Princess Jehosheba wants nothing more than to please the harsh and demanding Queen Athaliah, daughter of the notorious Queen Jezebel. Her work as a priestess in the temple of Baal seems to do the trick. But when a mysterious letter from the dead prophet Elijah predicts doom for the royal household, Jehosheba realizes that the dark arts she practices reach beyond the realm of earthly governments. To further Athaliah and Jezebel's strategies, she is forced to marry Yahweh's high priest and enters the unfamiliar world of Yahweh's temple. Can her new husband show her the truth and love she craves? And can Jehosheba overcome her fear and save the family--and the nation--she loves?
Beautiful Rachel wants nothing more than for her older half sister Leah to wed and move out of their household. Maybe then she would not feel so scrutinized, so managed, so judged. Plain Leah wishes her father Laban would find a good man for her, someone who would love her alone and make her his only bride. Unbeknownst to either of them, Jacob is making his way to their home, trying to escape a past laced with deceit and find the future God has promised him.
But the past comes back to haunt Jacob when he finds himself on the receiving end of treachery and the victim of a cruel bait and switch. The man who wanted only one woman will end up with sisters who have never gotten along and now must spend the rest of their lives sharing a husband. In the power struggles that follow, only one woman will triumph . . . or will she?
Combining meticulous research with her own imaginings, Jill Eileen Smith not only tells one of the most famous love stories of all time but will manage to surprise even those who think they know the story inside and out.
I GIVE THIS BOOK:
MY THOUGHTS:
Though the book is titled Rachel it is told from both sisters' perspectives, Leah and Rachel, which I loved. I have always felt for Leah and was glad she wasn't made into a villain. Both sisters had their issues they had to deal with and it was interesting reading this story I know so well in a different light.
Several times with the way things were told I thought "that is not right" and stopped to look it up, only to read it and realize that it could be taken that way - it was just different than the way I had always understood it to be. That's one of the things I love most about Biblical fiction, how it can take a story you know and make you see it in a fresh way.
That being said the way some things were told didn't seem right to me, such as Judah being the favorite of Leah's children when they were young. Though that may have been the case, it doesn't clearly state it one way or the other, I don't think it was. This was the reason I couldn't give the story a five star rating.
Overall I found Rachel to be an entertaining and thought-provoking read, one that I very much enjoyed. I have loved every book in this series and highly recommend them to fans of Biblical fiction.
I received a complimentary copy of this book to review. I was asked to give my honest opinion of the book - which I have done.
If you found this review helpful, will you please click yes HERE. Thanks!
The last thing Addy Davidson wants is to be on a reality TV show where the prize is a prom date with the President's son.
She's focused on her schoolwork so she can get a scholarship to an Ivy League college, uncomfortable in the spotlight, never been on a date, and didn't even audition for it.
But she got selected anyway.
So she does her best to get eliminated on the very first show. Right before she realizes that the President's son is possibly the most attractive guy she has ever seen in person, surprisingly nice, and seemingly unimpressed by the 99 other girls who are throwing themselves at him.
Addy's totally out of her comfort zone but that may be right where God can show her all that she was meant to be.
I GIVE THIS BOOK:
MY THOUGHTS: First Date is the third book I've read by Krista McGee and it's really good! The first book I read by her, Right Where I Belong, was actually the third book with characters that appeared in her other books - which I didn't know before I read it. First Date is the first about those characters, the second one is Starring Me which I hope to read soon. Reading them out of order really didn't affect my enjoyment except that I knew what the final outcome was going to be - at least sort of, it's been awhile since I read Right Where I Belong so I didn't remember everything very clearly which was a good thing :)
Just like Right Where I Belong was loosely based on the biblical story of Ruth, First Date is loosely based on the biblical story of Esther. I love this! It makes you really connect with the story in a way you just don't otherwise. However, because the book was trying to draw similarities with Esther the story got a little silly at times, but nothing too ridiculous.
Many times this book had me laughing out loud, and not just the chuckling kind, which is always a great thing :)
Addy is such a great character! She's a girl every Christian girl should try to be like and I think that she's a great role model for them.
First Date is a book people of all ages would enjoy. I recommend it!
***I received a complimentary copy of this book to review. I was asked to give my honest opinion of the book - which I have done.***
If you found this review helpful, will you please click yes HERE. Thanks!
