Naomi and her Daughters by Walter Wangerin Jr.

 

Naomi and her Daughters by Walter Wangerin Jr. This is a novel based on the story of Naomi and other men and women from the book of Ruth. The book goes from past to present in each chapter. Slowly building on each other to tie it together in the end.


The book starts off from the book of Judges 19, 20, and 21. When the eleven tribes of Israel go to war against the tribe of Benjamin over a murder of a young women. Wagerin creates a fictional women Milcah, who Naomi has sort of adopted and loves her as her own daughter. She trains her in the ways of healing with herbs, and as a mid-wife.

Drought forces Naomi and her family to leave Bethlehem to sojourn in a foreign land. During the ten years away from the beloved Bethlehem Naomi loses her husband and two sons. Naomi returns to Bethlehem bitter and angry with her God after her loved ones have died. Ruth’s compassion and love for her mother-in-law slowly bring the joy back to the grieving Naomi.

The book is filled with lots of scriptures and it paints a vivid picture of the historical details for the time period which the book of Judges and Ruth where written. I love how the book of Psalms is weaved into the book.  Wangerin makes the book very poetic through out the novel in a sing song style. It actually makes the book feel more real.

If you are not one who cares to read about the details of war, death, and hideous crimes then this may not be a book for you. If you have teenagers who love historical books then a warning to pre-read it beforehand if you feel that it may upset them. I enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend it. The author did take some liberty in the details of the characters in the novel. Not all I would agree with but I still enjoyed the book.

Disclaimer: I provided an advanced reader copy of this book from Zondervan for free in order to write this review. All thoughts and opinions are mine and were not subject to editing from the publisher.