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Lux
King David sings his psalms. A world away, King Henry plots. And courtier Thomas Wyatt sees them both, his beloved falcon Lukkes on his arm.
David wants Bathsheba. Henry too must have what he wants. He wants Ann, a divorce, a son. He looks up at his tapestry of David and sees a mighty predecessor who defended his faith and took what he liked. But he leaves it to others to count the costs.
Among those counting is the poet Wyatt, who sees a different David, a man who repented before God, in song as in life. This is the version of the biblical king which Wyatt must give voice to as he translates David's psalms.
As David pursues Bathsheba, Henry courts Ann, and Wyatt interweaves the past and present.
Lux is a story of love and its reach, fidelity and faith, power and its abuses.
David wants Bathsheba. Henry too must have what he wants. He wants Ann, a divorce, a son. He looks up at his tapestry of David and sees a mighty predecessor who defended his faith and took what he liked. But he leaves it to others to count the costs.
Among those counting is the poet Wyatt, who sees a different David, a man who repented before God, in song as in life. This is the version of the biblical king which Wyatt must give voice to as he translates David's psalms.
As David pursues Bathsheba, Henry courts Ann, and Wyatt interweaves the past and present.
Lux is a story of love and its reach, fidelity and faith, power and its abuses.
408 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2019
24 people are currently reading
260 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Cook
88 books24 followersElizabeth Cook was born in Gibraltar in 1952, spent her childhood in Nigeria and Dorset, and now lives in East London. She is the editor of the Oxford Authors John Keats and author of Achilles (Methuen and Picador USA), a work of fiction acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic. Her poetry, short fiction and critical reviews have appeared in many journals including Agenda, The London Review of Books, Poetry London, Stand and Tears in the Fence. She was a Hawthornden fellow in 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
September 19, 2020
3.5stars
This rating is mainly because it ended at a highly unsatisfactory point and she didn't seem to draw enough parallels so that it seems like two separate stories.
It is always fascinating how non-Christians interpret the Bible. If you have read it, you'll know that the Bible is scant on details. It is therefore ripe for a creative imagination to delve into the characters' minds and motivations. I do not like, however, when liberties are taken with the "facts". As I said, there are few details already, so why change what little there is? I enjoyed the book up to the part when Uriah died and David married Bathsheba. In the Bible, it seems as if their child got ill later and he publicly fasted. The way Cook has written it makes him a lot less intentional and takes away from his main redeeming quality - his devotion to God.
Then there's the second part of the story. The blurb implies that a parallel is drawn between Henry and David. However, the story focuses on Wyatt instead. Is he supposed to be Uriah? Or share Uriah's point of view? It's much too muddled and no amount of beautiful writing can overcome a weak storyline. However, this is, of course, my own opinion and this is another book I would advise people to read for themselves.
This rating is mainly because it ended at a highly unsatisfactory point and she didn't seem to draw enough parallels so that it seems like two separate stories.
It is always fascinating how non-Christians interpret the Bible. If you have read it, you'll know that the Bible is scant on details. It is therefore ripe for a creative imagination to delve into the characters' minds and motivations. I do not like, however, when liberties are taken with the "facts". As I said, there are few details already, so why change what little there is? I enjoyed the book up to the part when Uriah died and David married Bathsheba. In the Bible, it seems as if their child got ill later and he publicly fasted. The way Cook has written it makes him a lot less intentional and takes away from his main redeeming quality - his devotion to God.
Then there's the second part of the story. The blurb implies that a parallel is drawn between Henry and David. However, the story focuses on Wyatt instead. Is he supposed to be Uriah? Or share Uriah's point of view? It's much too muddled and no amount of beautiful writing can overcome a weak storyline. However, this is, of course, my own opinion and this is another book I would advise people to read for themselves.
Read
February 20, 2020Elizabeth Cook’s visual imagination is as sharp and gorgeous as any Pre-Raphaelite painter. Her psychological penetration is deep and compassionate. They are both unfailing as she weaves together the stories of King David and Bathsheba and of Thomas Wyatt and Ann Boleyn. If this is, in a way, atour de force, it doesn’t read like that: the connections are organic and realistic, gripping the reader and integral to the rapid movement of the narrative.
John Drury, author of Music at Midnight
Almost two decades in the making, Lux is well worth the wait. Like its predecessor Achilles, it’s an ambitious and compelling novel, equally vivid in its conjuring of myth and history, particularly striking in its portrayal of religious belief under pressure, the nature of holiness and the sacred. It’s a remarkable book.
Michael Symmons Roberts, Author of Drysalter
Cook’s quietly masterful prose builds a huge world, unsentimental, numinous and deeply moving. Longing, appetite, love, grief, regret and their consequences: Lux, Wyatt’s falcon, is named for the luxury of courts and concupiscence but also the light of the desert, of song, of David’s Yahweh. This novel is a joy to read.
Susan Hitch
A well-told thinker of a read.
Weekend Sport
Lux emerges as an unusual and accomplished page turner. It’s ambitious, incredibly detailed … the clarity and beauty of the prose is a joy. An overwhelming sense of destiny is palpable and defining.
Irish Examiner
A vivid retelling … balanced very meticulously.
Tom Sutcliffe, BBC Radio 4’s ‘Saturday Review’
[Cook’s] account of an Old Testament repentance is a full-throated one.
Elizabeth Buchan, Daily Mail
In her second novel, Elizabeth Cook has followed her own passions … to good effect. Her command of language, and of her material, makes this an extremely satisfying read.
Anne Goodwin
Lux is a remarkable interweaving of one ancient king’s story and his place as redeemer within and beyond Judaism.
Rabbi Dr Aviva Kipen, J-Wire
Intelligence, originality and poetic grace … Ms. Cook reflects on the momentous change by tenderly humanising all of these larger-than-life characters. Her portrayal of Bathsheba is both more compassionate and more convincing than the usual caricature of a power-hungry seductress. Her David, too, is remarkably approachable … Again and again in this discerning novel, sin and suffering culminate in a majestic work of humility and praise.
Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
Cook writes beautiful and complicated prose, befitting of the subjects she chooses … Informed by the Judeo-Christian spiritual tradition without being subject to it, here is the rare book that functions on multiple levels, inspiring new ideas and insights with each re-reading … The most powerful chapters of Lux are those spent with women … Cook plucks these hollowed-out characters from Samuel and imbues them with souls. She circles the Bible story of David and Bathsheba, plumbs its depths and breathes life into it, creating the type of mannered, academic leaning novel that the English seem to adore … But press down firmly on the cover and the words, regardless of how beautiful they are, will flow out its sides like water from a sponge.
Tara Cheesman, On the Seawall
John Drury, author of Music at Midnight
Almost two decades in the making, Lux is well worth the wait. Like its predecessor Achilles, it’s an ambitious and compelling novel, equally vivid in its conjuring of myth and history, particularly striking in its portrayal of religious belief under pressure, the nature of holiness and the sacred. It’s a remarkable book.
Michael Symmons Roberts, Author of Drysalter
Cook’s quietly masterful prose builds a huge world, unsentimental, numinous and deeply moving. Longing, appetite, love, grief, regret and their consequences: Lux, Wyatt’s falcon, is named for the luxury of courts and concupiscence but also the light of the desert, of song, of David’s Yahweh. This novel is a joy to read.
Susan Hitch
A well-told thinker of a read.
Weekend Sport
Lux emerges as an unusual and accomplished page turner. It’s ambitious, incredibly detailed … the clarity and beauty of the prose is a joy. An overwhelming sense of destiny is palpable and defining.
Irish Examiner
A vivid retelling … balanced very meticulously.
Tom Sutcliffe, BBC Radio 4’s ‘Saturday Review’
[Cook’s] account of an Old Testament repentance is a full-throated one.
Elizabeth Buchan, Daily Mail
In her second novel, Elizabeth Cook has followed her own passions … to good effect. Her command of language, and of her material, makes this an extremely satisfying read.
Anne Goodwin
Lux is a remarkable interweaving of one ancient king’s story and his place as redeemer within and beyond Judaism.
Rabbi Dr Aviva Kipen, J-Wire
Intelligence, originality and poetic grace … Ms. Cook reflects on the momentous change by tenderly humanising all of these larger-than-life characters. Her portrayal of Bathsheba is both more compassionate and more convincing than the usual caricature of a power-hungry seductress. Her David, too, is remarkably approachable … Again and again in this discerning novel, sin and suffering culminate in a majestic work of humility and praise.
Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
Cook writes beautiful and complicated prose, befitting of the subjects she chooses … Informed by the Judeo-Christian spiritual tradition without being subject to it, here is the rare book that functions on multiple levels, inspiring new ideas and insights with each re-reading … The most powerful chapters of Lux are those spent with women … Cook plucks these hollowed-out characters from Samuel and imbues them with souls. She circles the Bible story of David and Bathsheba, plumbs its depths and breathes life into it, creating the type of mannered, academic leaning novel that the English seem to adore … But press down firmly on the cover and the words, regardless of how beautiful they are, will flow out its sides like water from a sponge.
Tara Cheesman, On the Seawall
Read
February 20, 2020Elizabeth Cook’s visual imagination is as sharp and gorgeous as any Pre-Raphaelite painter. Her psychological penetration is deep and compassionate. They are both unfailing as she weaves together the stories of King David and Bathsheba and of Thomas Wyatt and Ann Boleyn. If this is, in a way, atour de force, it doesn’t read like that: the connections are organic and realistic, gripping the reader and integral to the rapid movement of the narrative.
John Drury, author of Music at Midnight
Almost two decades in the making, Lux is well worth the wait. Like its predecessor Achilles, it’s an ambitious and compelling novel, equally vivid in its conjuring of myth and history, particularly striking in its portrayal of religious belief under pressure, the nature of holiness and the sacred. It’s a remarkable book.
Michael Symmons Roberts, Author of Drysalter
Cook’s quietly masterful prose builds a huge world, unsentimental, numinous and deeply moving. Longing, appetite, love, grief, regret and their consequences: Lux, Wyatt’s falcon, is named for the luxury of courts and concupiscence but also the light of the desert, of song, of David’s Yahweh. This novel is a joy to read.
Susan Hitch
A well-told thinker of a read.
Weekend Sport
Lux emerges as an unusual and accomplished page turner. It’s ambitious, incredibly detailed … the clarity and beauty of the prose is a joy. An overwhelming sense of destiny is palpable and defining.
Irish Examiner
A vivid retelling … balanced very meticulously.
Tom Sutcliffe, BBC Radio 4’s ‘Saturday Review’
[Cook’s] account of an Old Testament repentance is a full-throated one.
Elizabeth Buchan, Daily Mail
In her second novel, Elizabeth Cook has followed her own passions … to good effect. Her command of language, and of her material, makes this an extremely satisfying read.
Anne Goodwin
Lux is a remarkable interweaving of one ancient king’s story and his place as redeemer within and beyond Judaism.
Rabbi Dr Aviva Kipen, J-Wire
Intelligence, originality and poetic grace … Ms. Cook reflects on the momentous change by tenderly humanising all of these larger-than-life characters. Her portrayal of Bathsheba is both more compassionate and more convincing than the usual caricature of a power-hungry seductress. Her David, too, is remarkably approachable … Again and again in this discerning novel, sin and suffering culminate in a majestic work of humility and praise.
Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
Cook writes beautiful and complicated prose, befitting of the subjects she chooses … Informed by the Judeo-Christian spiritual tradition without being subject to it, here is the rare book that functions on multiple levels, inspiring new ideas and insights with each re-reading … The most powerful chapters of Lux are those spent with women … Cook plucks these hollowed-out characters from Samuel and imbues them with souls. She circles the Bible story of David and Bathsheba, plumbs its depths and breathes life into it, creating the type of mannered, academic leaning novel that the English seem to adore … But press down firmly on the cover and the words, regardless of how beautiful they are, will flow out its sides like water from a sponge.
Tara Cheesman, On the Seawall
John Drury, author of Music at Midnight
Almost two decades in the making, Lux is well worth the wait. Like its predecessor Achilles, it’s an ambitious and compelling novel, equally vivid in its conjuring of myth and history, particularly striking in its portrayal of religious belief under pressure, the nature of holiness and the sacred. It’s a remarkable book.
Michael Symmons Roberts, Author of Drysalter
Cook’s quietly masterful prose builds a huge world, unsentimental, numinous and deeply moving. Longing, appetite, love, grief, regret and their consequences: Lux, Wyatt’s falcon, is named for the luxury of courts and concupiscence but also the light of the desert, of song, of David’s Yahweh. This novel is a joy to read.
Susan Hitch
A well-told thinker of a read.
Weekend Sport
Lux emerges as an unusual and accomplished page turner. It’s ambitious, incredibly detailed … the clarity and beauty of the prose is a joy. An overwhelming sense of destiny is palpable and defining.
Irish Examiner
A vivid retelling … balanced very meticulously.
Tom Sutcliffe, BBC Radio 4’s ‘Saturday Review’
[Cook’s] account of an Old Testament repentance is a full-throated one.
Elizabeth Buchan, Daily Mail
In her second novel, Elizabeth Cook has followed her own passions … to good effect. Her command of language, and of her material, makes this an extremely satisfying read.
Anne Goodwin
Lux is a remarkable interweaving of one ancient king’s story and his place as redeemer within and beyond Judaism.
Rabbi Dr Aviva Kipen, J-Wire
Intelligence, originality and poetic grace … Ms. Cook reflects on the momentous change by tenderly humanising all of these larger-than-life characters. Her portrayal of Bathsheba is both more compassionate and more convincing than the usual caricature of a power-hungry seductress. Her David, too, is remarkably approachable … Again and again in this discerning novel, sin and suffering culminate in a majestic work of humility and praise.
Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
Cook writes beautiful and complicated prose, befitting of the subjects she chooses … Informed by the Judeo-Christian spiritual tradition without being subject to it, here is the rare book that functions on multiple levels, inspiring new ideas and insights with each re-reading … The most powerful chapters of Lux are those spent with women … Cook plucks these hollowed-out characters from Samuel and imbues them with souls. She circles the Bible story of David and Bathsheba, plumbs its depths and breathes life into it, creating the type of mannered, academic leaning novel that the English seem to adore … But press down firmly on the cover and the words, regardless of how beautiful they are, will flow out its sides like water from a sponge.
Tara Cheesman, On the Seawall
September 24, 2021
I think I’m just very confused about this book? I bought it because it sounded really interesting and the cover was gorgeous - but I really don’t see the relation between David and Wyatt. There’s clearly parallels between the story of Henry and Anne and David and Batsheba, but what does Thomas Wyatt have to do with it? The Wyatt section is only a third of the novel too so it just seems tacked on. They’re just two completely separate stories. The book is called Lux after Wyatt’s falcon Lukkes, so why is he and it such a small part of the novel?
I haven’t read the Wyatt biography that Cook credits but I also had a huge problem with the decisions she made with his interpretation. Anne Boleyn did NOT have a sixth finger and to sexualise it in the way Cook does is just gross. Henry VIII did NOT enter a comatose state in February 1536 after he fell from his horse because of his obscene weight, he only started gaining weight after he fell of his horse because of his leg ulcer. Thomas Wyatt also (most likely) wrote multiple poems about Anne and even called him his mistress (or at least likened her to one) so I don’t think it was just a matter of him thinking she was interesting but rarely talking to her. I don’t believe she actually was intimate with him, but he should in all likelihood be closer to her than this.
I also really don’t understand why David was the point of view for so much of the story. Especially because Lux is supposed to be about the parallels between Henry and David from an outsiders point of view. He was also just really boring and unlikeable.
The writing was lovely, there was just TOO much of it. Most of the novel just felt like waiting in that cave with David rambling on about his sexuality - too long and too disengaging. It could’ve been something, but in the end Lux just feels like exploiting real people’s traumas (graphic descriptions of body horror of Anne’s corpse and beheading) for vague attempts at creativity.
BONUS: the choice of spelling her name as ‘Ann’ is just really left-field to me. She always signed it as ‘Anne’ so I don’t see why you’d change that?
I haven’t read the Wyatt biography that Cook credits but I also had a huge problem with the decisions she made with his interpretation. Anne Boleyn did NOT have a sixth finger and to sexualise it in the way Cook does is just gross. Henry VIII did NOT enter a comatose state in February 1536 after he fell from his horse because of his obscene weight, he only started gaining weight after he fell of his horse because of his leg ulcer. Thomas Wyatt also (most likely) wrote multiple poems about Anne and even called him his mistress (or at least likened her to one) so I don’t think it was just a matter of him thinking she was interesting but rarely talking to her. I don’t believe she actually was intimate with him, but he should in all likelihood be closer to her than this.
I also really don’t understand why David was the point of view for so much of the story. Especially because Lux is supposed to be about the parallels between Henry and David from an outsiders point of view. He was also just really boring and unlikeable.
The writing was lovely, there was just TOO much of it. Most of the novel just felt like waiting in that cave with David rambling on about his sexuality - too long and too disengaging. It could’ve been something, but in the end Lux just feels like exploiting real people’s traumas (graphic descriptions of body horror of Anne’s corpse and beheading) for vague attempts at creativity.