YOU'VE HEARD THEIR STORIES ALL YOUR LIFE BUT DO YOU REALLY KNOW THE BIBLE'S "REBEL" WOMEN?
Adultery, lies, deception, scandal, murder, cover-up, heartache, pain, and loss--stories with these sordid elements are relevant today. And women with shady pasts--labeled, shamed, and linked with tragedies--are part of our heritage. Bathsheba, a victim or temptress, Eve outside of Eden, Tamar posed as a prostitute, Leah stole her sister Rachel's fiance...Sarah gave Hagar to her husband and Rebekah masterminds a grave deception.
I GIVE THIS BOOK: MY THOUGHTS:
The title of this book, I feel, is very misleading. For it to be called Bathsheba Bathed in Grace gives the reader the impression that the book is going to be about Bathsheba, not Bathsheba plus seven other biblical women randomly put together. I couldn't find any reason to title it this way, there was no connecting to Bathsheba with every story or anything similar to that. I would have much preferred it had the book been titled Bathed in Grace, then I wouldn't have felt mislead.
Another thing I found strange was the order of the stories, they were in such an odd order: Bathsheba, Sarah, Hagar, Rebekah, Leah Rachel, Tamar, Eve. This by itself wouldn't have effected my enjoyment, but I just found it to be a strange and confusing order to put them. Here are my thoughts and rating for each individual story:
Bathsheba - 2 stars
The story is told strictly from Bathsheba's point of view, there was no narrative telling us things that she didn't know. I found this hard to enjoy. The story covers all of Bathsheba's life with David, but it is such a short story that so much of it is glossed over or skipped.
I also thought it was strange when Bathsheba says one of her favorite of Solomon's writings was Ecclesiastes 3, since I pretty sure they weren't divided that way until much later in history.
I know the story is a novella, but the wasn't much to it and I didn't care for it. I never connected with the story, there wasn't anything brought out in it that stuck with me.
Sarah - 2 1/2 stars
The story begins with Abram and Sarai travelling to Egypt and continues until near the time of Sarah's death. It was a little more enjoyable to read than Bathsheba's story, but not by much. I honestly couldn't tell a difference between Bathsheba's and Sarai/Sarah's "voices", if not for the fact that the locations and people surrounded them were different I would have mistaken them for the same person.
I read a book about Sarai/Sarah a little over a year ago that made a huge impact on me, and has stuck with me since. The book was Sarai by Jill Eileen Smith and it is FANTASTIC!
Hagar - 4 stars
At first, some parts of Hagar's story seemed to contradict Sarah's, but then I realized that it was how it was from each woman's perspective.
This was one of the best stories in this book. It was moving and very interesting. Hagar's "voice" is definitely different than the first two. I can't imagine having to be in her shoes, having someone order you to have relations with someone and having no choice in the matter.
This story gave me a deeper understanding of Hagar and I would have loved to have had a full novel just about her.
Rebekah - 1 1/2 stars
After the first third of Rebekah's story it seemed more as though I was reading a story about Jacob & Esua than about their mother. Plus, I think the story gave Rebekah too much foreknowledge, that she had a feeling something important was going to happen at the well so she rushes to beat every other girl to it and greet Abraham's manservant just didn't feel right to me.
I know there isn't much to work with when telling Rebekah's story, but even so it just wasn't that good.
Leah - 3 stars
This story was well told, yet so much was added to her story that I had a hard time recognizing it.
It's nice to think that the sisters were close before Jacob came into the picture and that later in life they made up, but I don't see any evidence of that and personally find it hard to believe that they ever would be close again.
Rachel - 2 stars
This story felt very redundant of Leah's, since it covers almost completely the same timeline just from a different perspective. This wouldn't have been a problem if her perspective had been more interesting or different, but it felt and sounded almost identical to Leah's which made it kind of boring. Overall, still an okay read.
Tamar - 4 stars
With some of the key parts of Tamar's story being on the edgier side (Onan spilling his seed and Tamar impersonating a prostitute), I was curious and slightly concerned how they would be portrayed. I thought they were welled written, with just enough details given so I understood what was happening but not too much to make me uncomfortable.
