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Women of Genesis #3
Rachel & Leah
Leah was so young when her sister Rachel was born that she could not remember a time when Rachel was not the darling of the family- pretty, clever, and cute, whereas Leah plugged along being obedient, hard-working, and responsible. Then one day a good-looking marriageable kinsman named Jacob showed up, looking for a haven from his brother's rage, and Leah fell in love at once. It didn't surprise her at all that Jacob saw only Rachel. But surely, as the two sisters worked and lived alongside Jacob for seven years, he would come to realize that Leah was the one he ought to marry...
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 30, 2004
About the author
Orson Scott Card
849 books20.9k followersOrson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is (as of 2023) the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 607 reviews
July 17, 2021
If you have a sister, you will likely find this book familiar; with rivalries, misunderstandings, drama and resolution. Under all of it there is love.
The story of Jacob and Rachel and Leah and Laban is in Genesis in the Holy Bible. This is a fiction account of how events may have transpired. I, personally, did not care much for the ending. I picked up Genesis and read from Abraham on, and was shocked (after all these years of reading the Bible) at how women were treated. I'm not a feminist, and certainly times were different then, but the status of women was most definitely different than today.
I did enjoy his writing style, however. This is my first Orson Scott Card book, and he mostly writes science fiction, although in the acknowledgments (not so labeled) he mentions a series he has written on women of the Bible.
What I learned most from the book is how often we misinterpret what someone is saying and take offense when none was intended, and how much a conscious change of effort to be positive and not take offense will change everything. If that interests you I would highly recommend this book rather than a self-help book.
The story of Jacob and Rachel and Leah and Laban is in Genesis in the Holy Bible. This is a fiction account of how events may have transpired. I, personally, did not care much for the ending. I picked up Genesis and read from Abraham on, and was shocked (after all these years of reading the Bible) at how women were treated. I'm not a feminist, and certainly times were different then, but the status of women was most definitely different than today.
I did enjoy his writing style, however. This is my first Orson Scott Card book, and he mostly writes science fiction, although in the acknowledgments (not so labeled) he mentions a series he has written on women of the Bible.
What I learned most from the book is how often we misinterpret what someone is saying and take offense when none was intended, and how much a conscious change of effort to be positive and not take offense will change everything. If that interests you I would highly recommend this book rather than a self-help book.
January 25, 2009
Out of the three stories Card wrote about the biblical women I didn't like this one the most. Two sisters pitted against each other in a fight over love, children and recognition is a real theme but one I do not wish to visit.
December 13, 2008
I listened to this on a road trip with my mom and a friend. We would get back in the car and they would both be really excited to turn it back on as I groaned. I didn't like the characters and I had a hard time picturing biblical times and stories with modern language and some modern culture mixed in. The bible story does leave a lot up for interpretation , and I don't fill in the blanks the same way Card does.
April 4, 2017
I can't believe how much I disliked this book compared to the first two in this series. I especially loved Rebekah, but this book felt like a middle grade book, focused on children--and very annoying children too. The most interesting things about Jacob's life, in my opinion, is after he leaves Laban's home and when he becomes Israel. If you are interested in those things, don't read this book. This book is about Rachel and Leah as young, petty children. If you are interested in Jacob's life, read The Red Tent.
I was planning to give this book three stars, but I deducted a star for the author's homophobia.
I was planning to give this book three stars, but I deducted a star for the author's homophobia.
September 1, 2024
For some reason Orson Scott Card had decided to split the story of Rachel and Leah into multiple books so he can torture us with endless conversations between one of The Prophets and the four women who eventually provide him with descendants as numerous as the stars. Card projects modern morality and a thin veneer of feminism onto his biblical fanfiction. This story also greatly suffered from Card's tendency to explain every single thing to the reader, often having characters argue with themselves about the possible outcomes of their actions before arguing with their future sister wife about the potential outcomes of their actions, and finally going to The Prophet Jacob to discuss the potential outcomes of their actions.
