Loving Luther

Germany, 1505In the dark of night, Katharina von Bora says the bravest good-bye a six-year-old can muster and walks away as the heavy convent gate closes behind her.Though the cold walls offer no comfort, Katharina soon finds herself calling the convent her home. God, her father. This, her life. She takes her vows?a choice more practical than pious?but in time, a seed of discontent is planted by the smuggled writings of a rebellious excommunicated priest named Martin Luther. Their message? That Katharina is subject to God, and no one else. Could the Lord truly desire more for her than this life of servitude?In her first true step of faith, Katharina leaves the only life she has ever known. But the freedom she has craved comes with a price, and she finds she has traded one life of isolation for another. Without the security of the convent walls or a family of her own, Katharina must trust in both the God who saved her and the man who paved a way for rescue. Luther?s friends are quick to offer shelter, but Katharina longs for all Luther has promised: a home, a husband, perhaps even the chance to fall in love. Review A historical novel with characters who are brave, strong and willing to take chances in times of persecution. The plot is partially based on the teachings of Martin Luther, an excommunicated priest from 1500s Germany, and the many lives he changed, some for the better, some for the worse. Pittman is a talented author who touches on topics that have been debated over the decades and are still being talked about today.Romantic TimesIn time for the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther?s challenge to the Catholic Church, Allison Pittman?sLoving Luther is a moving and rich historical romance based on Luther?s relationship with his wife, Katharina. In addition, it shows how their marriage was actually significant to the Lutheran faith.Katharina von Bora expected to spend her life married to God. After taking vows in the convent where she was raised, though, she finds that her new relationship with God is different from that which the nuns raised her to have: ?I was subject to God, and to no one else.?Her sense of freedom and empowerment is tangible, and her inner fire is sparked again by a letter from Martin Luther, in whom she finds a spiritual partner. Soon, she?s embroiled in a crisis of faith that touches the very heart of the Reformation.Loving Luther is a sophisticated, provocative novel. Instead of dwelling on the couple?s courtship, the story goes deep into the roots of the Reformation. Luther and Katharina interrogate their faith, living out their convictions in a way that is both inspiring and profoundly human.Loving Luther is a novel with depth, and it is unexpectedly touching. Katherina and Luther, in search of a happy ending, find one another. Their love, Pittman shows, really did change the world.Foreword ReviewsPittman (On Shifting Sand, 2015) pens an exquisite tale based on the limited historical sources about Katharina von Bora, capturing the emotions of a nun grappling with the idea of bondage to the church versus a new and unfamiliar freedom in faith. Simmering with the tension of Katharina?s discontent and longings, the novel undergoes a slow morphing that follows Katharina?s own personal transformation, from reverence to spirited determination in choosing her own way in the world.BooklistAllison Pittman?sLoving Luther (Tyndale, 2017) is an engaging novel based on the life of Katharina von Bora, the nun who became Martin Luther?s wife. The story portrays Katharina as a smart and feisty girl who ends up in a nunnery when her father remarries. Years later, smuggled snippets of Luther?s teachings make their way into the monastery and lead Katharina along with 11 other nuns to escape. Eventually Luther?s and her intellectual sparring and friendship turn to love and marriage.World MagazineAn original, carefully crafted, and absorbingly enterta