I have been reading Angela Hunt's books for most of my adult life. I first discovered her in my church library, and I immediately fell in love with her writing. She really raised my expectations of Christian fiction. The first books I read by her were historical. Her newer books tend to be contemporary and women's fiction. She is one of the few author's who are able to cross genres seamlessly. However, when I saw she was moving back into historical fiction, I was giddy. Esther: Royal Beauty is book one in a new series focusing on the beautiful women of the Bible that changed history. And this first book does not disappoint.
This take on Esther is very true to the Biblical account. It is obvious Ms. Hunt did her research. This story is rich in period details, and I learned a lot about the Persian culture by reading it. There was also lots of intrigue and suspense. Esther was a strong character, but she was flawed. I enjoyed watcher her grow from a vain, shallow child to a mature, godly woman. This story is told in first person from two different points of view, Esther's and Harbonah's, a palace eunuch. This made it possible to really see what was going on not just with Esther, but also in the rest of the palace.
This was a really great book, I would highly recommend it to fans of historical and Biblical fiction. I can't wait to read the next book in the series which, I think, is about Bathsheba. Thank you to Bethany House for providing me with a free copy for review.