Similarly to the other stories in the Women of Genesis series, the line of Abraham is Messiahlike in all things, meaning they have never done anything wrong and they're really smart and logical. Any time a son of Abraham appears to have made a mistake or committed an offence, it was only because the womenfolk forced their hand (Rebekah), or the people around them aren't logical and smart enough to understand their true godly motives. The one difference here between Jacob and his predecessors? At the end of this book, Jacob The Prophet marries two women and despite being a shepherd virgin who promised himself to a 12 year old - we learn that Jacob Fucks and He's Really Good At It.
This series had a myriad of challenges, and while I appreciate the half-hearted attempt at feminism and the high stakes of adapting religious text as a public LDS figure, it was overall disappointing. By including the stories of Bilhah and Zilpah alongside their mistresses Leah and Rachel, the narrative starts out promising - making you believe that this is going to be a fascinating slice of social life in the desert. Ultimately, Bilhah and Zilpah (despite their endless and repetitive inner monologues about their place in society: Bilhah is an orphan, Zilpah has no dad and big tiddies) serve as plot devices for their mistresses, along with every single other character in the camp. Rachel and Leah's brothers are reduced to moustache twirling villains that are immediately thwarted by Jacob The Prophet's incredible logic and reasoning before they even become a threat. And Laban, once depicted as a normal human being with normal human flaws when he was the brother of Rebekah becomes an honorary son of Abraham when he becomes a father. Fathers in this series are always depicted as 'way nicer and wiser than other desert dads'. Here, his famous grift of sending his first daughter to marry The Prophet becomes something necessary due Rachel's fear of intimacy.
The ongoing trend in the Women of Genesis series is the ongoing emotional and mental torture of The Prophet's family. Since they are chosen by God, the path they walk is righteous but full of random dangers that can be easily thwarted because they are smarter and more logical than your average man. Women are not as smart or logical though so that's why their torture is more torturous, but also women of The Prophet are gracious and better at withstanding torture than the other girls.
After 7 years of toiling, The Prophet is tricked into marrying and sleeping with Leah, instead of the younger sister he fell in love with when she was 12. Somehow this section of the book comes across as a comedy of errors - the switcheroo occurs but it is somehow also no one's fault. It is devastating that Leah, after her years of coming to terms with being unmarriageable because she's kind of blind and kind of a killjoy - comes to accept her fate as an unwanted bride. Rachel marries The Prophet a week later to allow Leah a single week alone with her husband who clearly loves her sister more than her. There's a small attempt to discuss the lack of sexual education among nomadic historical figures of the desert (notably Card dedicates a paragraph to say that periods are honorable, still icky tho), but in the end, Jacob The Prophet Fucks.
Similarly to the other stories in the Women of Genesis series, the line of Abraham is Messiahlike in all things, meaning they have never done anything wrong and they're really smart and logical. Any time a son of Abraham appears to have made a mistake or committed an offence, it was only because the womenfolk forced their hand (Rebekah), or the people around them aren't logical and smart enough to understand their true godly motives. The one difference here between Jacob and his predecessors? At the end of this book, Jacob The Prophet marries two women and despite being a shepherd virgin who promised himself to a 12 year old - we learn that Jacob Fucks and He's Really Good At It.
This series had a myriad of challenges, and while I appreciate the half-hearted attempt at feminism and the high stakes of adapting religious text as a public LDS figure, it was overall disappointing. By including the stories of Bilhah and Zilpah alongside their mistresses Leah and Rachel, the narrative starts out promising - making you believe that this is going to be a fascinating slice of social life in the desert. Ultimately, Bilhah and Zilpah (despite their endless and repetitive inner monologues about their place in society: Bilhah is an orphan, Zilpah has no dad and big tiddies) serve as plot devices for their mistresses, along with every single other character in the camp. Rachel and Leah's brothers are reduced to moustache twirling villains that are immediately thwarted by Jacob The Prophet's incredible logic and reasoning before they even become a threat. And Laban, once depicted as a normal human being with normal human flaws when he was the brother of Rebekah becomes an honorary son of Abraham when he becomes a father. Fathers in this series are always depicted as 'way nicer and wiser than other desert dads'. Here, his famous grift of sending his first daughter to marry The Prophet becomes something necessary due Rachel's fear of intimacy.