BONUS: the choice of spelling her name as ‘Ann’ is just really left-field to me. She always signed it as ‘Anne’ so I don’t see why you’d change that?
October 24, 2020
To market this book to fans of Marilynne Robinson destroys its chance of success. An adequate reimagining of history that seldom soars and suffers from bad pacing: Sparse, irregular dialogue and too much interiority hobble any real momentum.
March 4, 2020
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Lux by Elizabeth Cook is part a retelling of Books 1 and 2 Samuel in the Hebrew Bible, the story of King David, and how it applied to King Henry VIII, as well as the poet Thomas Wyatt. Ms. Cook is the editor of the Oxford Authors John Keats, and a seasoned writer.
King David sees Bathsheba from his window and desires her. The married Bathsheba cannot deny the King his wishes and soon finds out she is impregnated by him.
Centuries later, King Henry VIII sees the story of King David as an inspiration, a King who sees what he wants and takes it. King Henry is in a juncture where he wants to marry Anne Boleyn, but, like King David, defending his faith and getting his way.
Poet Thomas Wyatt, sees King David in a different light as he translates his psalms. Wyatt sees David as a man who repents his fidelity, faith, and abuse of power.
Biblical fiction, when done well, is one of my favorite genres, and the story of King David is an amazing story with twists and turns that can be told many times in thousands of different ways. Two thirds of Lux by Elizabeth Cook is a rich retelling of the King David’s story.
Much like the beloved book Kings III (Melachim Gimmel) by Yochi Brandes, Ms. Cook has a great narrative through biblical women, most of them do not get a voice or to tell the story through their eyes. The author takes her time to demonstrate the power of repentance that occurs in King David after he commits adultery with Bathsheba. The part were David expresses remorse over his transgressions, seeking forgiveness from YHWA is well written and gets the point across.
The last third of the book started off in a very interesting manner, King Henry VIII is looking at King David as an inspirational figure before he breaks away from the Catholic Church to marry Anne Boleyn. Unfortunately this part didn’t go anywhere and quickly moved to tell of poet Thomas Wyatt’s trials in prison for one reason or another.
And then, the novel just… ends.
I felt that the payoff wasn’t there, the last third had great potential and I was excited to see where it was leading me. Unfortunately it was no-where.
Lux by Elizabeth Cook is part a retelling of Books 1 and 2 Samuel in the Hebrew Bible, the story of King David, and how it applied to King Henry VIII, as well as the poet Thomas Wyatt. Ms. Cook is the editor of the Oxford Authors John Keats, and a seasoned writer.
King David sees Bathsheba from his window and desires her. The married Bathsheba cannot deny the King his wishes and soon finds out she is impregnated by him.
Centuries later, King Henry VIII sees the story of King David as an inspiration, a King who sees what he wants and takes it. King Henry is in a juncture where he wants to marry Anne Boleyn, but, like King David, defending his faith and getting his way.
Poet Thomas Wyatt, sees King David in a different light as he translates his psalms. Wyatt sees David as a man who repents his fidelity, faith, and abuse of power.
Biblical fiction, when done well, is one of my favorite genres, and the story of King David is an amazing story with twists and turns that can be told many times in thousands of different ways. Two thirds of Lux by Elizabeth Cook is a rich retelling of the King David’s story.
Much like the beloved book Kings III (Melachim Gimmel) by Yochi Brandes, Ms. Cook has a great narrative through biblical women, most of them do not get a voice or to tell the story through their eyes. The author takes her time to demonstrate the power of repentance that occurs in King David after he commits adultery with Bathsheba. The part were David expresses remorse over his transgressions, seeking forgiveness from YHWA is well written and gets the point across.
The last third of the book started off in a very interesting manner, King Henry VIII is looking at King David as an inspirational figure before he breaks away from the Catholic Church to marry Anne Boleyn. Unfortunately this part didn’t go anywhere and quickly moved to tell of poet Thomas Wyatt’s trials in prison for one reason or another.
And then, the novel just… ends.
I felt that the payoff wasn’t there, the last third had great potential and I was excited to see where it was leading me. Unfortunately it was no-where.
April 23, 2023
this was really well-written. although i thought i’d enjoy the second part much more since it was set in the tudor court, i think the first part was actually the strongest. it was brilliant. HOWEVER i agree with the other reviews that there just wasn’t enough of a link connecting the two parts of the book - sadly the second part felt a bit disjointed and almost tacked-on
February 18, 2023
3.5* - more interesting than enjoyable. still don’t think enough was made of the actual connection between the two storylines so it just sort of felt like 2 books smushed together. separately, both well done! but together i just didn’t quite Get It l! still glad i read and it scratched my tudor court playwrights itch x
July 12, 2019
I recieved this as an ARC at the ALA conference a few weeks ago.
Okay. So. This book. The first part, David and Bathaheba, was AMAZING. I didn't want it to end. I think it came across very strong and solid. As a Christian, I am very familiar with this story and all that come after it and so I was excited to see it in a new way. Cook did an excellent job keeping it to what is told in the Bible and in no way made me feel like she was mocking it.
The second part, however, is where I believe it fell apart. I feel like I was led to believe that Wyatt would do more with King Henry and the David and Bathsheba story but it took a back burner stance. It focused more on Wyatt and him being in prison (why? Dunno, nothing really was made clear...), his disgust that his wife had an affair and yet he goes off and does the same. I feel like there still needs to be a 'and the moral of the story is...' moment and we don't get it.
Also, probably the WORST ending I've ever read. It quite literally just ends. Nothing led me to the end. I thought there was still more. I read it as if there was. But in this case, I feel like I'm missing pages. It honestly is a little frustrating. I'd give this a two star if the first part wasn't as good as it was.
Okay. So. This book. The first part, David and Bathaheba, was AMAZING. I didn't want it to end. I think it came across very strong and solid. As a Christian, I am very familiar with this story and all that come after it and so I was excited to see it in a new way. Cook did an excellent job keeping it to what is told in the Bible and in no way made me feel like she was mocking it.
