Behold Your Queen

by Gladys Malvern, Corinne Malvern (Illustrator)

It is the ancient days of the Persian Empire. Hadassah was content in her quiet life in the Jewish quarter of the city of Babylon with her uncle Mordecai, who had raised her from childhood. But she was old enough to be married, and yet her uncle hadn’t arranged a marriage for her.

Meanwhile in Shushan, King Ahasuerus’ marriage to the vain and selfish Vashti has ended, and a new wife must be found. Why not bring to him the most beautiful women of the kingdom, and let him choose? And so the loveliest young women of the empire are selected in local contests, and Hadassah is among those chosen to go to Shushan to meet the King.

But as a Jewess in a foreign land with powerful enemies to her faith, she must conceal her true identity and take the Babylonian name of Esther. Will she find love with a man she has never met? And can she survive in a strict royal court controlled by the evil prime minister Haman, who wants to destroy her people?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Romance, Biblical Fiction, Historical, Childrens

218 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1951

About the author

Gladys Malvern wrote almost four dozen books in her prolific career as a writer of historical and biographical Young Adult fiction. She was born in Newark, New Jersey on July 17, 1897. Her family roots were in Virginia and her ancestors include such historic American names as Lee, Rolfe, Randolph, and Custis.

Reviews

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say, the scene where Esther and Ahasuerus fall in love with each other at first sight and instantly declare their everlasting love is as cute as two puppies in matching outfits.

Meanwhile, the Hebrew /Amalekite tension is wracked up to about 11 as the two groups hurl insults around like Red Sox and Yankee fans in a Providence bar at closing time. The book doesn’t hold back punches on how stupidly violent things get.

But, in between bouts of violence, there is of course, the most famous beauty pageant of the ancient world since Paris handed out that golden apple. It gets into the details of selection and the honest conflicting emotions both Esther and Mordechai feel about wanting / not wanting to be chosen.

At the palace, we get all the usual abundance of opulent and indulgent beauty, which makes for a wonderfully contrasting background when Esther choses to risk her life to try and stop Haman’s planned massacre.

All of the characters are well developed, with motivations provided and actions delved into that does an excellent job turning the biblical story into a well-crafted full length novel.

A book that holds up even after all these decades.

[Susan Houston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Behold Your Queen! now reprinted

We just got Behold Your Queen! back into print - on sale now at Amazon!

http://www.amazon.com/Behold-Your-Que...

Susan Houston
Fellow goodreader

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the biblical source -- not a preachy story. Esther is an appealing heroine. The story reads like a novel (as opposed to many Christian fiction books for children that are self-conscious, stilted, and didactic). Hard to find a copy, but worth the search.

[Diane Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years ago. A wonderful story of Queen Esther. This story takes the true story and adds voices you never hear in the Bible. It helped me as a young girl feel important. Esther is still one of my favorite Bible story.

[Lara Lleverino · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorites books growing up. I checked it out so many time from the library that I can to this day walk in my head to exactly the place it sat on the shelves. A fictional retelling of the story of Esther, I enjoyed every detail!

[Isabel Tueller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, I did not like it at all. It wasn't very show-not-tell and Esther wasn't very likeable. And the end was very Hunger-Games-y with revenge and more political hatred "solving" the problem. Sorry to my aunts who really like this book 🤷‍♀️

[Lizzy G · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled across t this book many years ago in a school library. It was the perfect read for a young adolescent girl, and it is still one of my favorite books. It is also my favorite retelling of the Esther story. I was over the moon when I discovered it was back in print. (A million thanks to those involved in its republication.)

I believe the greatness of this version of the story lies in the fictional retelling. All the events follow those presented in the Bible. However, the author fleshes out the details to create a truly compelling story.

It is good to note that this version definitively romanticizes many aspects of the King of Persia's character. This is especially true regarding his casting out of his first queen, his search for a new queen, and the fact that he had many other wives and concubines besides Esther.

The author doesn't exactly deny these facts, she just down plays all sexual aspects of living in a harem and being given to a King during a beauty contest. Given the time period for which the author wrote this makes sense. Also a few of the more gruesome details regarding Haman and the fight between the Jews and the Amalekites are glossed over.

