Born in the small village of Modein, a town made famous by the warrior Maccabees, Salome Alexandra knows better than to harbor grand dreams for her future. She pales in comparison to her beautiful older sister, and though she learns to read at an early age, girls are not valued for their intellectual ability. But when her father and sister are killed, John Hyrcanus, a distant relative, invites Salome and her mother to live with his family in Jerusalem, where her thirst for knowledge is noticed and indulged.

When her guardian betroths her to a pagan prince, she questions HaShem’s plan. When Hyrcanus finally marries her to a boy half her age, she questions her guardian’s sanity. But though Salome spends much of her life as a pawn ordered about by powerful men, she learns that a woman committed to HaShem can change the world.

Out November 2018

384 pages approx.

MY THOUGHTS:

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

We have here a biblical fiction about a rather unknown era in history that takes place in Jerusalem. This historical fiction is well-researched and somewhat sad.  Angela Hunt did a stupendous job with this topic since there’s not a lot out there about this Queen. She based her fiction on what facts she could uncover and did a fantastic job filling in the blanks with realistic fiction.

Character development was strong and successful.  You went on the journey beside the character in a strongly-paced plot, like a moderate burn, to the conclusion which I found sad.

I couldn’t get over how everyone around Salome failed her in one way or another and how she remained true to herself throughout despite what must have hurt.

I enjoyed this book and the woman on the cover is gorgeous.

I gave it: