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!

Bathsheba: Reluctant Beauty

This week, we're going to continue with Angela Hunt's A Dangerous Beauty series and talk about Bathsheba: Reluctant Beauty.

To be honest, I struggled with the beginning of this book. Since the events of the book aren't spoilers (they are in the Bible, haha), I'm not going to worry with hiding the events. I love Angela Hunt's books, especially her more contemporary settings like Unspoken, The Canopy, and The Justice. But because this is such a well-known story, Hunt took the risk of portraying the scene of David and Bathsheba in a very different way. At the end of the novel, she explains why—how traditional expositions of this story portray Bathsheba as a manipulative adulteress, and perhaps there was an unexplored angle here. I get that and respect it, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't difficult to read or that I agreed with the portrayal of what was essentially, rape. I also struggled with the early depiction of Nathan and how he dishonored his wife because of his lust for Bathsheba.

That being said, I believe she went farther into describing the culture and beliefs of this culture than many depictions of this story. It reminded me of Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes' exploration of the shame that David felt (and its reason), which I talked about here.

I still feel like the guilt portrayed here was more from Western eyes than Eastern, but it was closer to Eastern than I had read before. And perhaps my problems with the early scenes had more to do with my Western predisposition and cultural/personal bias. This book is well written, and Hunt expertly stayed true to the character development throughout.

In addition, I appreciated how she continued the story through those central scenes, so we could understand what is can be a confusing thread of scenes in the Old Testament. It was easier to see the connection between the consequences of this initial sin and how it impacted following generations.

Click here to purchase the book here on Amazon!

Esther: Royal Beauty

Okay, we are switching back to Biblical fiction, this time with two different fictional retellings of Esther's story!

First, this week we'll look at Angela Hunt's Esther, the first in her A Dangerous Beauty series.

I'm a fan of Angela Hunt, and Esther is a favorite story of mine, so when I saw that this author and written a re-telling of this story, I had to check it out.

This story is told from 2 characters' viewpoints: Esther's (her Jewish name is Hadassah) and King Xerxes' chamberlain (eunuch), Harbonah. The reader is able to follow Hadassah's journey from a child to queen, while also reading from an "insider's" perspective through Harbonah.

It's a great retelling, and really takes the reader into Hadassah's world. I also loved the depiction of Haman. She wrote him to almost to be like Wormtongue in Tolkien's The Two Towers, in an ostentatious sort of way. You can definitely see this progression in Hunt's portrayal, and because of her deep dive into the characters' flaws and inner struggles, can understand better how it happened—which makes the victory at the end all the more incredible!

If you like the story of Esther, this is a great read. Click here to purchase on Amazon!