Born in the small village of Modein, a town made famous by the warrior Maccabees, Salome Alexandra knows better than to harbor grand dreams for her future. She pales in comparison to her beautiful older sister, and though she learns to read at an early age, girls are not valued for their intellectual ability. But when her father and sister are killed, John Hyrcanus, a distant relative, invites … Salome and her mother to live with his family in Jerusalem, where her thirst for knowledge is noticed and indulged.
When her guardian betroths her to a pagan prince, she questions HaShem’s plan. When Hyrcanus finally marries her to a boy half her age, she questions her guardian’s sanity. But though Salome spends much of her life as a pawn ordered about by powerful men, she learns that a woman committed to HaShem can change the world.
more
Salome’s rise to queen. Very informative long story and interesting history .
This gives an interesting peek at what life was like during those silent years between the Old and New Testaments. It’s been awhile since I have read it, but I really enjoyed it and was surprised by some of the developments. Who knew Jerusalemt ever had a queen?
I wasn’t quite sure to expect with this book but it out that it was really pretty good. Good Jewish history mixed with some fiction. I was amazed when I found out how much of it was actually true.
I was concerned that with all the history of the nation during that time and the Jewish customs that it would be dry or that I would get bored. Nope, it didn’t happen. I think mainly because of my interest in the people.
Salome is quite the character and easily kept my attention throughout. The things she went through and how deeply she loved HaShem (God), while at times not understanding what he was doing was powerful!
The people in the story were boldly written with many of them almost bigger than life. Salome’s uncle John who became High Priest for many years was one of those. As time goes on, Salome also begins to see the uncle she loves she much is also flawed.
I enjoyed the developing friendship between the young slave handmaiden Kissa and Salome was precious. They knew each other from young childhood and developed a very close bond of friendship.
Salome also had some friendships that she kept for many years. She didn’t have a huge group of friends or supporters at first. But one of them was a young man who became her tutor when she was young, was someone who remained a friend though-out her life. Another friendship that developed later in her life was a man who was a warrior leader that she was drawn to.
Brace yourself, there will be suffering, death plots, and murder in this book. Even some mass murder, thankfully those were not overly detailed. But the horror war and of all the loss of life can be almost felt.
At the end of this book there are Discussion Questions and References. I really liked that the references were included.
I voluntarily read an Advanced Copy of this book via Netgalley and these are my honest opinions of it.
Love biblical fiction? Love history? Love Angela Hunt?
With those three things, one will find excellent biblical fiction written by author Angela Hunt. Deeply researched and richly written, Jerusalem’s Queen is excellent.
A poor girl from the village of Modein, rises to the Queen of Jerusalem. Following the death of her father and sister, a messenger arrives in Modein to inform Salome Alexandra and her mother that her uncle wishes for them to move into the palace with him and his family. Her uncle is the current high priest.
Moving from the small village to the opulence of the high priest’s palace in Jerusalem results in a bit of culture shock. Suddenly, Salome and her mother have abundant food, clothing and even a soft bed to rest on. As Salome grows her uncle provides a tutor for his niece, something rather unheard of because she is female. Further astonishing those in the palace, uncle eventually hires a Torah tutor. Imagine a young girl being tutored in the Torah so many years ago!
As Salome grows into young adulthood, her reputation of being smart and wise grows. Her nephews love her and she them. Her uncle and his wife, Alena seem to dote on her. Sadly, her mother never truly recovered from the death of her husband and daughter, becoming increasingly mentally unbalanced.
With her keen mind and intellect, Salome challenges her tutors and even her uncle. Her questions regarding living by the Torah present challenges that even divided the priests. Were the followers of Adonai expected to follow every jot and tittle of the law, thousands upon thousands of rules written to clarify God’s given laws? How could any one person possibly keep all those rules? How could anyone be holy?
This entire series has been an enjoyable read and learning about this time period I admittedly know very little about was interesting. The story coming from the very different perspectives of Salome Alexandria and her Egyptian handmaid Kissa allowed for a more well rounded view of the events of this Queen’s life. I would call this a slow burn as the majority of the story is spent during Salome’s younger years in the house of her uncle John Hyrcanus, an interesting man himself. Hunt did a wonderful job researching this story and that really shines through. I’m so glad that the author and publisher decided there was one more story that needed to be told in this series and will be looking forward to reading about life in the court of King Herod! I would recommend this entire series for those looking for a good Biblical fiction read.
*I received a copy of this book from netgalley. I was not required to leave a positive review. These opinions are my own.