Jewel of Persia

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed reading Jewel of Persia by Roseanna White, which was the November selection for Carrie's book club.  I'm not generally a fan of fictionalized Bible stories, but this story was less about Esther and more about the historical time period and the fictional Kasia.  I have to admit I was impressed by the historical information she incorporated into the story.

In a nutshell, it's a love story about a fictional Jewish girl who becomes one of King Xerxes's wives as he is seeking to expand the kingdom.  There are undercurrents of conflict due to the false god the Persians serve and the One True God of the Jews.  As the spiritual battle comes to a head, Esther is chosen to be the queen and bravely appeals to the king to allow her people to defend themselves against Hamen's edict.

I enjoyed White's writing as I was sucked into the plot and made to care about the characters.  She did a good job presenting Xerxes as a well-rounded character who struggled between his personal feelings as a man and his duties and power as king.  There were also sub-plots going on as the former queen and Hamen conspired against the Jews and a Jewish man struggled simultaneously with his vocational calling, his desires, and submission to the Lord.

White illustrated many spiritual concepts including forgiveness, repentance, submission, trust in the Lord's deliverance, remaining faithful in difficult times and even under persecution, the power of prayer, and sacrificial love.  I mention these themes because two of my biggest complaints against so-called Christian fiction are 1) the poor writing and 2) the wimpy spiritual themes.  Often they stamp a "christian" label on it just because the characters go to church or something similar rather than truly addressing spiritual concepts.  Many books not labeled as "christian fiction", especially classics, do a better job illustrating redeeming themes than our modern christian fiction genre.  (stepping off soapbox)

While I probably shouldn't get hung up on it since it's really not the point of the book, I can't help dwelling on the idea of sharing my husband with other wives.  While White doesn't go into inappropriate detail on Xerxes's marital (and extramarital!) relations, she nevertheless paints a vivid picture of life in a harem.  I will just say right here that I am far too possessive, jealous, insecure, selfish, and whatever other words you would like to use to calmly and lovingly accept the necessity of my husband paying attention to his other wives and providing them with children.

Overall, I enjoyed this read and am glad Annette chose it.  I liked it well enough I am seriously considering adding another Roseanna White title (perhaps A Stray Drop of Blood) to my incredibly long list of books I would like to read some day.