India EdghillRecensioni

Michal, wise queen

I love historical fiction, especially from Ancient Israel. Michal , Bathsheba and King David seem so human. The bible story comes to life in this well written book.

A quick read, the book pulls one of the many invisible women of the Old Testament into the spot light. Focusing on Michal as she learns to live with David and, later, to manipulate him, the book draws on sparse references to tell a story that shows David as a narcissist.

Michal, wise queen

I love historical fiction, especially from Ancient Israel. Michal , Bathsheba and King David seem so human. The bible story comes to life in this well written book.

I really enjoyed this historical fiction about King David's first wife, Michal, daughter of King Saul. In this story, told in first person by Michal, she is a good friend to friend to David's mistress Bathsheba, the mother of the next king, Solomon. Having no children of her own, Michal takes a liking to Solomon and helps maneuver him into the kingship. I'm no biblical scholar, so I could enjoy this story entirely on its own merits - and I did. I'd like to read other novels by India Edghill based on Old Testament women.½

All works of Biblical fiction, both good and bad, seem to get compared to The Red Tent. Queenmaker is no exception. However, rather than focusing on the lives of the little-mentioned women of the Bible, Queenmaker focuses on King David.

Reminiscent of [The Red Tent]. This novel tells the story of the first kings of Israel - Saul, David and Solomon - told through the eyes of Queen Michael, daughter of Saul, first wife of David, and loving friend to David's mistress Bathsheba (who is the mother of Solomon). The story is one of intrigue, lust, war, hate, passion, treachery, and love. It's a fascinating look at this well-known biblical tale.

I will admit to a love of Biblical fiction. I will also admit to a somewhat limited knowledge of Esther’s story. I will further admit that I was really rather thrilled when this book just showed up in my mailbox – I knew I was going to fit it into my reading schedule. I’m so glad I did – despite some small problems at the end Game of Queens is one of my favorite books of the year. I have no idea how much of the book is historically accurate; it’s a difficult time period for written records. I do know that the fictional story presented was one that kept me completely enthralled; I had a very had time putting the book down.

Vashti is the first wife of King Ahasuerus. They met as children and were under the rule of his mother. Vashti was a protected child and soon became very spoiled in the rich atmosphere of the palace. This soon led to resentments. I won’t go into everything for I don’t want to spoil the story but her banishment ultimately leads to a call going out to all of the Kingdom for the most beautiful maidens to come to the palace to be presented to the king so a new wife can be chosen. This leads to Esther being queen.

But the book is so much more than that. It also shares the story of Daniel – who is far more than the story of the lion’s den. It encompasses the evil that is Haman – the man who would have eliminated all of the Jews. Just because. He is evil personified. There is love, revenge, hate, lies, plotting and a pet wolf.

The only issues I had with this novel came towards the end. One chapter seem apropos of nothing and with information that advances the story before it seems appropriate. Then the last few chapters seem rushed. Other than that I was truly enthralled with this book and it’s story. I’ll be keeping it for another read when I have the time.

When she was a tiny child, Delilah was given to the temple of Atargatis by her mother. She grows up in the temple, training to be a priestess of the goddess. Her best friend is a pretty girl named Aylah, a former slave, remarkable for her brilliant golden hair. As the two grow older, they become renowned as the twin dancers of the temple nicknamed “Night and Day”, and fame and honor shower down upon them.

Meanwhile, in the hills outside the cities unrest boils amongst the Israelites. A hero is needed to rise up and lead their warriors to overthrow the leaders of the Philistines. Samson is known by his people to be strong, kind and clever, and the rebellious agitators wish him to lead them. Although the handsome young man desires neither power nor war, he is thrust into the spotlight again and again by the viscous rumor-mongering of the Foxes, the anti-Philistine faction of the Israelites.

From the moment Samson and Delilah see each other, at a busy festival in the city of her temple, they are madly in love with each other. Unfortunately for young love, Derceto, the high priestess of Atargatis, wants Samson dead. Her machinations keep Delilah and Samson apart until great tragedy gives Derceto the perfect chance to convince that Samson's death will right the great wrong, and the events of one of the Bible's most famous stories are set in motion...

This isn't exactly a retelling of the Biblical account of Samson and Delilah; it is more of a reinvention of the story. Obviously, the biggest change is the focus on Delilah as main character. Instead of appearing as a vampy seductress who nags the secret of Samson's strength out of him, Delilah is fleshed out. We learn about her childhood and adolescence in the temple of Atargatis, and it's a very rich and lavish world that Edgehill has developed. Now, my knowledge of the historical Philistines is virtually nonexistent, so I can't say how accurate this depiction of their world is. They refer to themselves in the book as the Five Cities, and that seems to be an accurate depiction of their worldview. Certainly, they never use the term 'Philistine' and why would they? Their culture is cosmopolitan and sophisticated, while the Israelites seem crude and violent by comparison.

