I love the story of Esther in the Old Testament and when this book became available I quickly jumped on board. I am also a historical fiction junkie. I am crazy about history. I don't think I have to explain the details of Esther since I think most of my readers already know the story of Esther.
A Reluctant Queen
by Joan Wolf
Thomas Nelson
June 2011
I would have to say that I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book it is kind of a love hate type of feeling towards the book. I do like the book and would recommend it highly to others if you are looking for a good christian fiction read.
The author writes beautifully and the characters seem so real she is descriptive, inspiring and heartwarming. She gives them emotions that anyone can relate to. Esther is full of compassion and love. The author makes you want to have a friend like her. She is honest, fun, playful and trustworthy. What's not to love about someone with those qualities when the author brings them out the way she does.
The Great King is very likeable and knows how to separate his duties as king, husband, father, and friend. The author talks about all the political intrigue and tension that he must of dealt with as king
You forget sometimes that Esther had to deal with the Persian king having a Harlem and the rollercoaster of emotions she must of dealt with being in that situation. The author makes you think about so many things other than that situation that I don't think of when I read the Biblical account of Esther.
I know and expect an author that writes biblical novels must add fictional details and make assumptions, in my opinion, this author goes a little way out there. Adding details is fine, changing the facts found in the Bible when in my opinion there is enough of information in the book of Esther to form a novel around the bibical acount. The author acknowledges that she "took liberties" with the Biblical accounts in her story.
Some examples would be that Mordecci is an Uncle instead of a cousin. The king is Ahasuerus and Xeres is the king's brother. And there’s no mentioning Esther’s real name, Hadassah before she went to the palace. Her Jewish culture was taken lightly. I have a hard time believing Esther would of done some of the things she did because of her Jewish culture. That is just a few examples. I really disliked the way she portrayed Haman. She made him into a likable guy who just made a bad choice at the end due to jealousy. I wanted to throw the book a few times when Haman was mentioned in the manner he was portrayed in the story.
I would still recommend this book if you can read it as a fictional book and overlook the biblical account of the story. Thanks Joan for a beautifully written story. I would read her other stories when they come out.
