THE BOOK FAIR

Marriage, relationships, love, and desire, in accordance with the Seventh Commandment, “Thou shall not commit adultery”, form the centerpiece of the biblical fiction.

The story relays the lives of Hannah and Pninah, two girls who are the closest of friends, and grow up together in the hills of Efraim, nearby the town of Ramathayim.  As the young women, both become scribes, and begin to prepare for marriage.  Pninah, a spirited beauty, longs for the love of one man, and allows her suitor, Elkanan, to know her before he fulfills his pledge of marriage.  Hannah, beautiful and cerebral, holds to her belief that she is destined for greatness, and to her parent’s frustration, casts aside wealthy, worthy suitors and agrees to become Elkanan’s second wife. 

The novel contends with the rivalry between the two women, the demanded subservience of women in marriage and of Hannah’s and Pninah’s children, particularly, Samuel, Hannah’s long awaited for son.  Hannah realizes she fulfilled her mission for greatness with the birth of Samuel and keeps her promise to God by allowing Samuel to be raised in the Temple, where he eventually becomes a prophet.

 

The author states “…even exalted men are only human,” and bases the biblical tale on the fact that though Samuel had grown up in the Temple, and had become a judge in another town, and, had never lived in his father’s town, nonetheless, years later, made his home there.  The author takes great artistic liberty in the created relationships while addressing the subservient role of women.

The novel is well written, descriptive and informative of the era, and the characters, entirely human.