions, certain characters speak almost as if they (and Jesus) are there for Elise in spite of the fact that she's part Black. Of course, being a person of color isn't an offense or an inadequacy, something that Christian grace must overlook. While it unfortunately wouldn't be unrealistic for the white characters in this setting to see Elise's mixed race as a flaw, the story doesn't make it clear that they'd be wrong to see her that way.

Later on, Benjamin reflects on how God's love is simple enough for the "savage Indian[s]" in the story, and he doesn't grow past using the "savage" label in his thoughts regarding the indigenous people.

Moreover, because I recently learned this publisher used to allow the N-word to appear in their novels (I'm assuming they don't anymore?), I wasn't caught off guard by the few racial slurs in this book, which was published in the 1990s. Still, I don't believe everyone fully grasps the magnitude of what comes with words like that and what it means for a diverse audience when authors include slurs as strong as the N-word in fiction. I'm in no way saying that no racial epithets should appear in any art or literature anywhere, but for certain books, it's just unnecessary as well as an inappropriate choice, especially from publishers that aren't known for publishing many diverse authors of fiction who'd bring their own cultural perspectives and the experience of their own race.

Now, concerning all that Elise suffers in slavery: Although her feelings of shame and guilt are all too common for abuse victims, the abuse isn't something that victims need to apologize or be forgiven for, or to be accepted and loved in spite of. The story doesn't make it 100% clear that Elise isn't at all at fault for what her abusers have done to her and what they've forced her into.

Aside from that, I struggled with the love story. One look at the book cover's beautiful artwork let me know where the plot would eventually go, but when one character or another thinks, believes, and behaves in downright awful ways for half or more of a novel, I tend not to feel great about that character as a romantic hero or heroine. Also, I'm all for a fictional couple's embraces and kisses when they're passionate and respectful and the moments feel earned. But this love story had an icky feel to me, largely because the broken hero acts on his libido in a broken way on more than one occasion, bursting into insensitive and desperate physical "affection" that doesn't honor the heroine.

Anyhow. I felt compelled to address all of this because of the overall journey I'm taking with Christian Fiction (a genre that's changing) and because of the social climate we're living in, where we need to tackle some critical issues with open honesty. Nonetheless, this historical fiction lover ultimately enjoyed working through some thoughts and emotions with the help of this interesting story, and I fully intend to read the sequel that features a different main character.

A powerful stort of uncommon courage. Forced into a life of shame, could her fledgling faith provide light to a man of the cloth?