The Secret Chord: A Novel

"If you’re one of those feminists who find the Bible a bit hard to take as literature (where are all the female characters?), well, Happy Hanukkah, have I got one for you. Geraldine Brooks has retold the story of David, giving a fuller look at stories that might have made you raise your eyebrows as written: the friendship between Yonatan and David, the seduction of Batsheva, the relationship with Avigail. A fight between David and Mikhal, one of David’s wives, positively sings with an anger and bitterness any woman might recognize in a fight for agency. Brooks may take King David as her subject, but it’s her minor characters who come into the greatest relief."