None of this diminishes the portrayal of a truly wonderful heroine, and the lack of sexual material merely makes this book very appropriate for young readers. I would definitely recommend it for even the most conservative parents.

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was amazing! The beautiful story of Esther brought vividly to life! I knew at once it was one of those books I'd want proudly displayed on my shelf. Every character was believe-able, every scene enjoyable. The romance was beautiful! Although not biblically accurate, I think this is a great book everyone should check out. Esther is the story of a brave heroine, lovely romance, thrilling plot, despicable villain, and a truly happy ending.

[Naomi Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very pleasant historical juvenile/YA (but I don't think they had YA as a category in 1951) that hews pretty closely to the longer text of the book of Esther. Of course, there has been much embroidering to give the principal characters more backstory and interior life. Additionally, Ahasuerus and Esther are pictured as having a romantic love for one another that seems significantly anachronistic. A quick and simple read, and one that might attract a girl who has a taste for hearts and flower.

[Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Esther in a way never told. Of course it is not non-fiction, but most of it is passed on fact. It was well written and very interesting. I really love the different perspective that this book gives. It was really good! I would recommend it to anybody who is interested in the story of Esther.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book more than once when I was a preteen. I loved the story and it has stayed with me to this day. I was thinking of what other books I had read more than once - To kill a Mockingbird, The Book Thief -because I loved them and I remembered Behold Your Queen. I searched online and found that it was in print again so I am thinking I may need to read it again!

[Gaile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally written for the YA category this novel of Queen Esther and how she saves her people was written long ago and only recently came back into print. It has stayed with me all these years. Highly recommended.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING personal version of the Esther story - great for girls of all ages although it's VERY hard to find and completely out of print it's worth the hunt to find it and read it.

[CLM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of what I know about the Old Testament came from Gladys Malvern or Sidney Taylor...

[Linda Horn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in the 7th grade. I loved it. It brought the story of Esther in the Old Testament to life... I couldn't put it down.

[Isobel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full length book that fleshes out the Biblical tale of Esther. Not sure how many liberties she takes with the story, but I enjoyed the added character development and details.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have ever read! I would love to own my own copy of this book.

[Tandava Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Queen Esther is the subject of our school play this year, and the teacher writing the script said she started from this book, so I thought I’d read it and get a little head start. I expect us to do a much better job than this, though, since I was severely unimpressed.

First of all, Esther is just exceedingly passive. She’s just there being beautiful and humble and obedient and all, for pretty much most of the book. (And it took a long time just to get past the beauty pageants.) Her main accomplishment is getting a message to the king a couple of times. There was much more of an interesting plot with the king and Haman and Mordecai.

And I don’t know how much of this book was based on historical fact, vs. how much was the author’s fault, but an awful lot of the story just didn’t hold together. Why was is such a big deal to get messages to the king? It said they sent notes back and forth all the time, since he couldn’t often visit her. And the law about not approaching the king unbidden also specifies that he can just override that by pointing his sceptre, so why was she so concerned that he wouldn’t? And then he supposedly can’t undo a decree that he already passed, but then he effectively does (with the letter saying the Hebrews were “free... from the punishment decreed in our former letter”) but then for some reason they all still have to fight? And finally, after waiting to make sure the Jews killed all the Amalekites, Esther is now the queen of love and peace? Seems like she could have earned that title better by preventing the bloodshed in the first place.

[Dara Haldane-Lindley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heroine of Scripture Reimagined As Heroine of Gothic Romance

Why do I compare Esther (one of the only two Biblical women to rate their own books) to a Gothic heroine? Consider these points: she's an orphan; she travels far to dwell in a vast palace; she conceals her true background, lest she attract the "wrong kind" of attention; she marries the powerful and handsome, yet remote and brooding master of the palace (and in this case, of a kingdom); she finds herself in a dire predicament that threatens not only her life, but also that of everyone she knows and loves...except that of her beloved husband, Ahasuerus...who appears to be the one largely responsible for that life-threatening predicament! Can Esther (aka Hadassah), with the help (along with a certain amount of hectoring) of her closest and dearest kinsman, Mordechai, defeat the wicked Haman? Can Our Heroine--again with the help of Mordechai--get the goodhearted (if somewhat dim) king to wake up and smell the wine before it's too late? Can Esther persuade her husband to permanently ditch that nasty law about the Royal Sceptre? To be honest, the book doesn't answer that last question. For answers to the others, you can read the Book of Esther in the Holy Scriptures...or you can read Behold Your Queen! I, for one, found the latter alternative a lot more fun.
Note: I am writing this review on a highly appropriate day.
Happy Purim!

