About the book:
Canaan has ravaged Israel. The people are in hiding. All that stands between surrender and hope is one untested woman.
Deborah will never forget the day her father and brothers left to worship at the Lord's tabernacle--or the wails of her mother after finding their bodies at the city gates. The memories of Canaan's cruelty haunt her and all of Israel. Now in this dark time, the Lord calls on Deborah to lead His people away from the idols of other nations and back to Him.
Deborah never asked to be a prophetess or a judge over God's people. Still, she cannot deny His voice or the visions that accompany it. Can her family ever understand? Will her people believe God's calling on her life? And can the Canaanite menace be stopped?
With her trademark impeccable research and imaginative storytelling, Jill Eileen Smith brings to life the story of Israel's most powerful woman in this intriguing and inspiring novel.
My review:
This was a wonderful story that really brought the Biblical Deborah to life! I always enjoy the author's writing and the characters were so vivid and truly felt like real people with hopes and dreams, failures and problems. I loved the multiple story lines, from Deborah to her daughter to Jael to Barak. It's likely that Deborah struggled with knowing what God wanted her to say and do and feeling unworthy. It was unheard of for a woman to have such an important place in society back then. It was fascinating to think of what Deborah's relationship with her husband and daughter could have been like, especially assuming Deborah was a strong woman and that a daughter of hers could have followed in her footsteps. Jael, the woman who ended up killing a Canaanite leader, was fleshed out and given a backstory and Barak was fighting for his people and still not over the death of his wife while starting to have feelings for Deborah's daughter, Talya. There were some romantic moments between the different couples. I really liked seeing Talya's growth from a spoiled and manipulative girl to a mature young woman. Forgiveness and keeping God first were important themes. It was hard to imagine how horrible it would have been to live back then as the cruel Canaanites' were always attacking and the Israelites were wondering when they would be rescued. There was a great blend of historical, spiritual and personal elements in the story. This is a complete stand-alone, though it's within a series. I highly recommend this book for men or women who like historical and Biblical fiction!
I received this book free from Revell in exchange for an honest review.
The Author
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© Amanda Matilla Photography Jill Eileen Smith
Jill Eileen Smith is the bestselling author of The Crimson Cord, The Wives of King David series, the Wives of the Patriarchs series, and the ebook novellas The Desert Princess and The Shepherdess. Her research into the lives of biblical...
Continue reading about Jill Eileen Smith
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