Sarah

Book One of the Canaan Trilogy

By: Marek Halter

Narrated by: Kate Burton

The story of Sarah, and of history itself, begins in the cradle of civilization: the Sumerian city-state of Ur, a land of desert heat, towering gardens, and immense wealth. The daughter of a powerful lord, Sarah is raised in great luxury, but balks at the arranged marriage her father has planned for her. The groom is handsome and a nobleman, but on their wedding day, Sarah panics and impulsively flees to the vast, empty marshes outside the city walls. There she meets a young man, Abram, a member of a nomadic tribe of outsiders. Drawn to this exotic stranger, Sarah spends the night with him, but reluctantly returns to her father's house. But on her return, still desperate to avoid another wedding, she drinks a poisonous potion that will make her barren and thus unfit for marriage.

Many years later, Abram's people return to Ur, and he discovers that the lost, rebellious girl from the marsh has been transformed into the most splendid and revered woman in Sumeria, the high priestess of the goddess Ishtar. But the memory of their night together has always haunted Sarah, and she gives up her exalted life to join Abram's tribe and follow the one true God, an invisible deity who speaks only to Abram. It is then that her journey truly begins; a journey that holds the key to her remarkable destiny as the mother of nations.

From the great ziggurat of Ishtar and the fertile valleys of Canaan to the bedchamber of the mighty Pharaoh himself, Sarah's story reveals an ancient world full of beauty, intrigue, and miracles.

©2003 Marek Halter (P)2004 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The writing is lively and shimmering with detail....The tale rolls along smoothly." (Booklist)
"Halter isn't afraid to present headstrong Sarah as bitter in her old age, and his complex portrait of the biblical matriarch gives this solid if predictable novel a dash of freshness." (Publishers Weekly)

abraham a stranger?

I normally love fiction books based loosely on a biblical character but taken beyond our knowledge of them. But this is ridiculous - Sarah was Abraham's half-sister as they had the same father - to put Sarah as the daughter of a great lord and Abraham a complete stranger is absurd. It's hard to get past that basic fact and enjoy a story.

Good

Really enjoyed the authors viewpoint. I finished listening in about 3 days- looking forward to each listening session. Not necessarily biblically accurate but a clear vision of how life may have been at that time.

Good Read

Good read... but I wonder when the next will be out. Covers much of what must have been going through Sarah's head. The part about Issac has a few unexpected twists.