Delilah: Treacherous Beauty

This week we're going to look at the final book in the A Dangerous Beauty series by Angela Hunt: Delilah: A Treacherous Beauty.

First of all, hello #coverlove. I can't stop looking at this cover, probably because it has my favorite colors.

Anywho, this book was interesting because it is a depiction of a woman we don't know that much about, something Hunt discusses in her author's note. We don't know that she was necessarily a Philistine, which raises some interesting questions for the author to explore in her depiction (she had Delilah being of Crete and Egyptian descent, living in Philistine-controlled Gaza.

Hunt's exploration of the reasons behind Delilah's betrayal of Samson is really well-written. As with all of her novels, the evidence of her research is clear throughout the novel (and there's a list of sources in the back). 

What I loved in this book was how Hunt focused on the cultural importance of family in the novel. By placing Delilah as not being from any of the local people as a contrast with Samson, who though Jewish, was set apart as a Nazarite, it drove home the importance of family as both community and identity in ancient Near Eastern culture. Ultimately, it was this conflict that drew the two of them together, the mutual feeling of isolation. It definitely gives a unique perspective on what could have happened!

You can find Delilah: Treacherous Beauty here on Amazon!