The reason this story isn't receiving five stars is it made it sound as though Onan & Tamar were together only once before the Lord killed him for his disobedience, when the Bible says "Then Judah said to Er's brother Onan, "Go and marry Tamar, as our law requires of the brother of a man who has died. You must produce an heir for your brother." But Onan was not willing to have a child who would not be his own heir. So whenever he had intercourse with his brother's wife, he spilled the semen on the ground. This prevented her from having a child who would belong to his brother. But the LORD considered it evil for Onan to deny a child to his dead brother. So the LORD took Onan's life, too."Genesis 38:8-10 (NLT) - which very much sounds as though it happened more than once.
Overall, it was still a very enjoyable story and one that made me think deeper about these people - which is always great.
Eve - 1 star
This was by far my least favorite in this book. Eve came across as a simple-minded person, she didn't know what tears were and the way she interacted with Adam was just strange.
The eating from the tree scene was interesting, with the way the author portrayed the serpent, but even this wasn't that good and didn't help my opinion of this story.
I know the Bible doesn't give specifics on when and how many daughters Adam and Eve had, but when Cain left with his wife, whom I personally believe was his sister (otherwise where did she come from?), I thought it odd that Eve was only mourning the loss of her two sons, Abel in death and Cain is his exile, not her daughter.
Overall, I didn't care for this story.
On the whole I give Bathsheba Bathed in Grace 2 1/2 stars.
***I received a complimentary copy of this book to review. I was asked to give my honest opinion of the book - which I have done.***
If you found this review helpful, will you please click yes HERE. Thanks!
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
***Special thanks to Tracy L. Higley for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tracy L. Higley started her first novel at the age of eight and has been hooked on writing ever since. She has authored nine novels, including Garden of Madness and Isle of Shadows. Tracy is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Ancient History and has traveled through Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Italy, researching her novels and falling into adventures. See her travel journals and more at TracyHigley.com
SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:
On an island teetering at the brink of anarchy, Daria finds hope among people of The Way.
She escaped a past of danger and found respite in beautiful Ephesus, a trading center on the Aegean coast, serving as tutor to Lucas, the wealthy merchant who rescued her.
But the darkness she fled has caught up with her.
The high priests of Artemis once controlled the city, but a group of sorcerers are gaining power. And a strange group who call themselves followers of The Way further threaten the equilibrium. As Daria investigates Lucas’s exploits into the darker side of the city, her life is endangered, and she takes refuge in the strange group of believers. She’s drawn to Paul and his friends, even as she wrestles with their teachings.
When authorities imprison Lucas for a brutal crime, Daria wonders if even Paul’s God can save him. Then she uncovers a shocking secret that could change everything—Lucas’s fate, her position in his household, and the outcome of the tension between pagans and Christians. But only if she survives long enough to divulge what she knows.
“Meticulously-researched, spellbindingly written with luscious prose and compelling and complex characters.” —Tosca Lee, New York Times best-selling author of Havah: The Story of Eve
Product Details:
List Price: $15.99
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (March 12, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1401686826
ISBN-13: 978-1401686826
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
Prologue
I am an old man, and I have seen too much.
Too much of this world to endure any more. Too much of the next to want to linger.
And though I have nearly drowned in the glorious visions of those last days, yet I know not when it shall come, nor how many years I must tread this barren earth before all is made new.
There is a Story, you see. And we are still in the midst of it, ever striving to play our roles, battling on for the freedom of hearts and souls and minds yet enslaved by darkness.
But I have seen a great light. Oh yes, I have seen it. Even now it is breaking through, as it did on that grassy hillside so many cool spring mornings ago, when Moses and Elijah walked among us and my Brother shone with the glory He had been given from the beginning and will rise up to claim again at the end.
You will wonder, perhaps, at my calling Him brother. And yet that is what He was to me. Brother and friend, before Savior, before Lord. In those days when we wandered the land, going up and down from the Holy City, we shared our hearts, our lives, our laughter. Oh, how we laughed, He and I! He had the irrepressible joy of one who sees beyond the brokenness, to the restoration of all.
I loved him. And He loved me.
But I speak of beginnings and of endings, and these are words that have no meaning, for the day of His birth was both the beginning of the Kingdom and the end of tyranny, and that magnificent Day yet to come—it is the end-which-is-a-beginning, and my eyes have seen such glory in that New Jerusalem, my very heart breaks to tell of it.