The ongoing trend in the Women of Genesis series is the ongoing emotional and mental torture of The Prophet's family. Since they are chosen by God, the path they walk is righteous but full of random dangers that can be easily thwarted because they are smarter and more logical than your average man. Women are not as smart or logical though so that's why their torture is more torturous, but also women of The Prophet are gracious and better at withstanding torture than the other girls.
After 7 years of toiling, The Prophet is tricked into marrying and sleeping with Leah, instead of the younger sister he fell in love with when she was 12. Somehow this section of the book comes across as a comedy of errors - the switcheroo occurs but it is somehow also no one's fault. It is devastating that Leah, after her years of coming to terms with being unmarriageable because she's kind of blind and kind of a killjoy - comes to accept her fate as an unwanted bride. Rachel marries The Prophet a week later to allow Leah a single week alone with her husband who clearly loves her sister more than her. There's a small attempt to discuss the lack of sexual education among nomadic historical figures of the desert (notably Card dedicates a paragraph to say that periods are honorable, still icky tho), but in the end, Jacob The Prophet Fucks.
July 25, 2012
"If there is anything virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." (LDS Article of faith 13)
Shame on you, Card. There is absolutely nothing virtuous about the manner in which women were portrayed in this novel. I will certainly never be picking up another book by Orson Scott Card again, religious, fantasy or otherwise. I am that deeply disappointed.
The idea of an LDS author picking up what little is written about the specific women in the Old Testament and elaborating on their stories with the use of research and imagination has merit. SUCH a shame it was done in this manner, with one dirty sexual reference after another and a heartbreaking theme of how women could only find acceptance and happiness through successful marriages (read = marriage or concubinage with a wealthy man and the accomplishment of producing male heirs).
The true church of Jesus Christ restored in these latter days preaches no such theme. We believe family to be central to our Father's plan for us, yes. We believe marriage is sacred, children are a sacred trust, parenthood is a great responsibility and privilege, yes. But plenty of women live righteous lives and never have opportunity for these things - and their lives, their contributions to the world and the Church are still valuable!
I refuse to believe that anything less could have been true in any age of the world. The gospel remains the same. God remains the same. He has always loved women of virtue, whatever their opportunities, whenever they lived. He still does.
Shame on you, Card. There is absolutely nothing virtuous about the manner in which women were portrayed in this novel. I will certainly never be picking up another book by Orson Scott Card again, religious, fantasy or otherwise. I am that deeply disappointed.
The idea of an LDS author picking up what little is written about the specific women in the Old Testament and elaborating on their stories with the use of research and imagination has merit. SUCH a shame it was done in this manner, with one dirty sexual reference after another and a heartbreaking theme of how women could only find acceptance and happiness through successful marriages (read = marriage or concubinage with a wealthy man and the accomplishment of producing male heirs).
The true church of Jesus Christ restored in these latter days preaches no such theme. We believe family to be central to our Father's plan for us, yes. We believe marriage is sacred, children are a sacred trust, parenthood is a great responsibility and privilege, yes. But plenty of women live righteous lives and never have opportunity for these things - and their lives, their contributions to the world and the Church are still valuable!
I refuse to believe that anything less could have been true in any age of the world. The gospel remains the same. God remains the same. He has always loved women of virtue, whatever their opportunities, whenever they lived. He still does.
September 23, 2011
I really loved this book. I stumbled across it because of the author, Orson Scott Card. I had read Ender's Game and thought it to be so cleverly written so I was interested in the three books in this series, Women of Genesis. This is the first that I read in the series even though it is the third and I certainly will be reading the other two.
