Sarah by Marek Halter

Sarah (Book One of the Canaan Trilogy)

Rating: * * * *

Sarah’s story 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 balks at the marriage her father has planned for her. On her wedding day, she impulsively flees to the vast, empty marshes outside the city walls, where she meets a young man named Abram, son of a tribe of outsiders. Drawn to this exotic stranger, Sarah spends one night with him and reluctantly returns to her father’s house. But on her return, she secretly drinks a poisonous potion that will make her barren and thus unfit for marriage.

Many years later, Abram returns to Ur and discovers that the lost, rebellious girl from the marsh has been transformed into a splendid woman—the high priestess of the goddess Ishtar. But Sarah 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.

From the great ziggurat of Ishtar to 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.

- Random House

This was a highly enchanting book with just the right amount of fantasy, history, spirituality, sexuality and fiction to be a constantly engaging read. Halter chooses an interesting perspective for his book – that of a pagan Sarai and her journey to and with Abram – and it is this perspective that makes Sarah so compelling. Rarely do people view Sarah as the woman who had been a part of a pagan religion, who must have still been extremely attractive when meeting the Pharaoh, who must have cursed her barren womb, who fought her bitter jealousy of her handmaid Hagar, who stayed by Abram’s side as he became Abraham.

Sarah sets itself apart from other historical fiction in its mingling of supernatural atmosphere and embellished historical research. God, as Abraham’s deity, is not overwhelmingly represented in the book – in fact, as only Abraham is able to speak with him, he seems almost non-existent.

The only true downfall of this story is the characters’ weaknesses and flaws. At times, it is quite easy to dislike Abram or berate Sarai’s foolishness, but that is what eventually brings each character to life. Halter’s gift is the enviable ability to tell reality through fantasy.

Recommended.

& ElizabethC