And yet they come, young and old, to this tiny home in Ephesus that is to be my last dwelling outside that New City, and they beg me to tell the Story again and again.
And I do.
I tell of seals and scrolls, of a dragon and a beast and a Lamb. Of music that makes you weep to hear it and streets that blind the mortal eye. Of a Rider on a White Horse with eyes of blazing fire, whose name is Faithful and True. It is a great Story, and greater still to hear the final consummation of it, for how often we forget that we are living it still.
But I have another tale to tell. A smaller story within the One True Story that began before the creation of this world and is echoed at its end, as all our stories are. It happens here, in this port city of Ephesus but many years ago, when the darkness lay even heavier than it now does upon the people, and their souls cried out for relief from anyone who could give it.
This smaller story does not begin here in Ephesus, however. It begins a day’s sail away, on the sun-kissed shores of the Isle of Rhodes, where the light first began to break upon one woman and one man, even as they walked in darkness . . .
Chapter 1
Rhodes, AD 57
In the glare of the island morning sun, the sea blazed diamond-bright and hard as crystal, erratic flashes spattering light across Daria’s swift departure from the house of her angry employer.
She carried all she owned in one oversized leather pouch, slung over her shoulder. The pouch was not heavy. A few worn tunics and robes, her precious copy of Thucydides. She clutched it to her side and put her other hand to the gold comb pinning the dark waves of her hair, her one remaining luxury.
The bitter and familiar taste of regret chased her from the whitewashed hillside estate, down into the squalid harbor district. Why had she not kept silent?
Along the docks hungry gulls shrieked over fishy finds and work-worn sailors traded shrill insults. The restless slap of the sea against the hulls of boats kept time with the anxious rhythm of her steps against the cracked gray stones of the quay.
She had run once, haunted and guilty to a fresh start in Rhodes. Could she do it again? Find a way to take care of herself, to survive?
“Mistress Daria!”
The voice at her back was young and demanding, the tenor of a girl accustomed to a world arranged to her liking. And yet still precious, still malleable.
“Mistress! Where are you going?”
Daria slowed, eyes closed against the pain, and inhaled. She turned on the sun-warmed dock with a heaviness that pulled at her limbs like a retreating tide.
Corinna’s breath came quick with exertion and the white linen of her morning robe clung to her body. The sweet girl must have run all the way.
“To the School of Adelphos, Corinna. I will seek a position there.”
Corinna closed the distance between them and caught Daria’s hand in her own. Her wide eyes and full lips bespoke innocence. “But you cannot! Surely, Father did not mean what he said—”
Daria squeezed the girl’s eager fingers. “It is time. Besides”—she tipped Corinna’s chin back—“you have learned your lessons so well, perhaps you no longer need the services of a tutor.”
Corinna pulled away, dark eyes flashing and voice raised. “You do not believe that, mistress. It is you who says there is always more to learn.”
They drew the attention of several young dockworkers hauling cargo from ship to shore. Daria stared them down until they turned away, then circled the girl’s shoulders, pulled her close, and put her lips to Corinna’s ear. “Yes, you must never stop learning, dear girl. But it must be someone else who teaches you—”
“But why? What did you say to anger Father so greatly?”
Only what she thought was right. What must be said. A few strong phrases meant to rescue Corinna from a future under the thumb of a husband who would surely abuse her.
Daria smiled, fighting the sadness welling in her chest, and continued her trudge along the dock toward the school. “I am afraid discretion is one of the things I have not yet learned, Corinna. Your father is a proud man. He will not brook a mere servant giving him direction in the running of his household.”
Corinna stopped abruptly at the water’s edge, her pretty face turned to a scowl. “You are no mere servant! You are the most learned tutor I have ever had!”
Daria laughed and looked over the sea as she walked, at the skiffs and sails tied to iron cleats along the stone, easy transportation to the massive barges that floated in the blue harbor, awaiting trade. Papyrus and wool from Egypt, green jade and aromatic spices from far eastern shores, nuts and fruits and oils from Arabia. Her eyes strayed beyond the ships, followed northward along the rocky Anatolian coast to cities unknown, riddles to be unraveled, secrets and knowledge to be unlocked. More to learn, always. And somewhere perhaps, the key to redeeming the past.
