Sarah Book

I chose this series of books wanting to learn more about the time period in which the women of the scriptures lived, and some insight into their lives. That said, I knew that due to the small amount of information we are given about these women in the Bible, the author's telling of the story would constitute his best guess into Sarah's personality, emotions and family life. Even though Sarah is one of the women of the scriptures we know the most about, we still know very little. Having that in mind, I was able to read the book and enjoy the story that was focused around events that we know happened in Sarah's life (her marriage to Abram, her barrenness, her stay in Egypt where she had to pretend to be Abram's sister, Hagar bearing a son for Abram, the birth of Isaac in her old age)including the fictional conversations, emotions and people that Card included.

In the afterword, Card says this, "I did not whimsically discard anything from the story. Every important omission or change from the common interpretation was deliberate and took place only after great thought and serious attempts at research into what is known about the surrounding culture at the probably time of these events. So, if I have erred, it was in the attempt to approach the truth contained in the Bible, and never in disregard of it." He acknowledges the difficulty in writing a book like this, and I appreciate his explanation and really did enjoy the book. I look forward to reading the other two in the series to learn how the women's lives connect through the generations.