Book Reviews of Hadassah: One Night With The King

OK but a little disappointing. My favorite novel of Esther (by that title) is by Norah Lofts. This book was very obviously a first attempt at fiction. Even as a Christian, I found the "religious" parts rather heavy-handed. The story starts and ends with a modern-day Israeli girl named Hadassah in the days before her wedding and on her wedding night. Didn't care for that part. A friend saw the movie made from this book and loved it. The book tells the Biblical parts according to Scripture, but the "fillers" and the writing style didn't suit me.

The novel opens as a contemporary woman named Hadassah receives a letter penned by Esther (also called "Hadassah" and "Star" in the novel) and passed down through her family for generations. The reading of the letter transports the reader back to the Persian Empire (a similar device is used in Bodie and Brock Thoene's Zion Legacy series). Several time periods and points of view make for a slow start, but the pacing picks up when Esther becomes the focus. The dialogue is stiff in places, and some readers will find the use of "G-d" rather than "God" out of reverence rather tiresome. However, from their imaginative fleshing out of Esther's unusual girlhood and preparation for her tryst with the king to the uttering of her famous words, "If I perish, I perish," the authors reinvigorate an age-old story. The sexual tension and violence necessary to the tale are rendered inoffensive for the evangelical Christian market, and a few surprise twists will catch readers familiar with the story off-balance.

Loved this Book. I suggest reading the book of Esther in the Bible first so that you know where the story comes from.

Excellent book, especially if you are into fiction that expounds on religious history. No peeking, but you are going to love the surprise at the very end! Historical romantic fiction at it's best.

I absolutely LOVED this book. A must read..

Once I got into this book I couldn't put it down. It really makes you feel what women probably felt back in bible times.

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