Card gives Rachel, Leah as well as their handmaidens, Bilhah and Zilpah, such distinctive personalities. And he invents such a clear and logical reason for the switch at the altar. I came to love all four of the women as well as Jacob and Laban. Yes, it is fiction, but it is about a story that many of us have grown up with and have never understood what might have happened to bring those events about in that way. Card gives us a good explanation.
I would highly recommend it.
Card gives Rachel, Leah as well as their handmaidens, Bilhah and Zilpah, such distinctive personalities. And he invents such a clear and logical reason for the switch at the altar. I came to love all four of the women as well as Jacob and Laban. Yes, it is fiction, but it is about a story that many of us have grown up with and have never understood what might have happened to bring those events about in that way. Card gives us a good explanation.
I would highly recommend it.
March 12, 2009
I love the plot in Rachel and Leah. What if Leah's marriage to Jacob wasn't such a surprise? What if it was done because Rachel did not want to marry Jacob at the time? What if Leah and Rachel's father did not mean to fool Jacob but was left with little choice. I love the way Orson Scott Card can go back into the time before Christ and create a believable world and story that we can relate to so well in our time. I can't wait to read the sequel, The Women of Genesis.
August 17, 2009
This was a book club choice by Donna Brown. I haven't ready any Old Testament fiction books before, so I was pretty excited to check it out. Orson Scott Card is a pretty good writer. Sometimes things move slowly in the book - but this was set in the deserts afterall and I can't imagine that anything moves too quickly in sheep herds anyhow. It was a good story... but has definitely piqued my interest to find out what the scriptures have to say about Jacob and his wives.
July 12, 2021
Giving this a 4.25 star rating. Getting the chance to see the story of Rachel, Leah and Jacob was absolutely amazing. From young to old, watching them grow and live their lives in the 14 years of Jacob's work for Laban was interesting. Even getting the chance to see Bilhah and Zilpah as well. The plot, the issues, the pain, the realness of these characters --- I loved it all. I definitely want to get a physical copy of this book and the other two books.
March 2, 2021
Interesting take on the story of Jacob
May 13, 2023
As expected for the third in the series.
December 21, 2018
I am familiar with biblical Jacob's story. First of all from Joseph and his Brothers, a monumental book by Thomas Mann. Thomas Mann was most interested with complicated relations of Biblical characters with God, women were left as the background.
So I welcomed Rachel and Leah as a worthy addition of woman's point of view.
I was quite pleased with first few chapters, different characters of two sisters, daughters of Laban, Jacob's uncle. I welcomed addition of Bilhah and Zilpah, two women with unfortunate childhood, but with strong characters.
I enjoyed witty dialogues with gentle humor and bits of spite.
But there remained few hundred pages to read, will all be just a lighthearted banter?
No, author introduced a significant element - reading holy books, the word of God.
It looks to me like an author's invention, there is no mention in the Bible of any books passed between Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Another point is Jacob, the book pictures him as a man of great depth and faith, it rather contradicts the biblical story.
Anyway, I do not mind some deviation from the biblical path, but as for me there was too much about influence of holy texts on Leah character.
Finally we come to the climax of the story - wedding of Jacob and a daughter(s) of Laban. I was very interested how the author solved this puzzle? Well, again he resorted to God, faith and love. On one hand I do not see any other peaceful solution, on the other it was choosing an easy way out.
Summarizing - I read this book with some interest, but I will not read other biblical stories by this author.
So I welcomed Rachel and Leah as a worthy addition of woman's point of view.
I was quite pleased with first few chapters, different characters of two sisters, daughters of Laban, Jacob's uncle. I welcomed addition of Bilhah and Zilpah, two women with unfortunate childhood, but with strong characters.
I enjoyed witty dialogues with gentle humor and bits of spite.
But there remained few hundred pages to read, will all be just a lighthearted banter?
