Review: Dark Hour by Ginger Garrett

Dark Hour
By: Ginger Garrett
Publisher: NavPress
ISBN: 1-57683-869-2

About the book:

One of the darkest and bloodiest stories of all time comes not from a medieval battlefield but from inside one of the most opulent palaces ever built. The strategies come not from men eager to extend their influence but from women bent on exercising their wit and prowess in a kingdom not their own. Treason and murder are fair game. Marriage is manipulation, a means to an end. Children are the enemy. And the days of the House of David are numbered -- unless one woman can find the strength to conquer them all.

Review:

"The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you...Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever" (2 Samuel 7:11,16).

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers" (Genesis 3:15).

Years before, God promised David that his descendants "shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel" (1 Kings 9:5). But in Israel that promise is a distant memory, dimmed with the passage of time, and the royal house has been infiltrated by idolaters with dreams power and a burning desire to see the Jewish faith permanently discarded in favor of gods such as Baal. The kingdom has become divided. In Israel, Ahab rules with the scheming Jezebel at his side. One of their daughters, Athaliah, is sent to Judah to marry Jehosophat's heir, the prince Jehoram. And Athaliah is every inch her mother's daughter, bringing to her marriage new gods and a burning desire to control the throne and rival her mother's power in the north.

In Dark Hour, the first novel in the Serpent Moon Trilogy, Ginger Garrett brings this small slice of Old Testament history to vivid, colorful life. Garrett's scriptural source material is 2 Chronicles 21-23, the story of Jehoram and his son Ahaziah, and how both were manipulated by Athaliah's machinations and perverse religious influence. She was nearly successful in her carefully planned attempt to usurp the throne and destroy the line of David. Athaliah, daughter of the infamous Jezebel, absorbed all of her mother's ways, and sought at every turn to undermine the Jewish faith and consolidate power to herself and her gods of wood and stone. Her nemesis is Jehoshebeth, the daughter of Athaliah's strongest rival among Jehoram's wives. Jehoshebeth's mother dies giving birth to her, and in her death throes prophesied that her child would be Athaliah's doom. Athaliah, confident in herself and the power of her gods, raised the girl to be ignorant of her true parentage and grew complacent, forgetting her dead rival's words until her pride and ambition led to her downfall. Athaliah ruled on her own for six years following a murder spree she ordered to eliminate her rivals to the throne. One woman dared to stand against Athaliah's murderous schemes and saved the life of Joash, an heir of David, who was eventually crowned and in so doing restored the Davidic dynasty to the throne.

Out of these brief scripture references, Garrett has crafted a stunning novel that illuminates this criticual juncture in biblical history. As Garrett states in her Author's Note, "[t]heoretically, other heirs of the house of David might have been alive to continue the bloodline. But God used Joash. It's startling to think that the future of Christianity, of the person of Jesus Christ, was held in the hands of one terrified woman defying an evil queen." Based on the 2 Chronicles account, little is known of Jehoshebeth. The Bible hints at the incredible bravery and devotion to God that it must have taken to risk all in incredibly dark and dangerous times. In Dark Hour Garrett carefully crafts a very real, flawed heroine who struggles with faith, courage, and destiny, and whose bravery stands as a shining example of God's faithfulness to His promises.

Dark Hour is biblical fiction at its best -- an absorbing, meticulously researched, well-written account of a dark chapter in biblical history. Garrett is a master storyteller and succeeds in a stunning fashion, fleshing out the scriptures and bringing ancient Israel and her people to vivid life. Dark Hour more than succeeded in holding my interest -- it inspired me to delve deeper into the scriptures for further study of the fascinating history illuminated in the novel. In her Author's Note Garrett states:

"For those of you, like me, who once believed the lie that the Bible is a tale of repressed women mastered by men and submitting through force, coming to the tale of Athaliah and Jehoshebeth is a shock. Athaliah did what no woman had ever done, ruling as sole monarch in Judah. Jehoshebeth was a formidable enemy and ultimately proved her undoing. I read the Bible now and am impressed with the role of women in the story..."

Well said. I very much look forward to more from Ms. Garrett. Read this novel and be fascinated and encouraged by this incredible story of God's promises and His faithfulness shown through the life of a woman willing to stand for truth.

