Shulamit

Song of Solomon #2

by Roberta Kells Dorr

The romantic sequel to Bathsheba- a vivid account of the love story that inspired The Song of Songs. Set against Jerusalem in the time of great King David's last year, the action includes court intrigue and political manipulation as exciting as today's headlines.

Genres: Biblical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Christian

322 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Roberta Kells Dorr, born in the roaring twenties, survived the depression on a farm in Minnesota. She earned her Masters at Louisville's Southern Seminary and spent the next seventeen years with her surgeon husband and five children, serving as missionaries in the Gaza Strip & Jibla, Yemen. Here she had opportunity to extensively research and intimately explore the larger-than-life characters of her historical-biblical novels.

Reviews

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the way the author put together a picture of what could have been Solomon's story regarding the love of his life that we read about in the Bible. It helps the Bible passage come alive in a new way. Enjoyable read.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brought to life the scriptures. Makes me want to go back and read the Old Testament story to see how much really happened and how much was made up. Gotta love historical novels.

[Trinity Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solomon’s Song by Roberta Kells Dorr is an O.K. book. I enjoyed the way Dorr described the traditions, countryside and life in the King’s family, but so much of this story is made up. I know that is what you have to do when you don’t have the full story, but I feel that the story was completely different than the way Dorr described it. To me it seemed like she made Solomon look like a silly boy. I know he was 18 when this book started, but I feel like he would have been wiser and a more rational person.
Solomon’s Song has a lot of good parts and I think she described David and Bathsheba very well. Solomon’s Song does have quite a few good parts, but I believe Roberta’s view on Solomon and Shulamit weren’t that accurate.


Thank you to Moody Publishers/River North for providing this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

[Loraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solomon is 18 years old and travels to find a beautiful young woman to marry his father, David, in his old age. After much searching, he finds the beautiful Shulamit; but Solomon is immediately taken with the young woman and finds himself falling in love with her. But Solomon's mother, the domineering Bathsheba, has other plans in mind along with Solomon's brother, Adonijah, who is obsessed with Shulamit.

Dorr's story is the retelling of the Biblical story of Solomon and Shulamit and the trials and tribulations both face and survive before Solomon finally becomes King and can take Shulamit as his bride. It is wonderfully written and brings to life the time period and events while adding detail that makes this fictional story richer and fuller based on what might have happened.

Recommended for all readers of Biblical fiction.

[Taryn Spearey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! To be honest with you, all of the books in this series were so delightful to read. I can say that all of them were amazing.

This one covers the story of Solomon and his mother, Bathsheba. Bathsheba wants her son to sit on the throne. The only thing standing in the way of her goal is Solomon's love for another woman. Bathsheba tries he best to seperate them.

I wasn't too happy with how Bathsheba was about Solomon's chose for love. She did have big goals in mind for her son, but, she could have also given Solomon the choice of who he wanted his bride to be.

I would recommend all the books by this author for any Christian into Biblical fiction!

[Thalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to think that God's love for us is somewhat like that of Solomon and Shulamit. But it's even better. Unflinching. Unending. Overwhelming.

[Suzanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It had a very good flow to it that never let up, i read it pretty quick. The author has good descriptions of Biblical places and traditions.

[Candy Shepard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It reminded me of an adult fairy tale. It did bring the biblical characters to life.

[Brooke Barenfanger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shulamit is a sweet, selfless girl who is the only daughter of her father’s favorite wife. Since she is favored, her brothers hate her and enjoy teasing her.
Solomon is a young prince with only the hope of becoming king since his brother, Adonijah, is older than him. When Solomon meets Shulamit he is stirred by feelings he has never had before. After three days of knowing her he decides to make her his wife but discovers that they will be kept apart…perhaps forever.

This book had a sort of beauty. But I believe that it is only because the Song of Songs was used from the Bible. Other, than that, the book felt fragmented and distorted. Even if I had never read the Song of Songs before, I still would have known what parts of the book were from the Bible and which parts the author wrote. To take this particular book from the Bible and risk writing a novel is pretty risky. Mainly because the author would have to match the beauty of the words, which would be extremely difficult—if not impossible—to do. I admire the author’s attempt but I’m afraid to say that it fell far, far short. I will say that the book had a wonderful beginning. I loved how she started it with Solomon looking back on his life. It totally drew me into the story and made me interested. However, that is where I stopped loving it. From there on, Solomon’s Song had a vague, unresolved feel to it. It did not feel realistic at all. Solomon fell in love with Shulamit only after three days, which I think is just too unbelievable since they didn’t even spend much time together during those days. And they didn’t even think to ask each other what their names were during those days. Which I found utterly ridiculous because I know I would want to know Solomon’s name if I were in Shulamit’s position and vice versa.

I liked how the author incorporated Abishag the Shulamite from the Bible. I’ve read that story a few times before and know it well. When King David was old he couldn’t get warm by himself so the land was searched for a maiden to serve and warm the king. However, the author renamed Abishag Shulamit for some reason, which just added to the whole disjointed feeling of the entire book. Also, Shulamit was chosen as a new wife for the king, which is not the purpose the Bible originally states. Song of Solomon is more fictional than Biblical, which I was greatly disappointed in. There was some research done, but not enough for the book to feel fully authentic. Shulamit and Solomon kept on saying that they loved one another, but I could find no good reason exactly why they should. Surely, something happened between Solomon and his Shulamite to make them love one another so greatly and deeply. But in this book I could not find that something. I like the idea of Solomon falling in love with Abishag, but the execution of that idea was less than stellar.

