The Triumph of Deborah
by Eva Etzioni-Halevy
368 pages
Historical Fiction
Plume (February 26, 2008)
Deborah is a woman who rises above the deep sadness in her life, that her husband just decided to dissolve their marriage, and gives all she has within her to protect her people, the Israelites. The Israelites are God's chosen people, but because of their lack of faith and obedience they are forced to wander throughout the desert and hope that they will be provided for, for rulers during this time they had a series of judges, Deborah being one of those judges.
It was her duty to make the major decisions for her people as well as to resolve conflicts and make settlements amongst them. In a society where women were not educated, her father believed that she deserved the education just as much as her brothers did and she was taught the Torah at an early age. Even as a youth people would come to her from far away places after having heard of her wisdom and fair hand.The Triumph of Deborah is about love and war and most everything in between. Deborah suffers from the choice of her husband and is torn when a young dashing warrior beckons to her. It would be acceptable by law, but she still feels tied emotionally to her husband.
I ended up enjoying this read more than I thought. I fell in love with Deborah, and I think if I had been a little older I would have loved her even more, she is strong and true and really gets things done. Of course, like all women she is riddled with emotion, but who can count that as a fault since we are all plagued by it!? I felt that Eva Etzioni-Halevy did a pretty good job with the writing, it isn't dazzling in its artistic appeal but it is still alive and fresh to read. The storyline had me intregued and involved. This is certainly a great book for any reader, but I specifically recommend it to those who enjoy a good Historical Fiction read. The Triumph of Deborah will be sure to please!
Eva Etzioni-Halevy's Website
6 comments:
I wasn't sure that I'd like it, but did as well!
what an interesting premise...i haven't read too much historical fiction, but this one sounds good. thank you for the review and tip. i'm jotting it down on my new mouse pad notebook! :)
I enjoyed this one as well! It's funny because for some reason, I think that the strong leaders in the Bible shouldn't have any flaws, but that is definitely not true! Of course, this is fictional, but I found myself thinking that "Deborah didn't act that way in real life" (about some of the scenes with Barak), but even though we don't really know what she was like, we do know that she wasn't perfect!
I haven't really ventured into the arena of historical fiction. But I have been reading reviews of some interesting books lately and I am itching to give it a shot..
I've heard great things about this book, I'm going to add it to the TBR list!
Glad to hear you enjoyed it. This book is in my TBR pile, and I'll be reading it very soon.
--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric
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