Bound To Forgive

Bound to Forgive (1995) by Lawrence Martin Jenco – Ave Maria Press

Here’s a book that doesn’t come out of the usual suburban book club circuit. Bound to Forgive is the memoir of Father Lawrence Martin Jenco, the Catholic priest kidnapped in Beirut in the 1980s and held hostage for 564 days. It’s not a thriller in the Tom Clancy sense, but a raw, deeply personal account of survival, prayer, and the unlikely spiritual journey that led him to forgive his captors.

Published in 1995 by Ave Maria Press, this isn’t light reading – it’s a blend of harrowing detail, Catholic spirituality, and a very human wrestling with faith under pressure. Think: less “airport novel,” more “prison cell meditation.”

Our copy? It’s got the usual signs of having been around the block – creases, maybe a coffee mark or two – but then again, a pristine copy of this would feel slightly wrong. A book about captivity and forgiveness probably should look like it’s been handled a few times.

One for those interested in faith under fire, modern history, or the kind of resilience you don’t find on a TED Talk.

Ex-library book from London Borough of Harrow.

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