Why I love to Write Novels Set in The Biblical Period

I am by profession a sociologist, and sometimes people raise their eyebrows at me and ask: what overcame you, an academic person, to write these colorful novels set in the biblical period.

My reply is that, having written heavy academic books for years, I wanted to burst out into a completely different direction and write light books that people would not have to read for their coursework but would want to read for fun and reading pleasure. So I "reincarnated" myself as a novelist.

But then--some people ask--why turn to the writing of biblical novels?

My reply is that the Bible is not what many people think it is. In recent years I began to read the Bible, and I was entranced by it. I found it to be full of the most dramatic and the most traumatic stories about people who lived thousands of years ago, and yet are so strikingly similar to us in their anxieties, hopes and desires. I began to identify in particular with the women whose lives I could visualize as if they were my own.

So I decided to hand them a "loudspeaker," so that their voices could be heard loud and clear across the generations. I have done so in three novels, of which THE TRIUMPH OF DEBORAH is the most recent.

I wrote about them as I believe they deserve to be written about: tales of love, betrayal and redemption, with sensuous scenes, and twisting, suspenseful plots. Yet they are totally faithful to the Scripture and do not deviate from it, by even a hair's breadth.

But the biblical stories are brief and leave many gaps, and those I filled out with my imagination, my research, my identification and most importantly with the sense that this is how things really happened.

The next question I have been asked is: why do you identify with biblical women?

I do so because I find them inspiring for us today. They lived in a male-dominated society, in which they had few legal rights and their position in the family and society was far from equal to that of men. Yet they were strong personalities, who did not just sit around and bemoan their fate. Instead, they took destiny into their own hands and shaped it to do their bidding.

Deborah is a prime example. Despite the dismal conditions for women prevailing at the time, she "cracked the glass ceiling" over three thousand years ago, and did so without losing her femininity.

What contemporary women can learn from Deborah—as portrayed in the Bible and amplified in my novel--is that no matter what the field in which they choose to realize their potential, no matter what is right for them, they can draw on their inner feminine strength to achieve their goals.

In conclusion, THE TRIUMPH OF DEBORAH (like my previous novels) is not only for people interested in the Bible. It is a light novel designed for anyone who likes an enjoyable read. It is a tribute not only to the feminine power of Deborah, but to that of all women, in biblical times and in ours.

Eva Etzioni-Halevy

http://www.women-in-the-bible.com/

The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy

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.

First of all I have to thank author Eva Etzioni-Halevy for sending me her book. When she first contacted me I hesitated at first because I'm always a bit wary of reading books set in the Biblical period, in fact, till now I had only read one - The Red Tent - which I absolutely loved, and so I decided to give it a go. I'm very happy that I did. This book was an absolute page turner and I just couldn't put it down.

Although it is called The Triumph of Deborah the action revolves also around Barak, the warrior who defeated the Canaanites, as well Asherah and Nogah, the two daughters of the Canaanite King that he eventually marries.

Deborah is a Judge and a Prophetess of the Israelites, for years the Israelites and the Canaanites have been at war and after a first attempt at peace Deborah believes they will have to defeat the Canaanites so they can have peace. She enlists the help of Barak for the war but by doing so alienates her husband who divorces her. Against all odds the warrior defeats the powerful Canaanite army and eventually will invade and destroy the fortress of Jadin, the Canaanite king and bring his women as prisoners, Asherah, his youngest daughter and widow of Sisra, the army commander Barak defeated and Nogah, his daughter by an Israelite slave.

I found the relationship that each women forms with Barak very interesting. They try to stay true to what and who they are which is not always easy. While they are not always likeable we can understand their actions and worries. Deborah, who would like to have a relationship with him but knows that she must stay true to her role as a judge and prophetess, Asherah who finds it difficult to have any kind of tender feelings towards the man who destroyed her world and Nogah who is grateful that he saved her mother but is uncomfortable with her role in his life. In different ways they all show strength, resiliance and independence. Barak is usually more preoccupied with his wars and working his fields than women, his use for them is normally of a temporary nature, but as the women have to adapt to the changes in their lives so he will have to change his behaviour according to his feelings.

The story gives an interesting glimpse of the way of life at the time, both in palaces and farms, as well as about the status of women and the behaviour of men. I don’t know much about this period but I must say I am now curious and ready to go and do some investigation. It’s a very easy read with solid and interesting characters.

Grade: 4.5/5

Lion's Honey by David Grossman

Samson the hero; a brave warrior, leader of men and Nazarite of God? Or a misfit given to whoring and lust, who failed to fulfil his destiny? In Lion's Honey, award-winning writer David Grossman takes on one of the most vivid and controversial characters in the Bible. Revisiting Samson's famous battle with the lion, his many women and his betrayal by them all - including the only one he ever loved - Grossman gives us a provocative new take on the story and its climax, Samson's final act of death, bringing down a temple on himself and 3000 Philistines.

In exhilarating and lucid prose, Grossman reveals the journey of a single, lonely, tortured soul who never found a true home in the world, who was uncomfortable in his very body and who, some might say, was the precursor of today's suicide bombers.

I originally added this book to my TBR list because it is part of the Myths series published by Canongate. Other books that I have read from this series are Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith (about the Celtic god of dreams and love) and Weight by Jeanette Winterson which is a retelling of the story of Atlas and Hercules. Given that those were both retellings, albeit with a bit of modern day storytelling added in Dream Angus, I was expecting another retelling when I read this book. That is not what I got.

If I was to be the person cataloguing this book I am not sure that I would have even called it fiction. The first few pages of the book are the story of Samson, taken directly from the King James Version of the Bible. I guess I was a little surprised to see that, but then again, it isn't terribly long so I though 'okay that's probably as good a place as any to start'.