Samson, too, is radically altered from his Biblical self. I mean, Bible Samson is violent and angry, ready to lash out at the slightest insult, it seems; Edgehill's Samson is practically a hippy, he's so peaceful and laid-back. Instead of killing a lion he encounters on the road, Samson tames it for a pet. Rather than pulling down a pagan temple through pure brute strength, he uses his knowledge of the temple's poor design to bring it crashing down. He's a much more sympathetic and romantic hero than normal, which makes him far more pleasant to read about, but anyone looking to find insight into the Samson of the Bible will be sorely disappointed.

This book was amazing. India Edghill is brilliant. She took a familiar Old Testament story and wove a delightful tale of the other side of the story. Maybe wasn't as ruthless as she is portrayed or maybe there was another side to the story in Judges. She is a character in which we get just a glimpse of in the Bible but there could have been much more to her. I really enjoyed this and will definitely be looking into Edghill's other books. Nicely written!!!!

Edghill has re-written the Samson and Delilah story, and brings life to the story in the bible. The author takes a historical perspective rather than a biblical one. And, this is what truly saves the book. Although the story is filled with imagery, and written beautifully, I struggled with lack of depth of the characters. As a result, this book is not one that I would recommend for historical fiction readers.

This book was a pleasant read, but nothing stellar. The characters were shallow and, despite their fame, not well drawn. The plot was shallow, and most of the story was spent on Delilah's relationship with her fellow priestess Aylah, rather than her famous love for Samson. I cannot recommend this title to historical fiction fans.

When I first started this book, I partially expected this novel to take a Harlequin romance detour. I was, however, pleasantly surprised when I was engulfed by this fascinating biblical era when Kings began to rule in Israel. Told through the words of King David's first wife and Queen, it is a fascinating tale of Kings (David, Saul and Solomon), prophets and the women behind them. Once I picked it up, I find it hard to put down and I finished it within a 2 days!

There style of this book is similar to THE RED TENT (I believe Anita Diamante was Ms. Edghill's first agent.) Even though I liked THE RED TENT better, I still enjoyed this one and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Anita Diamante's novel.

Not a great novel, but wonderful storytelling, an easy, enjoyable read

I enjoyed India Edghill’s Delilah very much so I figured I’ll pick up her novel “Queenmaker” as a follow-up.

The book is a first person narrative of Michal, King David’s first wife (out of several) and the one to hold the title of Queen. The book follows the biblical books of Samuel and II Samuel from Michal’s perspective; from her humble beginning as a daughter of Saul, a humble farmer, through his ascension to king, wars and madness. After marrying her father’s harper / war hero David she helps him escapes her father and for her help gets sold to another man until David’s army goes back to reclaim / steal her ten years later only to lock her up in his castle.

Even though Michal did not give King David an heir, being the daughter of King Saul she played an important part of legitimizing David’s claim to the throne. The author tells the tale while throwing in a dose of political intrigue, adultery, scandals, palace politics as well as sibling rivalry.

Ms. Edghill’s writing is interesting and she weaves quite a story while letting her imagination flow. The book is not difficult to read and quite appealing but I always felt as if something more interesting could have happened, but didn’t – as if the author is setting the reader up for a climax and then pulls back.

While I understand the need to take literary license with such stories I feel, as several other reviewers, that some of the finer but important points of the biblical story (such as David and Bathsheba’s first born dying) were missing and the author missed the mark on them since they were key points in the lesson of the tale.

Since this book is sold under the biblical-fiction and/or historical-fiction categories I would have liked to know more about the daily lives of the people who lived during that time instead of imagined palace life.

Also…there were typos which drive me nuts; I hope this was fixed in later editions.

Despite the inaccuracies I did enjoy reading the book even though it fell under the “chick-lit” category which, honestly, doesn’t speak to me.

This novel is not a re-telling of the story of Samson, but a complete overhaul of the familiar story – a re-imagining if you will. The bible doesn’t tell us much about Samson’s wife, or even Delilah (except that she was beautiful, Samson’s love, of the Valley of Sorek and one heck of a nag), so a lot is left to the imagination.

Even though she is barely mentioned in the bible, Delilah is almost synonymous with the ultimate vixen but in this book she is re-imagined as a priestess who loves to dance.
Samson, the biblical superman, is re-imagined as a kind hearted man whose feats are only attributed to him by the Israelites, yet he wants no part in their war or their cause.

