Joseph

by Joyce Landorf

This is the fictionalized story of the biblical character Joseph, told from the viewpoints of the five women who loved him.

Genres: Christian, Biblical Fiction, Inspirational, Fiction

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Joy Henley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the writer's style to be confusing, sections of the story seemed nonlinear, and the amount of fictional adaptation to be more than I expected. I understand the need to find a way to elaborate on the years of Joseph's life that are not told in detail in the bible, and I'm not sure I could have done better, but I found the entire section of Sherah's narrative to be pushing my suspension of disbelief a bit far. I also felt that the author handled the story's timeline poorly: Leah and Rachel wed Jacob a whole week apart. If, as the author posits, Leah and Jacob were married for 10 years and she had four sons, and then Rachel's maid Bilhah had two sons (another 2-3 years of time), and then Leah's maid Zilpah had two sons (again, another 2-3 years), that would make Reuben approximately 15 when Joseph was born, and 20 or so at the events of Shechem. But then the author states that Joseph was born the same year that Jacob's service to Laban, in order to marry Rachel, was complete. That would have been around the seventh wedding anniversary for Jacob and both wives, which would in turn make Reuben no older than age 6 (almost 7) during the year of Joseph's birth, and thus only about 12 at the events of Shechem. Perhaps I missed something, but I went back and reread in several places, and more than once, and I still came away feeling that the author had either gotten lost in her own timeline or paid no heed to it. This made the first sections of the book very difficult to read, since I kept going back and rereading to understand how and why the author was constructing the story in this way. This is not the best biblical-life novelization I've read, but it's an okay story overall.

[Waneta Hershberger · Rating 1 out of 5]

It seems more inaccurate than anything, although it offers a different perspective I don’t think personally that it was presented currently!

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good novel - a story about Joseph, son of Jacob. His family history, how he grew up, what happened to him as a young adult, and his life in Egypt. This tells about how Joseph always listened to what God had to tell him in his dreams, and was always obedient to what god wanted him to do. Just wait until you hear about how the later part of his life turned out!

[Gina]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11961355