A Reluctant Queen: The Love Story of Esther

Title: A Reluctant Queen

SubTitle: The Love Story of Esther

Publisher:Thomas Nelson

Pub Date:14 June 2011

ISBN: 9781595548764

Author:Joan Wolf

It’s difficult to read a book when you already know the story in it and it gets much more worst when you have high expectation from the book in question. That is what happened when I read this book, A Reluctant Queen: The Love Story of Esther by Joan Wolf.

The story of this book is based on the Biblical Queen Esther of Persia. This novel is very well written. Highly descriptive, inspiring and heartwarming, but since it’s based on a biblical story- The Book of Esther in the Old Testament, I can’t help but notice that certain things had been change to beautify the novel. For example, in most Bible translation, Mordecai is more recognized as Esther’s cousin who fostered her when her parents died, not her uncle. And there’s no mentioning Esther’s real name, Hadassah before she went to Ahasuerus harem and became the Queen of Persia. This book is pretty romanticized, I must say.

Perhaps if I ought to take this book as a fiction instead of a memoir or a biography of Esther, I would have been more satisfied.But then again, I’ll give credit where it’s due. It is difficult to write a story based on what people already know. This book is inspiring nevertheless and I enjoyed it very much. The author did a good job in bringing the Persian court and culture to life, and for that, I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Book description:

An inspired re-imagining of the tale of Esther, a young Jewish woman thrust from a life of obscurity into a life of power, wealth, intrigue . . . and tender love.

See the story of Esther in an entirely new way-with all the political intrigue and tension you remember, but told as a passionate and tender love story between a young man and woman. Misunderstood by many, King Xerxes was a powerful but lonely man. Esther’s beauty caught the eye of the young king, but it was her spirit that captured his heart.

Imagine anew the story of Esther, one of our faith’s great heroines, destined to play a key role in the history of Christianity.

I received an ARC of this book from Thomas Nelson Publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write any positive review for the book. For Booksneeze reviewers, this book will be available for review in May 2011. Do KIV for it if you’re interested.

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