I give Solomon’s Song 3 out of 5 stars.

*Moody Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: SOLOMON’S SONG
Author: Roberta Kells Dorr
Publisher: Moody Publishing
December 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8024-8492-5
Genre: Biblical fiction

The sadness and the tenderness of life are felt so acutely in the presence of beauty, and love is revealed more in our sorrow than in our joy. -Solomon, from Solomon's Song

The wisest of all kings, beloved son of King David and his wife Bathsheba, builder of a prosperous empire, lover to many wives and concubines-King Solomon was once merely a son of David with no guarantee of ever taking the throne. On the cusp of adulthood, with no direction in life, Solomon found himself infatuated . . . in love with a lowly shepherdess, a young maiden chosen for his father to serve David in his later years.

Overhead clouds ceased to discharge life-giving rain, and the anxious people looked to King David for relief from the famine. In their weakness they turned from Yahweh and sacrificed to foreign gods. But David's eldest son, Adonijah had a plan, one that could cost the Benjamites their lives. Revenge.

Solomon was still Bathsheba's eldest son's and with it came certain family expectations. His mother wanted nothing less than the throne for her eldest living son. He must marry a princess first, and then he can marry any common woman he desired.

Solomon struggled against family expectations and his chief rival, his own brother, Adonijah; he fought against the most disappointing aspect of his quest to become ruler, "Love is nothing, when pitted against strength and power."

SOLOMON’S SONG is the newest biblical fiction by Ms. Dorr. I am not a huge fan of biblical fiction, so I’m probably not the best person to give reviews of this genre. I don’t like fictionalizing The Holy Bible. There are some point of view glitches and the style is written in such a way to keep the reader distant.
SOLOMON’S SONG does bring to life the growing unrest of King David’s oldest son, Adonijah, before he begins attempting to kill his father. It also shows Solomon attempting to be honoring to his father even as his brother plots against him. But when a young woman Solomon falls in love with is chosen to sleep with his father, he is faced with an insurmountable challenge.

If you like biblical fiction, you won’t want to miss SOLOMON’S SONG. $14.99. 304 pages.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this author's style, and the way she chose to tell the story of Solomon & Shulamit. I was however, deeply bothered by the jealousy amongst David's wives and sons, the treatment of women as purely for sexual purposes, just waiting to be called upon by their husbands, or as slaves. I know this was how it was back then, but nonetheless, it still riled me up and made me so thankful to not have been born in that time. I like to believe that Solomon was a romantic and did choose to treat his wives differently, better, and saw them as women with feelings, needing love and care. I will definitely be looking for more of this author's books, after a bit of a break from Biblical history.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based upon Solomon's Song of Songs, this tells the story of David's favorite son Solomon and his love, Shulamit, along with the semi-tragic misunderstandings and political machinations that kept them apart. That part's fictional - we don't know anything about her other than her name, family and where she came from - but there's plenty of historical detail as well as information from the Bible, from direct quotes from the Song to explanations of how the many names of God amplify our understanding and experience of Him, and some good wisdom imparted from Shulamit's mother, Ramat.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Michelle Kidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solomon's Song
Roberta Kells Dorr
Moody Publishers
River North

1989, 2014

Solomon's Song will take you back to the days of Solomon. This book shows us a King who in many ways thought ahead of his time.

Solomon's Song takes us into the life of the King and the poet Solomon.

When Solomon goes to Egypt before becoming King he faces temptation  like he has never faced before.

If you are a fan of Biblically based historical fiction as I am than Solomon's Song is a book I would recommend you add to your library.

This book has a little bit of everything, Kings and Queens, true love, faith and history.  

I give Solomon's Song five out of five stars.

Happy Reading! !!

[PF O'Friar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book of Dorr that is a bible tie in.
And it does that, ties lose ends and weave a speculative story.
Scripture loyalists find this off putting.

The first quarter of this book should be studied as how to buid tension properly.
It works better if just read the first book and don't know this part if the bible.
Because you had Bathsheba as the hero, now that she is older and tries to be wiser, her actions are not the same.

I recommend this book, but be aware that a part of it bloated and could be edited off, pardon my pun, but it beats around the (burning) bush a lot.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story built around the book in the Bible. I'm not sure how much research in other records this this story was built on, but it is wonderful. Whoever the book Songs' of Solomon was written by it is evident that he loved her. Ms Dorr did a great job of incorporating the verses in her story. 1 Kings 2:13-25 gives validity to the climax of her story.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only thing I didn't like about this story was how jealous they were of each other; besides for that, it was well written, extremely insightful into what might have been, and an excellent storyline.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING story and based on truth. Well written story that even taught me facts about the Bible. This is one of this amazing love stories u tell ur self would never happen in real life but it really did!! I would reccomend it to everyone. And no worries its a strictly PG rated book

[JoAnne Styger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books as a teenager, but I haven't been able to get through it again since becoming an adult. I do think the author paints a good portrait of true love for our culture of young women to see.

[Amber Noella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best Biblical-times book EVER!

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

fiction story of Solomon and Shulamite

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was well written, and I enjoyed reading and imagining the backstory of Solomon, which you don't find very often. I really liked this book.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read and story expect that there are some distinct adn obvious character changes in some of the main characters (and some past comparisons) that are out of line with the previous novel.

[Raechel Lenore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book. I will post my review soon. :)