What followed was more of a long essay dissecting the Bible story trying to ascertain motive for some of Samson's actions including but not limited to dissecting his relationship with his parents, why he lived amongst the Philistines, and the women that he was associated with. A couple of examples - Why did he feel the need to use 300 pairs of foxes to burn the Philistines fields and why did he not tell his parents that he had killed a lion with his bare hands, and most importantly, why was it that he told Delilah the secret of his strength.

In saying that it was not what I expected, I am not saying that I didn't enjoy it because for the most part I did. It was very interesting to read through the text and then refer to the footnotes at the back which may have been referencing the Torah, or some other studies of Samson done by a variety of scholars over the years.

Would I have picked it up if it had not been part of this series - probably not. Do I feel compelled to pick up any other work from this author - not really. It was a quick read, and different from most other things I read.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Ana says:

When I finished this book I was totally overwhelmed by what I had just finished reading. I think it is one of the best books I've read this year.

This is a book about women, about their strength and ability to keep their dignity and traditions in a period where men held most of the power. It also shows the importance of family bond's and story telling as a way to pass history and culture from one generation to the other.

This is also a book of historical fiction based on a biblical episode mentioned in Genesis 34. I couldn't resist doing some research to find out more about Dinah. She really is just a footnote in the Bible but Diamant gives her and the women of her tribe a wonderful dimension. Not only that but she makes the settings - Mesopotamia, Canaan, Egypt - come alive. We can almost smell, feel and see the places that she describes. We will never know the true story but this is a fabulous account of what might have been.


Marg says:

This is one of the earliest reviews that I wrote, because when I finished it I just HAD to talk about it to anyone I could. Even now, nearly two years later, if someone asks for a rec this is one of the first books I will mention!

Normally when I think of historical fiction as a genre, for me it is generally going to be about royalty of the years after about 1000AD and usually British, but not exclusively. However, I recently read The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, set in ancient times in Mesopotamia, Canaan and Egypt, and am really glad that I expanded my range of times to accommodate this book.

The Red Tent is the story of Jacob's daughter Dinah. She is mentioned in Genesis in the Bible and in Chapter 34 we are told the story of what happened to her. What Anita Diamant has done is filled in the outlines as provided in the Old Testament, telling stories of what it was like growing up as the only daughter of Jacob (who came to be regarded as one of the major characters of the Old Testament – no less than the father of Israel), of her life with her mothers, what it was like to practice as a midwife in those times.

Jacob had four wives, two of whom were named as sisters in the Old Testament, and the other two being their servants. Diamant names them all as having the same father, but only two of them (the beautiful Rachel and her older sister Leah) were acknowledged by him. What this means for the Dinah we come to know is that all four women are both her mothers and her aunts. During Dinah's childhood we come to know the four women, each of whom have different skills and hold different places in Jacob's heart. We hear the stories of the Red Tent, where the women withdraw each month at the new moon for rest and fellowship, we hear the stories of the births of children, and of some deaths in childbirth of both mother and children. Most of all we are treated to what it may have been like to live in fellowship as a woman with other women in Old Testament times.

Eventually, as Dinah grows she begins to follow one of her aunts and begins to train as a midwife. This brings her to the city of Shechem where Dinah's life changes completely. In the Bible, once we hear of the events as they occurred at Shechem we hear no more of her, and here Diamant takes Dinah on a journey that leads Dinah to eventually live in Egypt.

The story as written by Diamant is touching, and surprising, and gives plenty of thought provoking suggestions of how life may have lived in ancient times. The use of the household gods throughout the story surprised me a lot, but I can see how Diamant builds on what we have been told in the Bible and taken her story to this point from those references. I was so interested in this story I did find myself referring back to the Old Testament to try and work out which parts of the story were directly from there, and which parts were enhancements.

I loved this book and would rate it as 5 out of 5. I was sorry when it ended, but I am sure there will come a time in the not too distant future where I will find myself revisiting the life and times of the only daughter of Jacob.

Kailana Says:

This is one of the first reviews I ever wrote, so it is not the best review ever, but here are my thoughts.

I am not a very religious person, so this story is not something I am overly familiar with. It is the story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob from the Bible. Not even having to research the story, I can say that this is more information than appears in the story of the Bible. It is a woman's perspective of her life and the life of the people around her.

The story starts back in the time of her mothers. Four sisters that would end up marrying the same man: Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah. They marry Jacob, who is the important chapter in the Book of Genesis. Dinah tells the story from before she was born until the moments after she dies in the last pages of the novel. Leah was the woman that gave birth to her. She was the hard-working woman that gave birth to the majority of Jacob's sons. Rachel was the beauty, and the second wife. She gave birth to two of Jacob's sons, and was a midwife that influenced Dinah's later life. The last two wives were Zilpah and Bilhah. Zilpah had little interest in her husband, she always seemed to live in her own world. Bilhah was the calm and quiet member of the family, until she does something so shocking that Jacob turns his back.

Dinah grew up with her mothers' love, as she considered all these women one of her mothers. She was the only daughter, so she got special attention from these women that would sustain her through the rest of her life, even when they were apart. A great travesty happened in her life, and she turned her back on her family and travelled to Egypt where she had a son, met the man she would spend the rest of her life with, and discovered a whole new family. She was considered a great midwife, Rachel's legacy to her, and well-respected in her own world. Near the end of her life she travels to her homeland where she sees her grown up brothers that were still living, she has twelve, and makes peace with her past.

It is a lovely tale, it does not matter what part of the world it takes place in or the time frame. It is about the struggle of women to have a life in a male-dominated society and have a voice for their beliefs. Dinah overcomes great obstacles to become a great woman of Egypt. I recommend this book to everyone.