I cannot remember how I was persuaded to read Captivating. It's the kind of Christian book that I wouldn’t usually give my precious time.

I didn't know of John and Stasi Eldridge before I picked it up, but within three pages I felt delighted, refreshed and couldn’t put it down. Here was a Christian woman writing a book for REAL women.

Captivating is about getting to the soul of a woman, understanding her motivations, her secrets, her real femininity and the things that destroy it. I thought it might have been a book that made me feel guilty about the kind of woman I am, giving me rules and regulations about how much I should pray, how long my quiet times should be, and how many rosters I should be on at church "” but that wasn't it at all.

Stasi Eldridge (who does most of the writing) isn't bossy; ironically, her openness about a woman's good urges to feel important, useful, needed, and truly delightful"” made me quite naturally more inclined to pray and curious to rediscover God's word.

I found it attractive that the author herself is the wife of a ‘successful’ American minister who is willing to admit that she had premarital sex and a termination, struggles in agony daily with issues of weight and body image, and does not feel warm and tender towards her parents like she is supposed to.

Here is a real, converted, repentant human being prepared to state the truth publicly, without sensationalism, to enable other women to see how captivating and precious they are to God.

I have been a deep fan of this book, although within it there are sections where theologically I feel like I'm on a different page to Stasi"”for instance, her sections on forgiveness and healing. But that wasn't a deal-breaker in reading it.

I've been very interested to get my male friends to read this book and talk about it. As yet, only one of them has"”a male patient with an estranged wife. He did so, and arrived in my surgery next week saying, “I really get now how much I need to let my wife know how unique and precious she is to me, and that's my God-given duty. She's my glory.” I was incredibly moved.

For me, it's a wonderful book because it reminds me that I am unique and precious to the most important person in my life"”to God himself.