Search - Beloved Leah

To expand a few chapters in the Book of Genesis into a novel about Leah, the first wife of Jacob, would not be easy, but Cynthia Davis does so in a way that breathes human emotions into the many characters of the story. The account is well-known to Old Testament readers: Jacob, son of Isaac, arrives in Haran to visit kin. He is smitten with Rachel, the youngest daughter of Laban, yet Leah, the eldest, must be married first. Unfortunately for her, "Leah was dull-eyed, but Rachel was graceful and beautiful." In return for marrying Rachel, Jacob agrees to work seven years for Laban, but on the wedding night the wiley father subsitutes Leah. Another seven years to get Rachel! Told mostly from Leah's point of view, Davis is adept at showing the strains and jealousies in the growing nomadic household: seven children are born to Leah, two to Rachel and four others to the women's two slaves. Description and dialogue fill in the starkness of the Genesis account, which takes us through to the reunion with Joseph in Egypt and Jacob's final realization of the dying Leah's devotion. "You are my faithful Leah...the strength of my family."

I loved this book! Reading novels is new for me in recent years but since I have discovered Biblical Fiction.........I can't get enough! They seem to bring the Bible alive for me and I use my Bible to reference the facts in the novel. It has made the Bible new again.

I love the character of Leah as she is not perfect as most women in most novels are presented. She has many flaws and one of them being jealousy and envy. There is a lot of that in the Bible. She is not beautiful and agrees to trick Jacob into marrying her, instead of his true love and her sister, Rachel. Though her father does trick Jacob again into working seven more years in exchange for marrying Rachel a week later after marrying Leah. I felt sorry for her through out the book, but I know that was how things were done in Bible times. Sharing my husband with a sister would be hard to do! After Rachel dies though, Leah does fill the roll of his wife and he seems to love her more like a wife then.

Very good read... I had just read Sarah and Rebecca by another author... so it was good to continue the story with Leah even though it was a little different... I still enjoyed the read... Leah turns to the living Lord, to know what love is all about... dg

This was a great book. The author did a very good job making the story come alive and describe life in Leah's day. There is only so much about her in the Bible, so much guessing must be done to make a full story, but it is very well done. I enjoyed the book very much and will read all of Cynthia Davis' series.

A very good read.