Judith - Softcover

Moise, Leslie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1597190756 ISBN 13: 9781597190756

Publisher: Pearlsong Press, 2013

Synopsis

In the ancient Middle East a pious, wealthy young widow risks her life to save her town from a besieging army. Based on the apocryphal Book of Judith. Judith is a 2015 finalist in the International Book Awards. "The ancient story of Judith of Bethulia is given a powerful heartbeat in this imagining by Leslie Moise," says Anne Marie Jackson, a literary translator & feminist author in London, England. "Moise's writing is immediate and empathetic, her characters vividly drawn. Judith is an engrossing read that you will not want to put down." Publisher's Weekly praises the author's research into the period aroumd 350-100 BCE and the inclusion of "abundant detail" regarding the customs, clothing, and lives of Hebrew villagers, the behaviors of Assyrian warriors, and perceptions and treatment of women. "Faithful widow Judith, grieving and childless, befriends the Assyrian defector Achior, whose message from Nebuchadnezzar's general, Holofernes, to Judith's village of Bethulia is 'Surrender or die.' As Holofernes lays siege to the village, Judith receives visions from God and pleas from her friends to help save the village. In danger of rape and death, she overcomes fear through faith and ritual, with the support of her maid, Abra; Achior; and the general's slave. Her defeat of Holofernes forms the satisfying climax of this occasionally slow-moving but always well-imagined novel."

About this title

About the Author:

Leslie Moise began writing at age nine, right after she read Little Women for the first of several thousand times. Less than a decade later, the British magazine Light Horse published her autobiographical story, "An American at Windmill Hill." Her Ph.D. in English from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette focused on 19th century British literature, folklore and creative writing, while her M.A. and B.S. from the University of Louisville centered on culture, organization and writing. She taught college English for twenty years, and her stories, articles and essays have been published in the U.S., Canada and Great Britain. She lives in Kentucky. When not at work on her own writing, she loves helping others bring their stories to life. She is also author of the memoir Love is the Thread: A Knitting Friendship.

Review:

"The chutzpah of its heroine and . . . message of fidelity to God arouse both admiration and inspiration . . . . (A) well-imagined novel."  (Publisher's Weekly)"Dr. Moise masterfully delivers characters of depth and palpability and a story line that propels us through the ages."  (Odyssey)

About this edition

• Publisher: Pearlsong Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1597190756
• ISBN 13: 9781597190756
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 260