Abigail - A Novel: 2 (The Wives of King David)

This author does an amazing job on weaving a storyline! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story and look forward to reading the next book in the series.....

Helped to imagine how scripture could have played out

The first half of the book was interesting the second one not much so

I’ve read a lot of Jill Eileen Smith’s books but I loved this one best of all (so far). Abigail is such a lovely, faithful and humble person and Jill brings her to life in a way I could never have imagined possible.King David is faithfully represented and also humanised. The myth of the shepherd-boy giant slayer becomes a richly drawn and very human story. David comes across as a hugely charismatic, powerful and decisive war-leader. He is also a King whose responsibilities and sometimes impulsive emotions threaten to overwhelm him.Both characters are colourfully drawn. I cried, I laughed and my pulse skipped a beat more than once during the sometimes heart breaking complexities of polygamous marriage and the hugely dynastic, warring traditions of the time.I’m about to begin reading about Bathsheba’s part in David’s life. I’ll let you know how I get on…

Jill has written this book with excellent attention to detail and obviously, after a great deal of thought and study. I had a lot of trouble with excessively heavy biases in all the books in this series. I will not be reading further books, as I have Jewish roots and do not wish to read about my forebears in this manner.While it can be of inestimable value to take those whose lives are described in the Bible and tell their story in fiction, it is an area which is problematic. In building plot and understanding, we can misrepresent those people. Judgements and inaccurate motivations can be assigned to people (not 'characters,' those in the Bible are people deserving respect) without intention to offend. These stay in the mind's of readers and can have a negative effect on their reading of the Word.The constant, hostile interaction between David's wives, and some of the more intimate aspects of the book, made me cringe. David was constantly portrayed in a negative, one dimensional way, which made no sense it the light of his documented spiritual character. I skipped over many parts and would dearly have loved to see Abigail potrayed as the capable woman she was; not a modern version with 21st century values and less backbone.BUT if you take fiction as that: a wonderful story with grains of truth, then Jill's books are a great read. They do make you think deeper.God bless you Jill. I am sorry I couldn't say something more positve, I have really battled with these reviews... But at the end of the day, this is my blood family and loyalty won out.