interesting read, I enjoyed the book but sometimes the liberties writers take in making a story from the Bible a novel are hard for me to accept. It becomes hard for me to determine fact from fiction and I find myself having to go back and reread the actual biblical account (which isn't bad!) to know what really happened. Good book though, and as long as you can remember that it isn't all fact and the author assumes feelings, actions, etc. it's a good read. ( )

Jill Eileen Smith wowed readers with her Wife of David series in which she explored the lives of Michal, Abigail and Bathsheba. Now she is embarking on a new series called the Wives of the Patriarchs that promises to be just as exciting and engaging.

I was so excited to receive a review copy of this book. When I was first introduced to this author it was through the book Bathsheba, which I devoured with great excitement. I expected great things with this book and was not disappointed in the least. In fact her Wife of David series hooked me on biblical fiction as it causes the reader to revisit the biblical accounts and to look deeper than the surface, realizing that these are more than just historical accounts, or stories of legends - they are the actual accounts of living, breathing people who impacted their world and continue, years later to impact our world.

Sarai follows the life of Sarah and Abraham and offers a new look at a very well known bible story. My perspective of this woman and her life is forever changed. This book drove me into deeper study of the biblical account of this woman's journey and her story.

A beautiful woman admired by many, Sarai loved her half brother Abram - and that love was returned. However, she demanded a promise of her future husband that her father thought was too much - she demanded that he promise to have only one wife. In return her father made her promise that she provide Abram with a son and if she could not fulfill her promise that she would release him from the promise she had demanded. In her human pride Sarai accepted thinking the promise demanded of her was easy to complete. Little did she know that God had a plan much greater than Sarai - one that included her learning that in her own strength nothing could be accomplished and that she did not control the events of life.

Old but still a beauty to be reckoned with Sarai can scarce stand the pitiful looks she receives from Lot's young wife who was always bearing another child. She wilted under Meleh's scornful tone and fought the urge not to bend to Maleh's request that Sarai offer sacrifice to the false gods for favor. The weight of her own rash and prideful promise weighs on her heart and soul as she struggles to understand the God of Abram and to believe in Abram's love Sarai becomes restless to fulfill her promise.

When Abram is called to leave his family and to travel to a place God will show this couple embarks on a journey that will forever change their lives. This journey will test their faith in the spoken promises of God as well as their knowledge of Him, it will test their love for God and each other, and will drive them into an ever deepening knowledge of who God really is. Sarai will come face to face with a great and faithful God who outshines any man-made god, who upholds the weak, leads His children and always, always keeps His promises. I believe that she ultimately learns that we do not have any thing to promise any other nor do we have the ability to keep any promise we make other than through God and Him living in us.

This book is a rich tapestry of the full range of human emotion and frailty and the God who brings all imperfection into a beautiful work of art that screams His glory.

If you have ever struggled with your faith, wavered between the things of this world and the things that are unseen in God - find inspiration in Sarai as she too walks this road and in the end discovers the One True God. If your faith has been tested and the promises of God have grown dim in your sight - if you have doubted that He will in fact answer - take courage and see the example in this story of just how faithful God is.

Jill Eileen Smith - I must give it up to you. This is your talent - opening God's word and bringing life to stories that we often do not give enough thought to. You cause readers to stop and really think about these people in a new light - bringing life to the characters and a depth that we often do not allow ourselves the luxury to explore when reading the stories in the bible.

Thanks to Revell for this review copy.

Available March 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group ( )

I typically don't read Biblical fiction books, but I have some degree of curiosity about a lot of characters in the Bible: Sarai, Rachel, Ruth, etc. There's so much we don't know, but it's nice to speculate. To wonder: What if? How did they feel about all these events that happened in their lives? Imagine the conversations we could have with them!

In the back of the book, I liked how the author acknowledged that Sarai was a woman who understood the feeling of regret. Her impatience for a child led her to this decision to give her maid, Hagar, to her husband. Her intentions may have been just and well-founded, but the poor woman lived to regret it as shown by how she treated Hagar.

I really like the deep love shown between Abram and his wife. I like how the author allows them to acknowledge their concerns and fears about everything ranging from Lot and his wife to the Pharoah and his wandering eye for beautiful women. Through it all, they remain a couple devoted to each other.

After reading this book, I don't think I'll be able to read Genesis again in the same light!
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I became a fan of Jill Eileen Smith, when I first read book one in her Wives Of King David series. She took Biblical facts and mixed them with fiction, and created stunningly beautiful novels that pull the reader into the past, and the story, instantly. Now, she's created yet another wonderful Biblical fiction series, starting with this one, and it's AWESOME! I felt the pull to the heart of the story instantly and held on for an incredibly moving ride.

Ms. Smith created Sarai's story with rich detail. Sarai's story is one of betrayal, faith, hope and trust. Sarai longs to wed her half-brother Abram. It's with a promise of bearing him a son in turn for a promise to be faithful from him, that she's able to marry him. But, as years pass and still now heir is conceived, she starts to worry.

Will Abram keep his promise to stay faithful to her, if she's not able to conceive? This book is filled with the answer to that and so much more. The accuracy of the story is incredible. I haven't read the Sarai/Abram's story in long a time, but each page turn brought something with it that sparked my memory from my Bible studies. The richness in the meaning behind the story of trusting in God (or Adonai as he was called in the story) is beautiful. The trust and the betrayal, the sacrifice...all of it was captivating.

I definitely recommend this 5 Book worthy novel to everyone. There is passion (though it's clean!), there is hope, there is mysteriousness, and there is fact. You'll be swept away to a time before Jesus was born and live among the people of the story, as if you, too, were a part of it. Once again, Jill Eileen Smith has created a fabtastic start to a wonderful new series and I am in awe of the feeling I get after closing one of her novels. I can't wait for book two to release! Great job, Ms. Smith!!!

This review originated at Reviews By Molly in part with a blog tour. ( )