Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #247523 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-25
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 148 pages

Synopsis
Ataxerxes, King of Persia needed a wife. This warrior lord was so powerful that he could make his choice from all his Empire. He picked the one girl who would have given anything to have been passed over, a Jewish scholar, Esther, from the back streets of his capital, Shushan. To a King bored by the chattering of women wreathed in musky scents, this changeling was a breath of fresh air. But the new Queen of Persia was lost in a world of protocol and soon lost her husband's favour. Worse, she had to hide her faith and deny her origins for Haman, the King's favourite, was an Amelekite, an ancient enemy of the Jews, and determined to have revenge. Esther's only hope to avert a holocaust was to risk her own life and go, uninvited, before a King who had already disposed of one unpopular wife.

Customer Reviews

The ancient story from the Bible remolded into an Historical Novel
The Biblical book of Esther tells this same story artfully and its art is that of the elaborate Persian story-teller akin to the Arabian Nights. There is drama and parallel plots but the characters are merely etched out flat in graphic novel style (or maybe I should say woven in Persian Carpet style) without much attention to their inner worlds.

Nora Lofts is a skilled writer of many historical novels. She has taken the story and while remaining faithful to its bare bones has put flesh on the characters and re-worked the story into a modern novel for the modern reader. It could be something to read on holiday or on a long train journey.

She seems to have read around the Bible story in Jewish commentaries to get some of her ideas - others are from her own imagination to create a credible narrative and believable motivated characters. It is a masterpiece. As a Jewish reader I feel her interpretation is in tune with our reading of the text and adds insights. It is also a dramatic and highly enjoyable read.

This is a book I cannot recommend highly enough.