They approached and skirted the strange symbol of the isle of Rhodes, the toppled Helios that once stood so proud and aloof along the harbor and now lay humbled, its bronze shell speckled to an aged green, reflecting the impenetrable turquoise sky. The massive statue had lain at the quay for gulls to peck and children to climb for nearly three hundred years since the quake brought it down. Daria found it disturbing.
“May I still visit you at the school, Mistress Daria?”
She smiled. “One challenge at a time. First I must convince Adelphos that he should hire me.”
Corinna’s tiny sandals scurried to keep pace. “Why would he not?”
“It is not easy to be an educated woman in a man’s world of philosophy and rhetoric. There are few men who appreciate such a woman.”
“How could anyone not appreciate someone as good, as brave, as you?”
The child gave her too much credit. She was neither good, nor brave. She would not be here in Rhodes if she were. Though she was trying. The gods knew, she had been trying.
Corinna lifted her chin with a frown in the direction of the school. “I shall simply explain to Adelphos how very valuable you are.”
And how outspoken? Interfering? But perhaps the girl could help in some way.
“Will you demonstrate some of what I have taught you, Corinna?”
The girl’s eyes lit up. “Just wait, mistress. I shall amaze and delight that crusty old Adelphos.”
Daria studied the impetuous girl and bit her lip. But it was a chance she must take.
The School of Adelphos lay at the end of the docks, its modest door deceptive. Daria paused outside, her hand skimming the rough wood, and inhaled determination in the sharp tang of salt and fish on the breeze. Who would believe that such distinguished men as the poet Apollonius and Attalus the astronomer had studied and written and debated behind this door? Sea trade had kept Rhodes prosperous for centuries, but in the two hundred years under Roman control, the Greek island had grown only more beautiful, a stronghold of learning, of arts and sciences and philosophy.
Inside its most famous school, she blinked twice and waited for her sun-blind eyes to adjust.
“Daria!” Adelphos emerged from the shadows of the antechamber with a cool smile and tilt of his head. Tall and broad-shouldered, he was several years her senior, with the confident ease of an athlete, a man aware of his own attractiveness.
She returned the smile and straightened her back. “Adelphos. Looking well, I am pleased to see.”
He ran a gaze down the length of her, taking in her thin white tunic and the pale blue mantle that was the best of her lot. “As are you.”
“I have come to make you an offer.”
At this, his eyebrows and the corner of his mouth lifted in amusement and he gave a glance to Corinna, still at the door. “Shouldn’t we send your young charge home first?”
She ignored the innuendo. “My employ as Corinna’s tutor will soon come to an end, and I desire to find a place here, in your school. As a teacher.” She swallowed against the nervous clutch of her throat.
Again the lifted eyebrows, but Adelphos said nothing, only strolled into the lofty main hall of the school, a cavernous marble room already scattered with scholars and philosophers, hushed with the echoes of great minds.
She gritted her teeth against the condescension and beckoned Corinna to follow, with a warning glance to keep the girl quiet, but the child’s sudden intake of breath at the fluted columns and curvilinear architraves snapped unwanted attention in their direction, the frowns of men annoyed by disruptive women.
Adelphos disappeared into the alcove that housed the school’s precious stock of scrolls—scrolls Daria had often perused at her leisure and his generosity.
Daria spoke to his back. “Do you doubt my abilities—”
“What I doubt, my lady, is a rich man’s willingness to pay a woman to teach his sons.”
Daria waved a hand. “Bah! What difference does it make? I can do a man’s work just as well. And if they learn, they learn!” But a cold fear knotted in her belly.
Adelphos traced his fingertips over the countless nooks of scrolls, as if he could find the one he sought simply by touching its ragged edge. “And you, Daria? Do you want to live a man’s life as well as do a man’s work? What woman does not long for love and family and hearth?”
Her throat tightened at his words, too close to the secrets of her heart. Yes, she longed for those comforts. For a love that would accept her abilities, complement rather than suppress. But for now, for now she had no one and she must assure her own welfare.
She coughed to clear the dryness of her throat and stepped beside him, examined the great works of philosophy and literature, their tan Egyptian papyri wrapped in brown twine, sealed in waxy red.
Adelphos reached past her to a nook above her head, and his muscled arm brushed her shoulder.
