The Indiana Jewish Post & Opinion

February 20, 2008

Book Review

Prophetess, Judge and Leader

Reviewed by Sybil Kaplan

The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy, Plume Books, $14 paperback, February 26, 2008

When Eva Etzioni-Halevy wrote her first book, The Song of Hannah, in 2005, it was exciting, extraordinary reading about two women in the Bible, Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, who became the mother of Samuel, the prophet, and Pninah, the other wife and a girlfriend of Hannah's. In 2006, Mrs. Etzionj-Halevy's second Biblical-based novel, The Garden of Ruth, was published about Osnath, the niece of Samuel, and a mystery involving Ruth.

Now she has woven part tale, part speculation about another heroine in the Bible, Deborah, the prophetess, the judge and the leader. At the age of 35, married to Lapidoth and mother of five sons, she hears the Israelites call for release from the oppression of Jabin, king of a kingdom in the northern Galilee. She chooses 25-year-old Barak to command the forces, and he agrees only if she will go with him. With an army of 10,000, they go to Mount Tabor to fight against Sisera, commander of Jabin's forces.

Parallel to the story of Deborah are minor plots based around Asherah, Sisera's wife, and Nogah, daughter of one of the Israelite slaves of Jabin and later, lover of Barak.

Interwoven with the Biblical story are the intimate stories of the women, resulting in a spellbinding narrative revealing their loves, their sexuality, and their tribulations.

In one of my earlier reviews, I wrote that I hoped Mrs. Etzioni-Halevy was going through the Bible and planning to write novels on all of the well-known and the neglected women. Anita Diamant may have started something with The Red Tent, but Mrs. Etzioni-Halevy has gone beyond that to offer readers thought-provoking romances which would be fantastic reading and sources of discussions for book groups. This work, like the earlier two, are amazing and mesmerizing.