A Reluctant Queen : The Love Story of Esther By Joan Wolf

Book Description From Booksneeze.com

An inspiring 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.

My Comments :

A Reluctant Queen by Joan Wolf is a fictionalized version of the Biblical Queen Esther (The Queen biblical queen from the Book of Esther in the Old Testement). People who studied the bible wouldn't really like this book because it has been extremely romanticized and 'beautified' for the benefit of the readers. For those who are not familiar with the story of Esther would love this book, but for those who are familiar with Esther's story would feel as if there's something missing from this story, mainly Esther's background as Hadassah before she went to the king's harem and raise as queen and whatnot. The author left out a lot of things in this re-telling of Esther's story.

But then again, this book is much more emotional, passionate and descriptive than the bible. It was well written despite the fact that it has been fictionalized and romanticized and one could definitely the emotional aspect in Esther's journey to be the Queen of Persia and save the Jews from total annihilation.

This book, like a lot of Christian fictions teaches us about following God's plan. Another important message that I believe that the author is sending across through her version of Esther's story is having faith in whatever you do.

Overall, this is a good read. I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars. I received an ARC of this book from Thomas Nelson Publisher. I was not required to write a positive review for this book.