Bathsheba: A Reluctant Beauty by Angela Hunt

Bathsheba: A Reluctant Beauty by Angela Hunt is the 2nd in Ms. Hunt's A Dangerous Beauty series.  Bathsheba's story like so many of the stories from the Bible are told from the male point of view and this story is certainly no different.  This novel tells the story from the woman's point of view.  It emphasizes that Bathsheba had no choice in this matter.  The King wanted her for his sexual pleasure and she had no choice but to comply.  Ms. Hunt follows the Bible story as far as it goes but she has fleshed out the story to make the short Biblical mentioning into book length and also remaining true to cultural norms of the time.  This book deals with the never mentioned grief that Bathsheba was probably going through after the king has her husband killed so that he can claim her as one of his many wives.  The book deals with the grief that David caused when they had to deal with the death of their first born son.  This book deals with the strength that it took to be a mere woman of the royal haram of the king but still to protect and raise her children during their growing years to became productive adults who would be an asset and leader to God's people. 

I have always been interested in the David and Bathsheba story.  I had always wondered at the amount of blame heaped on Bathsheba.  It had always appeared to me that even though the Bible portrayed Bathsheba as a temptress in the story and partially to blame for all that happened it seemed to me that God recognized that the true sinner was David all the way through the story.  This was a time period when women were mostly property and this was not a well known woman until David brought her into his haram.  She took that and grew from it and became the strong woman that she ended up being.  I recommend this book to anyone interested in reading and learning of the women in the Bible.  Though this is the 2nd in the series I had not read the Esther story and am now eagerly starting that book.  Ms. Hunt thank you for your insight into these strong Biblical women. Without author's like you we would not learn of what it was like to be a woman of that time.
I received this book from BethanyHouse for this review.