Bathsheba. If you have been a church goer for any length of time, you have heard the name. What comes to mind? David? Adultery? Murder? Solomon? For me, all of those things and I must admit that I didn't ever look to Bathsheba and say "I want to be like her." However, she is an excellent example of how God can take something evil and turn it around for God and His purpose. It is truly a story of redemption.
Bathsheba: Reluctant Beauty by Angela Hunt is a fictionalized version of Bathsheba's life from a small girl who was prophesied to be "mother to a great man" and "affect the future of Israel" through her young adulthood and marriages, one of which was to King David and not through the ordinary love story. The story is told from both Bathsheba's perspective as well as that of Nathan the prophet with the chapters going back and forth between the two. The volume also includes a dozen discussion questions perfect for a book club.
Angela Hunt has written several novels of Biblical fiction. While I haven't read each of them, the ones I have are well researched and thought out. I have no doubt that the Bible is exactly what God intended it to be and that the background information on Biblical characters is, again, exactly what He wanted there. I do enjoy author's attempts to breathe life into the history though and must caution myself not to take the fiction I read as Truth. This novel, though, prompted me to search the Scriptures a bit deeper to discover exactly who Bathsheba was. Have I given her a bad wrap all these years or was it always her deepest longing to please Adonai?
In short, I loved it as I have loved all of Angela Hunt's writing. One of my favorites? Probably The Note along with the movie. HOWEVER, this may take it's place.
I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and was in no way obligated to leave a positive one.
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