Note: I originally reviewed Dark Hour back in 2006, and it was my first read by Ginger Garrett, and remains one of my favorite examples of Biblical fiction done extraordinarily well. As you can see from the cover image, as well as my review, Dark Hour was originally supposed to be the first of a three-book series -- the original publisher, however, moved in a different direction with their fiction line, and the remaining two stories (as noted in my Amazon review) about Samson and Delilah and Ahab, Jezebel, and Elijah were left without a publishing home.

Happily that is no longer the case, and as I mentioned a few days ago, Samson and Delilah's story, Desired, is slated to release October 1st!

Review: Gods & Kings by Lynn Austin

Gods & Kings (Chronicles of the Kings #1)
By: Lynn Austin
Publisher: Bethany House
ISBN: 0764229893

About the book:

He was born to rule the people of God…but Yahweh is only a vague, powerless memory in the minds of His people.

Though born the second son of King Ahaz, Hezekiah is not protected from his father’s perverted attempts to gain the favor of the idol Molech. Terrified and powerless at the foot of Molech’s altar, Hezekiah encounters for the first time the one true God of his royal ancestry, Yahweh.

But his journey to the Holy One is riddled by influence from an assortment of men: Zechariah, a grandfather of noble standing who has fallen into drunkenness; Uriah, the High Priest whose lust for power forces him to gamble the faith he proclaims; and Shebna, the Egyptian intellectual who guides Hezekiah’s instruction.

For the two women who love Hezekiah, the meaning of love – and it’s sacrificial essence – will direct the course of their lives and help shape the young prince’s future.

Review:

Hezekiah, prince of Judah, lives in a kingdom under siege from hostile forces within and without. His father, King Ahaz, has abandoned the worship of Yahweh and led his nation into idolatry. Gods & Kings chronicles Hezekiah's coming of age, detailing his turbulent childhood when he saw his father sacrifice his older brother Eliab to the pagan god Molech. Overwhelmed by fear, Hezekiah first encounters the life-changing touch of God through the love and teaching of his grandfather, Zechariah, a Levitical priest. These seeds of faith are all that Hezekiah has to guide him in a kingdom threatened by invasion and corrupted by idolatry. But surrounded by threats to his very existance, can he hope to survive and be given the chance to change the future of his country?

This is one of the best biblical fiction series out there, easily on par with Angela Hunt's Legacies of the Ancient River series. I don't feel that Austin's writing is as strong or her characters quite as well-developed as is evident in her later books (such as the Christy award-winning novels Candle in the Darkness and Fire By Night), but that's a very minor issue. Austin does an excellent job bringing the world of ancient Judah to life in all of its color, pageantry, danger, and intrigue. She breathes fresh life into the character of Hezekiah, creating a flesh-and-blood man whose struggles and weaknesses make his triumphs as one of Judah's greatest kings all the more inspiring. And the book lives up to perhaps the best measure of whether or not biblical fiction succeeds or fails - it inspires study of the actual biblical text.

When reading this book (incidentally this was my second time), I was struck by how timely the story felt. Hezekiah was one small drop in an overwhelming sea of danger and false gods, but God used his life to literally change the course of an entire nation and people. So read, study, and be inspired as Austin helps to bring to life the truth of 2 Chronicles 7:14 -- "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Scripture references: 2 Kings 16; 2 Kings 18:1-3; 2 Chronicles 28: 1-8, 16-27; 2 Chronicles 29: 1-14; also 2 Chronicles 26: 3-5, 16-23; Jeremiah 26: 18-19; and the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah

***

I am doing a ton of reading this week, which is taking temporary precendence over blogging...so that means it's time to pull another review from the ol' archives! :) I wrote this review of Gods & Kings back in 2006, and since then it's proven to be one of my most "helpful" reviews on Amazon, interestingly enough.