The second part, however, is where I believe it fell apart. I feel like I was led to believe that Wyatt would do more with King Henry and the David and Bathsheba story but it took a back burner stance. It focused more on Wyatt and him being in prison (why? Dunno, nothing really was made clear...), his disgust that his wife had an affair and yet he goes off and does the same. I feel like there still needs to be a 'and the moral of the story is...' moment and we don't get it.
Also, probably the WORST ending I've ever read. It quite literally just ends. Nothing led me to the end. I thought there was still more. I read it as if there was. But in this case, I feel like I'm missing pages. It honestly is a little frustrating. I'd give this a two star if the first part wasn't as good as it was.
August 18, 2019
I have mixed feelings about this book, it is well written in parts and I like the idea of comparing Henry VIII to King David. Unfortunately I think the execution of this book is not as good as the concept and not as good as the blurb would suggest. I think the first two sections with David and Bathsheba was too long and there was not enough real story to fill this section and the third section felt rushed and personally I find Thomas Wyatt to be the most interesting of the characters in the novel. I also agree with other reviewers that the ending was not very strong. There was also lots of pointless repetition of information. I gave three stars because on the whole the writing is not bad, but the structure and plot not so good.
September 21, 2019
While this book has beautiful prose that I wanted to be swept up in, it felt disjointed. The story of David and Bathsheba occupies the first 267 pages with no mention of King Henry or Wyatt, and then switches gears and awkwardly weaves through Wyatt’s adult life without distinction or explanation. Although I am familiar with the politics of Henry VIII’s reign and Wyatt’s life, I am sure that those who are not would have many unanswered questions. And the finale was a non event, tying no loose ends together for David, Bathsheba, Wyatt, or Henry nor defining any parable to bring them together. It just ends, in the same way that the book just is. By the end I was counting down the pages.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2021
This is a really bizarre book. Essentially it is a book of two halves- one focusing on king David stories and the other on the poet Thomas Wyatt. Out of the two the king David story is the stronger and Cook dedicates most of the book to this. The Wyatt story feels rushed in comparison and since there is no clear link between the two a wee bit pointless. The main issue is that both stories just end. It feels like there is pages missing the endings are so abrupt. Nice idea but not well executed.
November 24, 2019
A DRC was provided by Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Lux is a bit of a hot mess, but Cook's ambition and themes of transcendental obsessions, sexual and religious, are both spell-binding and headache-inducing. Her first familiar tale casts the Hebrew King David as a fallen hero undone by his lust for Bathsheba and the hypocrisy and violence that Old Testament societies wreaked on sexually transgressive women but not men. The destinies of both famed and ignominious characters from Israel and beyond are intertwined with the fate of the Ark of the Covenant, which serves as a metaphor for both manifest ties to God and the ridiculousness covetous of status-hungry communities. Cook's writing is loaded with rich imagery and Biblical quotes, gripping, but ponderous. It lacks all humor and an awareness of the humdrum as the majority of life's experience, but Cook struggles mightily to bring her account of a brutal, distant but still hugely influential time to life.
The second half of the book transports the reader to Tudor England, smack into the thoughts of brilliant, conflicted scholar statesman Sir Thomas Wyatt. Wyatt is the favorite crush of any Tudor enthusiast, irresistible with his still haunting poetry, his efforts to be fair to everyone, his wily struggle to live a life of intellectual self-examination while keeping his pretty head and wits intact. Wyatt and his wife have both committed adultery, and it has plunged him into a mood of self-examination. He is observing the strange, fascinating Ann Boleyn sit next to Henry VIII while they all watch a retelling of the tale of David and his concubine Bathsheba, and wondering at the parallels between that tale and the present. Cook cleverly blends Wyatt's musings on sin and his own complicity with the moral compromises of the age, with Wyatt's analysis of the poetry of the age, his own work, and David's psalms of repentance. Chief among Wyatt's concerns aside from his adulterous wife is his own charged relationship with Ann; "She could meet him in wit as very few could, but his pleasure in her cleverness would be too evident and suggest a dangerous level of intimacy." Wyatt is cast from one crisis to another, from lost love to love renewed, then lost again, from fortunes high then low then uneasily restored. In the end, Cook succeeds in pulling the reader along in the tow of her own passions, though staying afloat is hard, but worthwhile work.
Lux is a bit of a hot mess, but Cook's ambition and themes of transcendental obsessions, sexual and religious, are both spell-binding and headache-inducing. Her first familiar tale casts the Hebrew King David as a fallen hero undone by his lust for Bathsheba and the hypocrisy and violence that Old Testament societies wreaked on sexually transgressive women but not men. The destinies of both famed and ignominious characters from Israel and beyond are intertwined with the fate of the Ark of the Covenant, which serves as a metaphor for both manifest ties to God and the ridiculousness covetous of status-hungry communities. Cook's writing is loaded with rich imagery and Biblical quotes, gripping, but ponderous. It lacks all humor and an awareness of the humdrum as the majority of life's experience, but Cook struggles mightily to bring her account of a brutal, distant but still hugely influential time to life.
The second half of the book transports the reader to Tudor England, smack into the thoughts of brilliant, conflicted scholar statesman Sir Thomas Wyatt. Wyatt is the favorite crush of any Tudor enthusiast, irresistible with his still haunting poetry, his efforts to be fair to everyone, his wily struggle to live a life of intellectual self-examination while keeping his pretty head and wits intact. Wyatt and his wife have both committed adultery, and it has plunged him into a mood of self-examination. He is observing the strange, fascinating Ann Boleyn sit next to Henry VIII while they all watch a retelling of the tale of David and his concubine Bathsheba, and wondering at the parallels between that tale and the present. Cook cleverly blends Wyatt's musings on sin and his own complicity with the moral compromises of the age, with Wyatt's analysis of the poetry of the age, his own work, and David's psalms of repentance. Chief among Wyatt's concerns aside from his adulterous wife is his own charged relationship with Ann; "She could meet him in wit as very few could, but his pleasure in her cleverness would be too evident and suggest a dangerous level of intimacy." Wyatt is cast from one crisis to another, from lost love to love renewed, then lost again, from fortunes high then low then uneasily restored. In the end, Cook succeeds in pulling the reader along in the tow of her own passions, though staying afloat is hard, but worthwhile work.
