The Queen of Sheba

Song of Solomon #3

by Roberta Kells Dorr

Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba, is a woman as modern as her story is ancient. Constantly in conflict with priests and high lords of her kingdom, she longs for love but fears that she may lose her throne if she chooses the wrong man. In Solomon, she finds both love and a new faith, the covenant between man and woman and the convenant between humankind and God.

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

275 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

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

[Nay Denise]

This is a DNF for me.

I got through 10 chapters and I just can't connect with this story at all or the characters. I don't care for queen of Sheba, she's annoying. Solomon seems like an irritating character. I didn't find many scripture references either in the story. I may come back to it next year, but as of now I can't deal...

[Loraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Speculative fictional story based on Biblical and historical research covering the life and times of the Queen of Sheba and her time spent with Solomon. Sheba was a deep thinker and an independent woman for that period of time. Solomon appreciated this in Sheba; and although he fell in love with her, Sheba had no desire to be controlled by any man or give any authority over her country to a man. The only purpose for their liaison was for Sheba to have an heir to her throne.

Well written and interesting story that brought the story of the Queen of Sheba to life. Recommended for those who enjoy Biblical fiction.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The queen of Sheba is pressured to marry so she will have an heir to her throne. She doesn't want to marry but she does want a son. She make a long trek from Sheba to Jerusalem to meet with King Solomon. She has heard of his wisdom and has many questions she wants answered. She and Solomon fall in love but there is the problem of them being kind and queen of two separate countries. What good can possibly come from such a union? Read the book and find out. Good read.

[Nay Denise]

This is a DNF for me.

I got through 10 chapters and I just can't connect with this story at all or the characters. I don't care for queen of Sheba, she's annoying. Solomon seems like an irritating character. I didn't find many scripture references either in the story. I may come back to it next year, but as of now I can't deal...

[Tiff Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Queen of Sheba is the story of the famous queen (christened Bilqis) who visited Solomon during his reign in Israel. It paints a vivid backdrop of historical and political context under which the visit likely took place, drawing on the biblical narrative, as well as many other historical resources from Josephus to Egyptian histories. This book also seems to take place while Solomon was writing the book of Ecclesiastes, and even touches briefly on the love story between himself and the Shulamite woman, which is forever immortalized in the words of the book of Song of Solomon.

I really enjoyed this book, and while it isn't going to go down in history as great, classic literature, it is a very worthy read. It treats the biblical source with respect and dignity, probably because it comes from a Christian author. The character portraits of both Solomon and Bilqis are painted with depth and richness not often seen in much of today's Christian fiction. I often don't finish a lot of these types of books, because their character development is shallow, basic, and predictable, as if each person in the kingdom of God is cut from the same cloth.

I also appreciated the supporting character of a local merchant, whose two wives find themselves in the well-known story of the two women fighting over a living child after one of their children had died. They come to Solomon, who is determined to seek out the truth: which woman is the rightful mother? I love the way the book portrays Solomon's desire to seek the truth, and to do what was right as the root of the wisdom God had supernaturally given to him.

It also looks honestly at the root of his idolatry, and its clear link to his many pagan wives and concubines. In his desire to keep the peace, both at a national and a household level, he strays into idolatry, caring more to please his wives than his God. His sins are not glossed over, and we watch as Solomon struggles with the conundrum he has created for himself because of his disobedience.

Romance. This book is filled with its many guises. All accurately and honestly portrayed. I don't generally care for romantic stories, as I think they are almost all ridiculous, but this author writes her romance in the vein of Francine Rivers. Her pen seems more subtle still, and the true romance glows softly from the page in a genuine way--anything shallower than real love is painted with a garish brush, and feels as unappealing as it really is. I appreciate that. Romance is not glorified over Love in this book.

For such a short book, it really does pack in a lot of detail, but I don't want to tell you the whole story. If you enjoy historical/biblical fiction, this is a book you might enjoy. I'm sure there are inaccuracies and mistakes in this story--it's not the Bible, after all--but I believe the story holds true, and fits well. It brings biblical characters to life, and reminds us that they were real people, who lived in a real place, at a real moment in history, and had real struggles not much different than we do today. As the wisest man who ever lived once said: "There is nothing new under the sun."

[Kelly Duplechin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offered more from a historical standpoint than anything else, for me. However, I was impressed with the authors capability in artfully filling in holes that history doesn't provide, and simultaneously bringing these figures to life. While I personally would have liked more romance, it was a compelling story nonetheless. It's probably more like 3.5 stars, but the thought of putting it at 3 stars seemed like an injustice to the book.

[K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! For such a short, page-turner I would classify this as historical fiction. I will defer to Tiff's review for detail as she puts it quite well even though less stars. No it won't go down in archives of great historical novels but it's very educational and an enticing read that characterizes the real people and their times artfully.

I may have been more interested in the Bible during my youth if I'd had exposure to a book(s) like this. As Tiff said, the romance was not overstated but more a testament to abiding love.