The touch was intentional, clearly. Manipulative. Even so, his nearness left her breathless and her usual sharp-tongued wit failed. When she spoke, it was a harsh whisper, too raw with emotion, though the words emerged falsely casual. “And why should I not have both?”
At this, Adelphos huffed, a derisive little laugh, and turned to lean his back against the shelves and unroll the scroll he had retrieved.
“A woman of ambition. Does such a breed truly exist?” His gaze darted to hers. “But what am I saying? You have already wedded a husband, have you not?”
Daria pulled a scroll from its recess and pretended to study it.
“You are interested in the work of Pythagoras? That one is newly arrived from Samos.”
Daria shrugged. “I find his work repetitive. What new has he added to Euclid’s previous efforts?”
“Indeed.” Adelphos pulled the scroll from her hands and replaced it in its nook. “But you have not answered my question.”
“I am a widow, yes.”
“A widow with no sons. No dowry.” He glanced at Corinna, clutching the doorway. “And no employment. Is there anything more desperate?”
Daria lifted her chin and met his gaze. “It seems you are in an enviable position, then, Adelphos. You have found a skilled teacher, available for a bargain.”
Adelphos circled to Corinna, an appreciative gaze lingering on her youth and beauty. “And this is your prize specimen? The pupil of whom I have heard such wonders?”
The girl straightened and faced Adelphos with a confidence borne of knowledge. “Shall I demonstrate the superior skill Mistress Daria has given me with languages?”
Daria silently cheered and blessed the girl. “Corinna has been working hard to master the tongues of Rome’s far-flung empire.”
Adelphos’s brow creased and he opened his lips as if to speak, then sealed them and nodded once. No doubt he wanted to ask what use there might be for a girl who could speak anything but common Greek. As Daria herself was such a girl, the implicit question struck a nerve. She turned a shoulder to Adelphos and nodded encouragement to Corinna. “Let us hear Herodotus in the Classical first, then.”
The girl grinned, then gushed a passage of Herodotus in the proud language of her Greek forebears, the language of literature and poetry, before Alexander had rampaged the world and equalized them all with his common koine.
“And now in Latin, Corinna.”
The girl repeated the passage, this time in the tongue of the Romans, the new conquerors.
Adelphos tilted his head to study the girl, then spoke to her in Latin. “Anyone can memorize a famous passage in a foreign tongue. Few can converse in it.”
Corinna’s eyelashes fluttered and she glanced at her hands, twisted at her waist. When she answered, it was not in Latin, but in Persian. “Fewer still can converse in multiple languages at once, my lord.”
Adelphos chuckled, then glanced at Daria. “She does you proud, lady.”
A glow of pride, almost motherly, warmed Daria’s chest. “Indeed.”
Corinna reached out and gripped Adelphos’s arm, bare beneath his gleaming white tunic. “Oh, it is all Mistress Daria’s fine teaching, I assure you, my lord. I wish to be an independent woman such as she someday. There is nothing she cannot do.”
“Corinna.” Daria smiled at the girl but gave a tiny shake of her head.
Corinna withdrew her hand and lowered her eyes once more. “I have told my father this, but he does not understand—”
“Her father has been most pleased with her progress.” Daria tried to draw Adelphos’s attention. “He saw a superior mind there from an early age and was eager to see it developed.”
He waved a hand in the air. “I have seen enough. You may go.”
When her beloved father dies and she is left in the care of her conniving brother Laban, Rebekah knows her life has changed forever. Though she should be married by now, it's clear that Laban is dragging his feet, waiting for a higher bride-price to line his pockets. But then Rebekah is given a chance to leave her home to marry Isaac, a cousin she has never even seen, and her hope for the future is restored. Little does she know what a wondrous and heart-wrenching journey she is beginning.
As Rebekah experiences the joy of young love and the bitterness of misunderstanding and betrayal, her resolve is tested. When the rift between Isaac and her grows so wide it is surely too great to be mended, can she trust the God of Isaac's father Abraham to bridge the gap?
I GIVE THIS BOOK:
MY THOUGHTS:
After reading Sarai last year I had great expectations for Rebekah, unfortunately it just wasn't as good. The story started out all right, but there was just something about it that didn't set well with me - I just can't put my finger on exactly what it was. The author didn't stray from scripture, as far as I can tell anyway, so that wasn't the problem. There obviously isn't as much written about this couple as there is Abraham and Sarah, so maybe part of the problem (for me) had to do with the fact that I had always thought of them differently - I don't know.