In re-reading this review, I'm struck by the fact that I've gotten a heck of a lot wordier in the last six years. So tell me, people, is that necessarily a bad thing? LOL...maybe I don't want to know! *wink*

O Jerusalem

I discovered a little gem of a film this week – O Jerusalem starring one of my favorite up-and-coming actors, JJ Feild (The Ruby in the Smoke, Northanger Abbey). I haven't been able to stop thinking about this film since I watched it. Based on the book of the same name by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, it's an account of the events surrounding the birth of the State of Israel following the U.N. mandate to partition Palestine in 1947. The film takes some license and using the historical fact presented within the book tells the story of Bobby Goldman (JJ Feild), an American Jew and World War II veteran, and Said Chahine (Said Taghmaoui), a Palestinian Arab, who meet in New York and become fast friends in spite of their different backgrounds, views, and the antagonism brewing between their respective cultures halfway across the world. With the vote on the partition pending and the withdrawal of the British occupation imminent, Said’s family calls him to Jerusalem and Bobby follows given his own long-standing interest in the establishment of a Jewish homeland.

The transition from America to Palestine, and what that means for Bobby and Said’s friendship, is both fascinating and heartbreaking to watch play out. America is a “safe” ground where they can debate and vehemently disagree with each other, but friendship always trumps their differences. However, once they arrive in Palestine and are confronted with the reality of the simmering, primed to explode conflict, it’s crushing to see what that does to their friendship. As Said’s mother tells Bobby when he first arrives, for years many Arabs coexisted peacefully with their Jewish neighbors – each honoring the other’s holidays, etc. But in the aftermath of the Nazi attempt to wipe out the Jews, and with partition looming, battle lines are drawn, forcing tension between former friends and neighbors.

JJ Feild as Bobby Goldman

O Jerusalem makes an excellent companion film to Exodus, which stars Paul Newman and is based on the novel by Leon Uris (one of my all-time favorite movies, an absolute classic), since the timelines overlap. That movie also features an Arab-Jewish friendship that is tested and ultimately sacrificed to the conflict. It’s also interesting to compare the way each film portrays the Jewish resistance fighters (the Irgun, the more extremist terror group, and the Haganah, the more moderate, government-sanctioned fighting force). O Jerusalem probably does an even better job that its predecessor of giving equal screen time to both the Jewish and Arab perspectives. No one side is portrayed as fully right or wrong; rather, each culture’s belief in their respective cause is compellingly portrayed.

Taghmaoui and Feild as Said and Bobby

The film has an almost documentary feel to it, and that style brings both pros and cons. The scene editing is fast and choppy but that only serves to enhance the raw intensity of the events unfolding onscreen, the effect aided by the black and white newsreel footage inserted throughout the film. The documentary style of the film also translates into a lack of character development overall. Bobby and Said are the only characters you really get to know and feel for - but that focus, in this case anyway, really works. I was also extremely impressed with Stephen Endelman’s score. He never went for bombastic action cues, more often than not it was the softer pieces played over or in the aftermath of action sequences that tugged at the heartstrings and upped the emotional impact of the scenes. According to the movie’s IMDB page, it was filmed in Liverpool and Rhodes, and that considered I was very impressed with the location shots which appeared quite authentic – there was apparently some nice attention to detail at work throughout the production.

Ian Holm as Ben Gurion (looks a little crazy, no?) and Tovah Feldshuh as Golda Meir

One could argue that the way Bobby and Said keep encountering each other as enemies in the field is contrived, however, I appreciated the way their encounters kept the enormous cost of the fighting at the emotional forefront of the film. These are the characters we really get to know, witnessing every fateful decision, the tremendous cost that the fight over partition exacts on their lives. That’s where the hope lies, in viewing their struggles – and this film does end on a hopeful note (though I would have preferred going without Feild’s voiceover drumming the point home – the actions of the characters speak for themselves in my view). Despite multiple opportunities on each side, when it came right down to it, Bobby and Said could not kill each other. That’s the crux of why I found this movie to be so powerful – at its heart it’s not about nations or politicians, it’s about the choices made by average, everyday people on the ground caught up in events beyond their control. It's about the cyclical, consuming nature of violence, and how terrifyingly "easy" it is to get caught in that cycle. Because if any real change is going to happen, it’s not going to come about as the result of some government mandate to fight or keep the peace – a heart change is required. Seeing the ways in which Bobby and Said honor their friendship, even after both suffer through fighting and horrific losses, is a powerful reminder of how, though the trappings may differ, there is a universality to the human experience that *should* foster compassion and understanding, if only those traits are allowed room to grow.

“If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.” (Psalm 137: 5-6 KJV)