Review

From Publishers Weekly

Touted as rivaling Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, this novel by the prolific evangelical Christian author Hunt starts well, but falters toward the end. In a series of first-person narratives, the life of Moses unfolds through the eyes of three women: his sister Miryam, Egyptian foster mother Merytamon and young Midianite wife, Zipporah. Hunt's writing is at its most compelling as she recounts life in the Egyptian palace through Merytamon, capturing her fears of losing Moses if his Hebrew heritage is made known. Unfortunately, the novel suffers from glitches just as events are coming to a climax. When Moses kills an Egyptian overseer, the event seems contrived, and Hunt's recountings of the plagues God visits on the Egyptians range from spine-tingling to yawn-inducing. Chapters tend to be either too short (half a page) or too long (74 pages), and Hunt habitually tells rather than shows. Although there are brief revivals in the storytelling (as when Miryam sojourns in the wilderness while suffering from leprosy), the novel never quite regains its early momentum. Still, it's a much more CBA-friendly tale than Diamant's (a circumcision is described without the word "penis" being mentioned, for example), and Hunt's portrayal of Moses is more accessible and upbeat than Simone Zelitch's in Moses in Sinai. Hunt is one of the CBA's more polished novelists, and conservative Christian readers who dismissed The Red Tent for its edgy spirituality and frank sexuality will find little to quibble with here and much to enjoy.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
The three main women in Moses's life narrate his dramatic story from their perspectives. Miryam, his seven-year-old sister, and Merytamon, his 14-year-old adoptive mother, cover his early years as an Egyptian prince. Nine-year-old Zipporah, his future wife, tells of Moses' time with her father, a priest, and their family. After God reveals himself to Moses, Miryam recounts the liberation of the Jewish people and their escape from Egypt, and Zipporah and Miryam recall the years in the wilderness. The animosity and jealousy Miryam feels for both Merytomon and Zipporah flood the narrative, poisoning their happiness, but Moses takes scant notice, focused as he is on his task of serving God. Hunt's (The Immortal; The Note) sure writing and attention to fascinating details, such as Egyptian make-up customs and the cooking techniques of nomadic desert dwellers, add new dimensions to an overly familiar tale. Give this deftly handled treatment of shadow women from the Bible to fans of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent and book discussion groups.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Award-winning author Angela Hunt has written more than 130 books for adults and children. Read more about her work at www.angelahuntbooks.com.