At Her Fingertips
If you have ever read a review from me regarding any work of Christian fiction then you already know how I feel about it, but I’ll say it once again. I’m very particular when it comes to Christian fiction—as a Believer myself, I just want my favorite genre to be represented by the best and I think its safe to say Kellyn Roth is one of the best!
Christian fiction carries the stigma of being cheesy and somewhat unbelievable. What annoyed me most when I would read through lovely faith-filled romantic novels was how cookie-cutter it seemed; a gentle and innocent Christian girl falling for an unsaved bad boy and eventually turning him into a Christ-filled hunk.
This boring theme has somehow welded itself into place as the best form of entertainment in Christian romance, so I was pleasantly surprised to see things told a little differently in this book. I won’t say Roth totally stirred things up, but she did something with Christian romance that made things work better than any other book in this genre I have ever read before; she put them in the proper time period.
Reading this wasn’t like cracking open a new romance I’d never seen before—not at all—there was a fair number of stereotypes and the main character, while she did go through serious development along the way, was your typical annoying main character. The best part of At Her Fingertips was that it took place in 1800’s England. It made sense for there to be a hundred fair maids frolicking about, searching for a rich hunk to sweep them off their feet. It made sense for Christian women to be portrayed as always sweet, kind, meek, and innocent. It made sense for Alice to be frustrated and obsessed with her singleness and the desire to marry. Roth took every stereotype in Christian fiction that I hate and made it work.
At Her Fingertips is structurally wonderful but there is a lot to appreciate within the story, beginning with the main character. I liked Alice, a little, but what I truly enjoyed was who she became throughout the book. There’s nothing like watching someone you dislike take all the bad things about them and melt them down into a wonderful new being. Watching Alice’s growth felt exactly like that; she seemed very young, irritating, and naïve when she was first introduced but she was a totally different person by the end of the book. Maybe it was because she had to deal with a number of different men with very different personalities, or maybe it was because she learned to lean on the Lord and trust in His judgement—which brings me to my next point.
There’s a lot to love about this book but what I really enjoyed most was the way Christianity was woven into the storyline. Alice had very believable struggles that I think many young Believers—man or woman—face every day. I think Alice dealt with her problems in a fair and entertaining way but still held on to the integrity of the faith and who could ever dislike a story like that?
I recommend this book to Christian readers of all ages. Anyone who enjoys historical fiction will certainly enjoy this and those with a soft heart and a romantic side will read it in one go.