May 13, 2025
The premise is very interesting, but I don't love how it was put into text. This book has 403 pages and it could have done with half that. Many things, feelings and occurences and descriptions were told to us multiple times (from different perspectives and even timelines, but not novel enough to warrant the repetition in my opinion). Once you've said something, let it be. If you have to say it again bc the reader came into contact with a new POV and the new perspective that accompanies it, then yes, repeat, but do it in a way that really brings something new to the table.
I liked the first two thirds of the book better than the last. The cut from David and Bathsheba to Wyatt and his life was too sudden and the impact it was supposed to have was lost (at least on me).
I don't know. It's not a bad book, far from it, but it feels a little aimless, like it's looking for deeper purpose, but it does so in places that are not quite right and it ask its questions to characters who are also not quite right. We didn't see much of King Henry and Ann Boleyn and Wyatt didn't seem to fit right onto the pages of this book. He was a plaything of King Henrys power, yes, he was the one who could see all that unrestrained power in action and felt his own weakness beneath it, but why was that important? Were we supposed to see three perspectives? King David and King Henry. Bathsheba and Ann Boleyn. Uriah and Thomas Wyatt? One spokesperson for each of the pairings? Maybe it could've worked, but in the end this wasn't a braid or a shawl or any other kind of woven mastery; it's just three losely connected threads.
I still mostly enjoyed myself and I learned something new, so no time wasted.
I liked the first two thirds of the book better than the last. The cut from David and Bathsheba to Wyatt and his life was too sudden and the impact it was supposed to have was lost (at least on me).
I don't know. It's not a bad book, far from it, but it feels a little aimless, like it's looking for deeper purpose, but it does so in places that are not quite right and it ask its questions to characters who are also not quite right. We didn't see much of King Henry and Ann Boleyn and Wyatt didn't seem to fit right onto the pages of this book. He was a plaything of King Henrys power, yes, he was the one who could see all that unrestrained power in action and felt his own weakness beneath it, but why was that important? Were we supposed to see three perspectives? King David and King Henry. Bathsheba and Ann Boleyn. Uriah and Thomas Wyatt? One spokesperson for each of the pairings? Maybe it could've worked, but in the end this wasn't a braid or a shawl or any other kind of woven mastery; it's just three losely connected threads.
I still mostly enjoyed myself and I learned something new, so no time wasted.
January 14, 2020
This book contains two separate stories that are not intertwined within each other; the first two thirds of the book are the story of David, and the last third is the story of Wyatt. These are the stories of two men who each inspects his life, his sins, and the effects on the people they’ve loved and hurt.
David has lost his moral bearings and the ability to hear the voice of YHWH. He has come to believe that his actions are due to the will of his God. His people live and die at his whims. This is a story of David’s repentance.
His story is told in gorgeous and lush language that left me wanting to read the words slowly in order to savor them. It describes his relationship with his God, his wives, and his men and comrades. It follows his path of repentance, his looking back on the events of his life, and his commitment to redeeming his past actions.
2500 years later, Wyatt, a poet and member of the court of King Henry VIII, lives a life that is subject to the whims of a king who also believes that his will is the will of God.
The author has taken events from David’s life and overlaid Wyatt’s story with parallels to David’s and by referencing events from David’s story.
It was strange reading the story of David and then reading the story of Wyatt. Each story can stand beautifully on its own without the parallels which seem forced and unnecessary. Wyatt’s story, although well written and truly interesting, just wasn’t as compelling to me after reading David’s. If they were separate books I would have liked Wyatt’s story much more I think.
David has lost his moral bearings and the ability to hear the voice of YHWH. He has come to believe that his actions are due to the will of his God. His people live and die at his whims. This is a story of David’s repentance.
His story is told in gorgeous and lush language that left me wanting to read the words slowly in order to savor them. It describes his relationship with his God, his wives, and his men and comrades. It follows his path of repentance, his looking back on the events of his life, and his commitment to redeeming his past actions.
2500 years later, Wyatt, a poet and member of the court of King Henry VIII, lives a life that is subject to the whims of a king who also believes that his will is the will of God.
The author has taken events from David’s life and overlaid Wyatt’s story with parallels to David’s and by referencing events from David’s story.
It was strange reading the story of David and then reading the story of Wyatt. Each story can stand beautifully on its own without the parallels which seem forced and unnecessary. Wyatt’s story, although well written and truly interesting, just wasn’t as compelling to me after reading David’s. If they were separate books I would have liked Wyatt’s story much more I think.
August 5, 2021
This book contains two separate stories that are not intertwined within each other; the first two thirds of the book are the story of David, and the last third is the story of Wyatt. These are the stories of two men who each inspects his life, his sins, and the effects on the people they’ve loved and hurt.
David has lost his moral bearings and the ability to hear the voice of YHWH. He has come to believe that his actions are due to the will of his God. His people live and die at his whims. This is a story of David’s repentance.
His story is told in gorgeous and lush language that left me wanting to read the words slowly in order to savor them. It describes his relationship with his God, his wives, and his men and comrades. It follows his path of repentance, his looking back on the events of his life, and his commitment to redeeming his past actions.
2500 years later, Wyatt, a poet and member of the court of King Henry VIII, lives a life that is subject to the whims of a king who also believes that his will is the will of God.