Along the way we are introduced to several others fascinating characters Alyah – Delilah’s best friend and “heart sister and polar opposite in looks, as well as Orev – Samson’s best friend, companion and Harper extraordinaire.

The author, just like the bible, plays a lot with names and their meanings – Delilah – the dark-as-night haired beauty, Samson – Son of the Sun, Orev – the crow (messenger of death) and Alyah – which in Hebrew means “rising” and it seemed fitting in the story the author tells.
(Note: that is how I chose to interpret the names.)

The book is broken up into parts which correspond, and bare the title, of Delilah’s stages in becoming a Priestess (New Moon, Rising Moon, Full Moon etc.) since that is a big part of the story, as well as the social and political structure of the culture (I don’t know if they were accurate, but nonetheless fascinating). There are many underlying themes in the book of cultural, class and personal clashes which I thought were very clever.

I have enjoyed this book very much – it is a fantastical re-imagining of a familiar story. Once you get through the first several pages the story becomes engrossing and the author weaves the story in a clear manner, even though there are many events which take place. This is a big story, love and love lost, betrayal and faith, friendship, greed, honor and cunning.

The book is written in the historical-fiction style of one chapter told from a perspective of one characters (Delilah, Samson, Alyah, etc.) even though some of the chapters about Samson are told through the eyes of Orev.

If you are not familiar with the biblical story of Samson, I recommend reading it before you read this book just to be familiar with the references the author makes, and then you’ll be the Judge (pun intended).

Nothing short of spellbinding, this retelling of the classic tale of Samson and Delilah at once upends the traditional story while immensely enriching and deepening it. Edghill beautifully captures the clash of ancient kingdoms through what is at heart a timeless story of friendship and love. Delilah speaks to us across the chasm of time in a vividly compelling voice that makes her narrative at once utterly believable and deeply moving.

I am not a connoisseur of biblical fiction. The story is fashioned in such a way to exhibit a snapshot of the current times within the plot, and the first 1o pages were tough to get through for some reason, but as I continued on and reached an understanding of the flow, it soon became a richly rewarding experience.

Some may recognize the legendary story of Samson and Delilah that is used as a theme here. The main gist is that Delilah bewitches Samson with her famed beauty and betrays him by cutting his long hair, stripping him of his heroic powers. The novel doesn't jump right into the heart of that story, instead it guides you in slowly as you are introduced to each character one at a time. There are multiple narratives here, with the first person narrative being told by Delilah as her story began when she was ten. Delilah remained my favorite 'part' throughout the book, as the others were told in third person but with the views of several of the other characters. This typically jars me and turns me off. After I delved deeper into the story of Samson, and returned to the Delilah in first person narrative, it helped me appreciate the technique more. Halfway through the book, Delilah becomes more retrospective and leaves sentences heavy with foreshadowing.

Delilah is portrayed as the girl who simply wants to dance as a form of worship, and that is an honor she has accomplished along with her best friend, or heart-sister, Alyah. The two girls dancing together are a source of beauty and awe, as Delilah's features exhibit the night sky, and Alyah exudes the Sun with the blond hair and lighter coloring. They are treated as a precious commodity within their world of Temples and the Five Cities, and are among the best of the dancers. Alyah is just as much a part of this author's story as Delilah or Samson are; as they each share a love for the other in an amazing triangle that holds them together like a knot to the bitter end.

There is a bit of social structure that needs to be learned here, with the promotion of New Moon to Rising Moon to Full Moons; and the High Priestess ruling for the City's goddess within a Temple, who is at odds with the Prince of Ascalon.. at first a bit overwhelming for me but I eased into the story and let it become familiar to me in its own time. Along with the social structure there is also the political structure that is a large part of the story; as the struggle for power and strength in itself is a major underlying theme with Hebrews vs. Philistines, Temple vs. City, man vs. woman.

And then we finally meet the mighty Samson. Samson's beginnings are dubious and of questionable heritage but he quickly befriends Orev the Harper, and they travel together while swiftly becoming famous. Samson decides to protect a specific road for travelers, aptly names the Lion's Path. As he learns this is not the best choice for him, we follow them along travels, and shake our head at the warnings that Samson does not heed. He goes to the famed City of Ascalon. We reach our climax as we wonder what happens to Samson as he enters this city of the Philistines who see Samson as a criminal due to Hebrew's not sanctioned by Samson committing crime in Samson's name. The climatic chapter begins with quote from the age-old story that is told by the harper Orev:

"Then there came the day that mighty Samson laid his eyes upon Delilah. Delilah the Dark, Delilah of the night-black hair. Delilah, who desired Samson's heart, and Samson's soul, and would stop at nothing to claim them as her prizes. She was beautiful as night and cunning as a fennec, and she filled his eyes until he could see no other. He vowed he must have her for his own, or die of love...."

The synopsis above may seem ambiguous at first, but once you begin to learn the story that is woven here it, the plot is so much clearer. And there are so many things that occur that I would recount but I am not going to spoil anything for anyone. So I am going to cut it short and explain that there are events that occurred in India Edghill's work that pulled at my heartstrings, and the last half of the book trapped me within its words. I was awed at the story being told, yet this is not the traditional story of how Delilah beat Samson or twisted his love for her own greed. This is the story that begs to be heard, and a fantastically imagined story that makes it so much more worthwhile. Not a simple story of love, this is twisted with faith, love, betrayal, and honor that gives justice to each of Samson's and Delilah's memories. The mystery of the love and the legend that history has chained Samson with comes alive with this compelling re-imagining of both Samson, and Delilah. I recommend this for the author's fans of her previous works, and for those who want to feel what was at the heart of the legend. The imagery and characterizations alone were enough to make it worthwhile, but the story being told in this way is a delightful adventure.

This is a work of biblical historical fiction, and I bought it solely because the cover blurb said it was on the same level as The Red Tent, one of my favorite books of recent years. Unfortunately, it's not anywhere near as good as that book.

The story is a first-person account of Michal, daughter of King Saul and first wife of David. At heart, it's a story about the power of men and how they abuse that power, and how even repressed women can earn power in their own right. This involves a lot of talking. A lot. Michal is entirely removed from ongoing wars and conflicts, being secluded in the palace; there isn't even much court intrigue except for one other wife who gets snippy on occasion. It ends up being David or Bathsheba talking to Michal while she spins in the garden. That's pretty much it. The material is very interesting, but there was no suspense or conflict. Michal bides her time, waiting to pwn King David the Jerk. I pushed myself through the last half of the book just because I wanted to get it over with before I got too bored.

That said, I have the sequel to this (found it at a thrift store months ago) and I'm still going to give it a shot. Maybe part of the problem is that Queenmaker feels like a first novel. Like the author has some great ideas but is still honing her craft. Therefore, I'll give her one more chance and hope it's a better book. Or maybe I'm just masochistic. [The sequel is awesome - much, much better than Queenmaker.]

more biblical fiction

This is the sequel to my previous read, Queenmaker. That book showed tremendous promise but was hampered by the first-person viewpoint of a woman confined to a palace and removed from all action. It felt like one long dialog and very much like the author's first novel. Still, I owned the sequel already and I liked the premise, so I decided to give Wisdom's Daughter a chance. I'm so glad I did!

This book was exquisite. It corrected the problems of the first book in a huge way - there were multiple characters to follow, each with a distinct view on the same events. There are several different settings, and in this volume they are fully realized. Most of all, it is enlightening, witty, and sparkling with chemistry. The book begins with Bilquis, the Queen of Sheba, journeying north to the land of the acclaimed Solomon the Wise to find a female heir for Sheba. The heir turns out to be Baalit, Solomon's own beloved daughter of his true love first wife. Bilquis and Solomon have incredible chemistry,and I don't mean in a sexual sort; they are two intelligent, lonely adults who have found their match. Baalit is a delightful main character, too, who feels confined by the male-dominant Hebrew society and obviously is looking back on her 14-year-old self and shaking her head at her youthful errors. Wisdom's Daughter even manages to build on the main character of the previous book, Queen Michal, and makes her feel more real and genuine, even though she is dead.

Another quirk I loved about this book - King Solomon's queens. As I recall from my Sunday School days, Solomon was maligned for taking brides from pagan lands and letting them continue their believes in Jerusalem, which was then blamed for the fall of the kingdom. That is all covered here, but it includes some of the perspectives of the queens themselves and shows them as sad, lonely figures. They are far from home, married against their will, and all they have to cling to of their home is the old gods - and for some, those are even exaggerated to provide them some comfort and refuge. It provides an enlightening, more feminist view of these women who are voiceless and blamed.

This is an excellent work of historical fiction, and I highly recommend it for those who would love to explore a mostly-ignored period of time. This isn't a romance, and it's definitely not Christian in focus. It's just plain good. It will be joining The Red Tent on my shelf.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was a really good picture of a person growing from a girl to a woman, and all of the stages and emotions that she went through.

It made me want to go and read the Bible, but as literature, to see more of the story.

I loved this novel! It captivated me from the first line until the final one. I found the story to be enthralling, well thought out and full of period details that made the story come to life. This really impressed me as being more true to life than the version commonly depicted in the bible. If you liked the Red Tent, then this would be a good one for you. I am looking forward to more by this author.½