Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Linda P Review *The Triumph Of Deborah *Eva Etzioni-Halevy



Synopsis

The richly imagined tale of Deborah, the courageous Biblical warrior who saved her people from certain destruction

In ancient Israel, war is looming. Deborah, a highly respected leader, has coerced the warrior Barak into launching a strike against the neighboring Canaanites. Against all odds he succeeds, returning triumphantly with Asherah and Nogah, daughters of the Canaanite King, as his prisoners. But military victory is only the beginning of the turmoil, as a complex love triangle develops between Barak and the two princesses.

Deborah, recently cast off by her husband, develops a surprising affinity for Barak. Yet she struggles to rebuild her existence on her own terms, while also groping her way toward the greatest triumph of her life.

Filled with brilliantly vivid historical detail, The Triumph of Deborah is the absorbing and riveting tale of one of the most beloved figures in the Old Testament, and a tribute to feminine strength and independence.

I mostly choose to read this book in the hopes that it would be as good as The Red Tent. Sadly it was not but it as still very enjoyable.
I knew nothing about Deborah before reading this book. But after reading the book and this short article on Wikipedia. I feel know a little more about her story. But the book does not focus only on Deborah. We also learn about Barak and the women in his life. It kind of felt like a biblical Harlequin romance novel. He loves her, she loves someone else, someone else loves him. It was difficult to keep people partners straight sometimes. But the story was engaging. Recommend for those who enjoy biblical fiction and romance.

7 comments:

moonrat said...

fascinating premise! i never heard of her before. and i'll totally put up with a mediocre retelling in order to learn about a biblical/historical/mythical personality. do you have other books on your list like this? i too have read The Red Tent--if you know any others like that i'd be interested to hear!

Emily Cross said...

I love books like this, which shine a light on someone (esp a woman) who was centre to huge historical events yet not well-known.

I ditto MR sentiment about if there are any other similar books.

Ann Elle Altman said...

I remember that account from the bible, didn't she drive someone's...never mind. Don't want to ruin it for people. Anyway, great story.

ann

Linda said...

Orson Scott Card has several books written about biblical women. And this author wrote 2 more books about Hannah and Ruth.
Ann Elle-I don't remember that account of the story either but New Testament is much fresher in my mind than Old Testament.

Anonymous said...

Sounds great! I've read the whole Bible but can't seem to get into Biblical stories. The time period just doesn't interest me, I think. But I'm always open to changing!

Corra

from the desk of a writer

hifidel said...

Great review, Linda.

I like to read these kinds of stories. It's fun to see the way authors flesh out various characters from history.

Would you mind if I posted your review on this site, with a link back to this post?

If you'd like to send over a review of The Red Tent, I'd be happy to post that over at the site too. We're trying to get as many reviews of "Christian fiction" titles as we can put up over there, and would like to have more work from different reviewers.

Shelly

Laura Elliott said...

I'm a big fan of stories about powerful women, written by women. One more on my list to read. Thanks for the review.