The author has taken events from David’s life and overlaid Wyatt’s story with parallels to David’s and by referencing events from David’s story.
It was strange reading the story of David and then reading the story of Wyatt. Each story can stand beautifully on its own without the parallels which seem forced and unnecessary. Wyatt’s story, although well written and truly interesting, just wasn’t as compelling to me after reading David’s. If they were separate books I would have liked Wyatt’s story much more I think.
David has lost his moral bearings and the ability to hear the voice of YHWH. He has come to believe that his actions are due to the will of his God. His people live and die at his whims. This is a story of David’s repentance.
His story is told in gorgeous and lush language that left me wanting to read the words slowly in order to savor them. It describes his relationship with his God, his wives, and his men and comrades. It follows his path of repentance, his looking back on the events of his life, and his commitment to redeeming his past actions.
2500 years later, Wyatt, a poet and member of the court of King Henry VIII, lives a life that is subject to the whims of a king who also believes that his will is the will of God.
The author has taken events from David’s life and overlaid Wyatt’s story with parallels to David’s and by referencing events from David’s story.
It was strange reading the story of David and then reading the story of Wyatt. Each story can stand beautifully on its own without the parallels which seem forced and unnecessary. Wyatt’s story, although well written and truly interesting, just wasn’t as compelling to me after reading David’s. If they were separate books I would have liked Wyatt’s story much more I think.
December 11, 2021
"Life nearly always puts up a struggle. The strangling of a single creature - even one as small as a partridge - can be surprisingly difficult. Joab's task was the slow strangulation of a city".
Trigger warning: death of a child
I adore an old testament historical fiction and this could be the perfect starter to Anita Diamant's 'The Red Tent'. Although a delightfully engaging novel that offers backstory to old favourites including David and Goliath, the book offered suggestions in context to the tale that ring true in reality. It certainly does "take more than dying to make a stupid person wise" and knowing the future, when we have no power to change it truly isn't the superpower I once considered it to be. That said, I'll probably still visit fortune tellers, but with a bit more reservation.
Batsheba was a beautiful protagonist to grow with, and whilst I struggled to feel anything other than indifference to King David, I appreciated his attempts at redemption. My only disappointment with the book was the three part split. Part one and two flowed smoothly and consistently, but the third part felt irrelevant and outside the scope of a religious historical fiction, despite the time scale. I found myself almost totally detached by the ending, however if the book were only the first two parts, I'd likely rate the book 5/5.
Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc.
Trigger warning: death of a child
I adore an old testament historical fiction and this could be the perfect starter to Anita Diamant's 'The Red Tent'. Although a delightfully engaging novel that offers backstory to old favourites including David and Goliath, the book offered suggestions in context to the tale that ring true in reality. It certainly does "take more than dying to make a stupid person wise" and knowing the future, when we have no power to change it truly isn't the superpower I once considered it to be. That said, I'll probably still visit fortune tellers, but with a bit more reservation.
Batsheba was a beautiful protagonist to grow with, and whilst I struggled to feel anything other than indifference to King David, I appreciated his attempts at redemption. My only disappointment with the book was the three part split. Part one and two flowed smoothly and consistently, but the third part felt irrelevant and outside the scope of a religious historical fiction, despite the time scale. I found myself almost totally detached by the ending, however if the book were only the first two parts, I'd likely rate the book 5/5.
Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc.
January 18, 2023
I was hesitant to pick up this book at first because of the low rating but I'm so glad I did! Not only was this a 5-star-read for me, it quickly became one of my new all time favorites! I'm trying to wrap my head around as to why so many people did not seem to enjoy this one, so here are my reasons (and why you should read it anyways):
1) This is very much a character driven story. The novel consists of two parts, the first being a retelling of the story of David and Bathseba. Cook very much focuses on the characters' inner lives and a major part consists of David's week of fasting to convince God to spare his son's life. Not everyone's cup of tea.
2) I think the second part is the one that confused a lot of people. It is told from the perspective of Thomas Wyatt, a poet and adviser to Henry VIII. The text on the back of the paperback makes you believe that this is a simple comparison of Henry=David and Ann Boleyn=Bathseba but imo this is incredibly misleading. Surprisingly little time is spend on Henry and much more on Wyatt himself. There are themes running through both stories that are much more subtle than a simple "so and so stands for so and so"and definitely invite for a reread. To quote from a review excerpt in my copy that much better describes how these two stories are related:
"Like its predecessor Achilles, it's an ambitious and compelling novel, equally vivid in its conjuring of myth and history, particularly striking in its portayal of religious belief under pressure, the nature of holiness and the sacred."
In short, a deeply complex book with wonderful prose, I absolutely loved it!
1) This is very much a character driven story. The novel consists of two parts, the first being a retelling of the story of David and Bathseba. Cook very much focuses on the characters' inner lives and a major part consists of David's week of fasting to convince God to spare his son's life. Not everyone's cup of tea.
2) I think the second part is the one that confused a lot of people. It is told from the perspective of Thomas Wyatt, a poet and adviser to Henry VIII. The text on the back of the paperback makes you believe that this is a simple comparison of Henry=David and Ann Boleyn=Bathseba but imo this is incredibly misleading. Surprisingly little time is spend on Henry and much more on Wyatt himself. There are themes running through both stories that are much more subtle than a simple "so and so stands for so and so"and definitely invite for a reread. To quote from a review excerpt in my copy that much better describes how these two stories are related:
"Like its predecessor Achilles, it's an ambitious and compelling novel, equally vivid in its conjuring of myth and history, particularly striking in its portayal of religious belief under pressure, the nature of holiness and the sacred."
In short, a deeply complex book with wonderful prose, I absolutely loved it!