[Alicia Terrill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay, but the characters felt extremely flat and unrealistic to me. If you want a basic retelling of the story of Esther, this is decent and it definitely retells her story decently, but somehow it managed to not be much more interesting than the Bible version. The main characters were all so perfect and Haman was too evil for no real reason to be believable. I just feel like there is so much good material here for a fascinating story, but this story just didn't do it for me. The love story felt forced and insta-love-y, the characters were very flat and too perfect, and I wasn't compelled to read it. In fact, I skipped a couple chapters to get to the good stuff at the end because I was bored. I don't want to give it a lower rating because luckily Esther's story is pretty great on its own, but I was somewhat disappointed after reading all of the glowing reviews.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mom recommended this book to me YEARS ago, but it was out of print. I searched any time I went to a used book store. But just recently it’s been reprinted so I ordered it from Amazon. It’s the story of Ether in a YA novel form. It stays really close to the Bible account but just adds some details that make it come to life. The details added are not extensive, which made it a quick read and not especially beautifully written. But definitely helped me understand the story of Esther better and definitely worth the time. I read the Bible account directly afterwards and it made me pretty happy and grateful.

[MK · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favourite book as a teenager. Some of the book is problematic now that we know more about the historical period of Esther but when I was reading it I loved the window into what it must have been like for her to go through the experience and I appreciated that it had her falling in love with her husband. I still enjoy the characterizations in the book, to the point that at one time I was trying to adapt it into a musical. I still believe it's worth reading today with the context that it's written predominately in a romantic style.

[Maria Drolet · Rating 5 out of 5]

A favorite childhood book

My sisters and I read and re-read this book when we were pre-teens. Over the years we’ve often talked about this book and wished we could read it again. I am delighted that it is back in print and available on Kindle. This book is definitely written for youngsters and an adult may question some things, but it is a great story that I will happily recommend to all the young and young at heart.

[Linda McAdams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was in the 7th or 8th grade when I read this book and it just spoke to me. She allowed herself to be mentored by those older and younger plus those beneath her realm of significance.
Great example for any young girl or woman for that matter.
Thankfully I now have my own copy which I can read again and again as desired.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hadassah, a young Jewish girl living in Babylon during the Persian Empire, is chosen as a potential wife for the young ruler. Because Jews are subject to persecution, she takes the Persian name of Esther. "Behold Your Queen!", an appealing retelling of the Old Testament Book of Esther, was a main selection of the Junior Literary Guild in 1958.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading and rereading the two books by Gladys Malvern my elementary school library had since third grade. The principal gave them to me as an adult, and I treasure them. I can't review objectively because of nostalgia, but who doesn't love a story that starts with a beauty pageant and ends with an averted massacre?

[Sandie Mixa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great telling of Esther, true to the Bible account, with of course, adding in the narrative and descriptions of setting, which is needed to make it a full book. The author gave her the personality I would have pictured and showed her faith in God and willingness to sacrifice herself for her people.

[PMLimas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful Read

It’s colorful descriptions breathes life into these historical characters.
First read this book in High School. Now, almost 60years and have always remembered the author Gladys Malvern.
Need more books like this in this day and age.
I would highly recommend to anyhow who love to read.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved reading a more in depth account of Esther's story. The writing was a bit heavy on the descriptors at times and the author really belabored a some details. I just wanted to move on with the story. Overall it was a fun read

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was refreshing to read a book from this time period that gave me insight into the culture. I felt the author did a good job researching, and I enjoyed both the characters and the story. It was a fairly light, easy read and I feel like I more fully understand the story of Esther.