Come back tomorrow to take part in the Miriam Scavenger Hunt. There will be a grand prize giveaway along with a raffle on each blog for a copy of Miriam and The Pharaoh's Daughter.
Description: At eighty-six, Miriam had devoted her entire life to loving El Shaddai and serving His people as both midwife and messenger. Yet when her brother Moses returns to Egypt from exile, he brings a disruptive message. God has a new name – Yahweh – and has declared a radical deliverance for the Israelites.
Miriam and her beloved family face an impossible choice: cling to familiar bondage or embrace uncharted freedom at an unimaginable cost. Even if the Hebrews survive the plagues set to turn the Nile to blood and unleash a maelstrom of frogs and locusts, can they weather the resulting fury of the Pharaoh?
Enter an exotic land where a cruel Pharaoh reigns, pagan priests wield black arts, and the Israelites cry out to a God they only think they know.
My Thoughts: In my opinion, the best part of Biblical fiction is experiencing the stories of the Bible as though we were there, reading the events as though hearing them from a close friend. Mesu's Miriam brings the Biblical plagues and the Israelites' departure from Egypt into vivid focus, including the horrifying results of plagues which are not expanded upon in the Bible. Through the eyes of Miriam and her nephew Eleazar, the reader is able to see the full destruction of Egypt and the mighty hand of Yahweh.
For me, Miriam as not as enjoyable as The Pharaoh's Daughter. This story follows Biblical text far closer then it's predecessor, leaving the reader with fewer questions as to how it was going to end. This is not to say that there were no surprises, Mesu includes enough characters who are not mentioned in the Bible to keep the reader guessing up until near the very end.
What makes Miriam stand out however is themes of love and obedience. The main characters constantly struggled with balancing their love for others with obedience to their masters. Tied into these themes is the concept of trust and the consequences of placing it in the wrong things.
Miriam is a rich novel, full of strong themes and complex characters. It is one I am grateful to add to my Biblical fiction library and will be sharing with my friends.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher exchange for an honest review.
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