February 28, 2020
3.5 An intriguing juxtaposition of two men in positions of power and the women who were in one way or another victims of that power. Both men consider themselves men of God, and the Renaissance poet Thomas Wyatt thinks on this as he reflects on David's story during the reign of Henry VIII. Cook's language is vivid and sharp. David's long dark night of the soul, which takes up much of the meat of the book, is rendered in stark flashes that contrast poignantly with the heartbreak being experienced by Bathsheba at the palace. The experiences of David and Wyatt flow from poet to poet on a river of words, but perhaps the most important words, Cook's book suggests, are the ones that were not left for posterity. We have all of David's Psalms but nothing that records Bathsheba's experience, volumes and volumes of writings on the court of Henry VIII but much less on the fear and anxiety Anne Boleyn or Catherine of Aragon must have experienced as they felt themselves slipping out of favor and into Henry's net of plots and intrigue to enforce his will. Cook is successful in making both eras feel genuine and immediate, a feat that often eludes writers trying to retell Biblical stories especially, and this novel comes across as fresh and unique.
February 20, 2025
This was a beautifully written and introspective novel. However, I felt like the story suffered due to the structure. The section following David and Bathsheba is much longer than the section following Thomas Wyatt. The emotional meat of the first story also takes place over a much shorter period of time, just a week. Therefore, we really get time to sit with these characters and think about their motivations and feelings. I also preferred the narrative sent in ancient times, as I felt like Cook really made it come alive. The section following Wyatt jumps around much more, and we get less of a character study. While there were clear connections between the two narratives in theme, they felt too disjointed and I am not sure what was accomplished by adding in the section following Thomas Wyatt.
April 13, 2020
In this time of plague, it is often hard for me to concentrate. This is a book my son bought for me for no special occasion. He is thoughtful that way. Well, the first 3/4 of the book is the story of David and Bathsheba - the opening chapters were interesting but soon I grew tired of David. The last 1/4 was better and I wondered why not more about Wyatt - though certainly Hilary Mantel has that era cornered. Did I tell you that I met her in NY at the theater production of Wolf Hall. She came in the theater all frazzled from her flight and sat in the row in front of me. I was star struck. And she was very nice. What day is it anyway. On to another book. Nonfiction and less somber.
PS Prize given for the beautiful cover.
PS Prize given for the beautiful cover.
January 3, 2021
Elizabeth Cook’s extraordinary novel about the lengths King David went to to secure Bathsheba as his own, is so much more than a historical, biblical retelling - it is a masterful tapestry of life, death, belief and power. Their story (not more than nine lines in the Bible) is brought into dazzling focus and their motivations and actions link to the last third of the book that charts the troubled times of Tudor poet Thomas Wyatt, who was held in the Tower of London on two separate occasions, accused of committing adultery with Anne Boleyn.
This is Great Literature. Reading this is like drinking honeyed wine. You’ll want to unplug the phone and get cosy in the armchair with this one.
This is Great Literature. Reading this is like drinking honeyed wine. You’ll want to unplug the phone and get cosy in the armchair with this one.
December 14, 2023
This took me an age to finish - I wouldn't have started it if I'd not been on a ship with no internet and some free time. I was surprised that I got into it and it was possible to continue but it ended and felt like it could have ended anywhere. The abrupt shift in perspective part way through was jarring and I'm not sure the writer's love of Wyatt was transferred to me. It felt like she couldn't explain to me why he was so haunting and fascinating, as the afterword suggests. In fact, I think I enjoyed the afterword more than that section. It's a book, but I don't think it made a book, if that makes sense. Well written, hard to say much about it. But I didn't put it down.
April 16, 2019
In this unusual novel, Elizabeth Cook reimagines the Old Testament stories in which the Ark of the Covenant is the Israelites’ lucky charm in their battles with the Philistines and the shepherd boy, David, slays a giant with his sling. The boy grows up, becomes a much-loved king, but his lust for a woman, Bathsheba, might be his undoing.
Full review
Kings behaving badly: Lux & Love in the Kingdom of Oil https://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post...
Full review
Kings behaving badly: Lux & Love in the Kingdom of Oil https://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post...
April 4, 2020
This author knows her subjects well, and the details and accuracy of her retelling of familiar stories was stunning. She is also a gifted writer and the detail and beauty of her prose slowed down my reading to absorb all that she had written. I read an article by the author that it took 17 years to write this book, and it comes through in the depth of this book.
Unfortunately, her descriptions of romance and affairs, while (mostly) accurate will prevent me from recommending this book widely.
I am also interested in discovering more about this author.
Unfortunately, her descriptions of romance and affairs, while (mostly) accurate will prevent me from recommending this book widely.
I am also interested in discovering more about this author.
July 18, 2019
I was completely mesmerised by the story of the David and his repentance after he seduced Bathsheba and went into the cave to mourn and remember. The language, the feelings, the beauty of the suffering - the book was astonishing. When it came to the Tudor's England, I was not ready to leave the biblical story behind and reconcentrate on the completely different story. I wished to go on with the first part of the book as long as the author was letting me to continue.
December 31, 2020
I wish I would have had the time and patience to read this more cohesively. By stretching it out I lost the thread that tied the parts of the narrative together. As three separate stories, however, they were each extremely beautiful and well crafted. Lots for Anglophiles here. I wish I would have read the Wyatt section before touring the Tower of London.
July 7, 2022
It's only saving grace was my interest in the story of David and Bathsheba. The book read like a bland retelling of well worn tales. The connection between David and Tudor Court seemed thin.. my personal takeaway is that those in power and the freedom power provides are more like to cage the freedoms of others.
August 2, 2020
It was beautifully written and told a familiar story in an interesting way. But I couldn’t figure out why the author put the two parts together. I get the obvious connection, but Wyatt isn’t the only one who ever read the Psalms.
July 16, 2023
This was one of my favourite reads this year - the narrative was deeply profound and expertly written. The way Wyatt interacts with the narrative of David and Bathsheba was such a pleasant and clever flow. Honestly fantastic.
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