One thing I know I didn't agree with in this book was the time frame for when Abraham married Keturah. I had always believed, and still do, that he married her after Sarah died not before. The author explains why she wrote it this way in her note at the end of the book. I personally don't agree with it, but this one part didn't affect my rating of the book - just thought I'd mention it.
I do like how this book made me think of different possibilities for things that aren't clear in scripture. I had always thought that Isaac was a young child when Abraham was going to sacrifice him, but now I wonder if he was older - maybe even fully grown? The author suggests that it might have been the shock of Abraham be willing to sacrifice Isaac that killed Sarah. If that's the case, that would have put Isaac around the age of thirty - I had heard some say he might have even of been thirty-three, the same age as our Savior when he died. It's something to ponder.
All in all, this was a very enjoyable book. One that made me think deeper about Biblical issues, which is always a good thing. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Biblical fiction.
***I received a complimentary copy of this book to review. I was asked to give my honest opinion of the book - which I have done.***
“Available February 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”
If you found this review helpful, will you please click yes HERE. Thanks!
A beautiful girl blossoming into womanhood, Mary has high hopes for a life filled with learning, family, and young love. In one dreadful night, all of that changes. The nightmares come first, then the waking visions of unspeakable terror, until Mary hardly remembers her dreams for the future.
Can the Most High deliver her from this torment? How long must she wait for healing?
This vivid portrait of the enigmatic Mary of Magdala comes to life in the hands of an imaginative master storyteller. Diana Wallis Taylor introduces you to a Mary who is both utterly original and respectful of the biblical account, opening your eyes to a redemption that knows no bounds.
I GIVE THIS BOOK: MY THOUGHTS: Mary Magdalene is a wonderfully crafted novel. The author creates a vivid story and a character that so little is known about . Before reading this story, I knew that Mary was a woman Jesus had cleansed of seven demons and was the first to see Him after his resurrection, but I had never really tried to understand what that must have meant. I never considered the ramifications of having seven demons inside of a person, how she must have been marked as a crazy woman and how people must have avoided her. This book made a real impact on me in that regard. Mary has never been so clear a person to me. I have to say though, that there were a couple of mistakes. Without going into too much detail, on page 123 when someone places an order for a boat (which will be delivered in 60 days time) it says that a certain event happened 3 years ago and then on page 127 it says this same event happened five years ago. However, on page 138 it says that the boat needs to be delivered. I found it very annoying, I kept flipping back to see if I misread it, but I didn't and so I wasn't sure how long it really had been since the event happened. One of the other mistakes is on pages 272-276. It makes it sound as though after the appearance to Mary Magdalene Jesus only appears to His disciples one time (several days after His resurrection), where He spends the evening with them and then at dawn ascends into Heaven where the angels then say "Why do you stand still gazing up at the clouds? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into Heaven will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into Heaven.". When in fact He appeared many times to them over the course of forty days! Here are the places I have found in Scripture which speak about his multiple appearances to His disciples after His resurrection (bold added for emphasis): Mark 16:9-14
9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.10 And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.11 And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.12After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.13 And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
Luke 24
1Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.8 And they remembered his words,9 And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.10 It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.11 And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.12 Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.13And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,34Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.43 And he took it, and did eat before them.44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.48 And ye are witnesses of these things.49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.50 And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:53 And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
John 20:18-31 and John 21:
18Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.25The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.26 And after eight daysagain his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in thisbook:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
21 After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself.2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.8 And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.14 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.
Acts 1:1-12
1The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.
I believe that there is a reason the Bible clearly tells us that He appeared for forty days. I think that when people write about Biblical events, they have to be very careful to stay true to the Bible (and for the most part I think that this author did). Not so much for the people who know these stories well, but more for those who may have never heard them before or who don't know them very well. I really enjoyed reading Mary Magdalene, and had it not been for the errors in it I would have given it five stars. If you love reading Biblical fiction than you should enjoy this book. “Available June 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.” ***I received a complimentary copy of this book to review. I was asked to give my honest opinion of the book - which I have done.***
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Product Details:
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Revell; Original edition (June 1, 2012)