Dorr adeptly crafts moral messaging subtly throughout this tale that portray's a woman's real beauty is her brave soul when she seeks the truth and pushes through her fear to get at it, remaining open-minded and eager to learn. We also see that the strongest, bravest, wisest men do the same and embrace the animal and plant kingdoms as valuable members of our community, respecting all animals for the sentient beings they truly are. I loved Dorr's portrayal of King Solomon and wanted to know more. We also see how only when a man and a woman join as true partners in all respects can societies and humanity become its best representation of God.

[Allan67 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book that I read to Diana. We can't do much anymore after her stroke, so I read to her to spend time together. Diana has always loved to have someone to read to her - and I like to do just that.

A somewhat interesting fictionalization of the biblical account of a visit to Solomon by the Queen of Sheba. Our Bible has only a few lines devoted to the visit, but there are other sources also with sketchy mention of the queen and her visit to Solomon.

I will admit that we have led a sheltered life, but this story was the first mention that we had heard of the queen's name, Bilqis (Goolgle it) and that together she and Solomon had a child who would be recorded as Memlik I. (You can Google that too).

At any rate, it was interesting and entertaining - the reason for our reading the book. Diana enjoyed it and when I asked how many stars, she responded four, so four stars it is.

[Mae Clair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of this book takes place with Solomon and the Queen of Sheba dealing with separate issues in their kingdoms while also hearing rumors of each other. Both must face plots (instigated by those close to them) to gain power. At times it’s a little long and the pace bogs, but overall, a good fictional glimpse of what might have been. The author layered plenty of historical research and Biblical truths (like Solomon building temples for his pagan wives, and how the kingdom would be taken from his son) to make it stand up to scrutiny.

The fictional slant and characters were well done. I especially liked the side story with the merchant trader, Badget, and his two wives. I had no idea where Dorr was headed with that until the thread cleverly evolved into Solomon’s wisdom and judgement. A solid 3.5 read, rounded up to 4 stars for review purposes.

[Taryn Spearey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another wonderful book about people from the Bible. We have the queen of Sheba in this book. She is portraied as a hard queen. She refuses to bend and takea husband, beliving that if she did, she would lose all her power over her kingdom.

What I loved about this one is how we got to see more of how the queen used her power. I found her to be a very interesting woman.

I like how, even though she did take a husband in order to produce an heir for her throne, she still tried to show everyone that she didn't need anyone.

I have one more book from this series, and I'm so excited!

[To-Summarise Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was actually a nice read. My first time reading something to do with the queen of Sheba, I never imagined that something else could have transpired between them than the search for truth that brought her his way but this was well woven. The inclusion of a fictionalised backstory for the case of the two women arguing over the dead child was a nice touch too and I loved reading how the story built. I didn't have all too much high hopes for it but I definitely enjoyed reading it.

[Lynn McClellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reading

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Well written. Gives a very good account of the period and answers questions for me as to how come there are people in Africa who are orthodox Judaism in religion.

[LT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, but fiction indeed

Captivating story that tries to explain from a fictional point of view the dealings between Solomon and Sheba. But come on, to use two western actors for the book cover really is disappointing and makes other parts of the story also doubtful.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

To read more of my reviews please check out my blog at: https://jensreadreviewrepeat.wordpres...


Quick Overview: Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba is intriqued by a new king she has recently heard of, Solomon. She journeys across various kingdoms to reach him and meet him for herself. In him she finally finds a man worth the Queen of Sheba, if only for a short time. They will form a bond and write a contract in which he promises to provide her with an heir. He does this before she journeys home and they lead separate lives.

Short and Sweet: I enjoyed it but I won’t rush out to buy anything else by this author.

Best part of the book: Dorr covered a lot of different religions in the world at the time. I loved how questioning both Bilqis and Solomon were about these different world views.

Worst: The writing was not the most engaging. I felt like it didn’t go very in depth in certain parts.

In conclusion: If you like retelling of bible stories I think there are better authors out there, but it was a quick read and enjoyable.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms Dorr has taken little pieces of information from different sources and written a wonderful story about King Soloman and the queen of Sheba. A great story with insights of what possibly may have occurred. Very enjoyable and difficult to put down.

Reread this book in July of 2016. Enjoyed it again.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting depiction of what could have happened between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Purely fictional of course, but a worthy pursuit on Roberta Kells Dorr's part, since not much is known of this story.

[Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have very mixed reactions here. I was hoping for a christian view point on the queen of sheba, but what i got was a whole story about the "God" of the moon. Very morbid, very confused and over all very unsatisfied.

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was mildly interesting but nothing compared to the prequel Solomon's Song. This was more a book of facts than a story. Not much of a story line it felt more like a history book.

[Covenant Presbyterian Springfield Ohio]

Call Number: F DOR

Given in memory of Barbara DEER KUSS by the KUSS Family.

Checked Out.