Review of A Battle Worth Fighting by Sarah Hanks

 

I enjoyed reading this dual-timeline novel by Sarah Hanks. In the present day we meet Sahara who is determined to fight for her marriage to Jaxon, who she thinks no longer loves her. In fact, she cuts her hair and joins his construction crew on the other side of the country. However, as we get to see the story from both their points of view, we discover things about both Sahara and Jaxon that are driving wedges into their relationship. In fact, I want to shake them both at and say, “go get some counseling and actually TALK to each other.” I would get frustrated with Sahara because she was more focused on herself. But I would also get frustrated with Jaxon because it seemed he wasn’t seeing that Sahara was trying. But something else was missing from their lives. A relationship with God and trusting in God and His love.

Sahara is a descendant of the woman who is the main character of the second time line which takes place during the Civil War, or the War of Southern Independence as some southerners called it, which is where the story is set. Bernie feels she needs to fight for the man she loves as he enlists in the Confederate army, not because he feels slavery is right, but because he wants to fight with and for his neighbors. But she doesn’t want to see war ruin her husband, so she sets out to bring him home, by disguising herself as a man and enlisting herself, so she can find him. I admit, I got frustated with Bernie as well, because she seemed to be thinking of herself, though she thought she was thinking of her husband. I mean, did she not realize that there were probably very few wives who wanted their husbands going off to war? She did learn that there were consequences for her actions. But even more important was learning to trust in God.

I loved seeing the relationships change and grow, not just between the husbands and wives, but between the characters and God. I also loved the unexpected twists and the bit of humor.

I received this book for free from the author as a part of the launch team and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own, honest thoughts.