No, author introduced a significant element - reading holy books, the word of God.
It looks to me like an author's invention, there is no mention in the Bible of any books passed between Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Another point is Jacob, the book pictures him as a man of great depth and faith, it rather contradicts the biblical story.
Anyway, I do not mind some deviation from the biblical path, but as for me there was too much about influence of holy texts on Leah character.
Finally we come to the climax of the story - wedding of Jacob and a daughter(s) of Laban. I was very interested how the author solved this puzzle? Well, again he resorted to God, faith and love. On one hand I do not see any other peaceful solution, on the other it was choosing an easy way out.
Summarizing - I read this book with some interest, but I will not read other biblical stories by this author.
Read
November 9, 2022This third and final volume in Card’s ‘Women of Genesis’ trilogy was published in 2004 and is perhaps the most complex of the three, dealing as it does with the contending ambitions of four women, the search by Jacob for a suitable wife, the destiny of the legacy of Abraham and Isaac and the manner in which social class and birth intertwine with matters of faith in determining one’s position in both the family and the society at large.
As always with Card, one turns the pages while reading in an almost effortless manner, as his ability to precisely balance character analysis with plot development is truly masterful. When a writer has mastered this skill, one forgets that there ever was any effort involved in reading.
Even atheists like me can be drawn to his story of real women living in what was essentially a patriarchal time but nonetheless striving to assert their independence and achieve their own particular ambitions.
Recommended.
As always with Card, one turns the pages while reading in an almost effortless manner, as his ability to precisely balance character analysis with plot development is truly masterful. When a writer has mastered this skill, one forgets that there ever was any effort involved in reading.
Even atheists like me can be drawn to his story of real women living in what was essentially a patriarchal time but nonetheless striving to assert their independence and achieve their own particular ambitions.
Recommended.
June 8, 2016
I was so excited when I came across a copy of this book, and it is an amazing read, that takes us through the lives of four incredible young women later to be mothers of the Nation of Israel.
First we read about Bilah, a clever young girl, who is taken by a a friend of her late father's to Laban's camp at Padan Aram, after her father's death in a tragic work accident, before we are introduced to 'tender eyed' Leah, the ravishing Rachel and the other handmaiden Zilpah.
Rachel and Leah are introduced to us at the ages of eleven and fourteen respectively. Bilah is a similar age to Rachel and Zilpah a similar age to Leah.
As we read of the lives and interactions of four beautiful girls, each with their own unique personalities and characters, I grew to love and care about them all.
The entry of Jacob fleeing from his brother Esau's wrath shapes the lives of all four girls who will later bear Jacob's twelve sons.
Card departs very little from the Biblical novel while filling in the caps in a most skillful manner.
It is an interesting insight into the intricacies of the lives of the characters who shaped the history of the nation of Israel.
A very sensitive insightful, and compassionate portrayal that kept the right amount of humour and intrigue.
Fascinating insights into the Book of the revelations of Enoch as Enoch, who walked with the people of Zion, is taken up to heaven, as Jacob teaches Leah and Bilah.
The only flaw may be that the author seems to downplay the love of Jacob for Rachel who was in fact the center of his attention, and he turns Laban, who is not well though of in Jewish and Christian scripture into a sympathetic character.
But we feel as if we are really there in Padan-Aram as we share the lives of Jacob and four fascinating young women.
Card shows a deep understanding of women and of men and of their interactions.
It is a novel and a work of historical fiction that is at once engaging and enlightening. It really deepened my perspectives of these events and people.
I am determined when I am next in Israel to visit Rachel's Tomb between Gilo and Beit Lechem and the Tomb of the Matriarchs in Tiberias where Zilpah and Bilah are buried, having visited the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron where Jacob and Leah are buried.
First we read about Bilah, a clever young girl, who is taken by a a friend of her late father's to Laban's camp at Padan Aram, after her father's death in a tragic work accident, before we are introduced to 'tender eyed' Leah, the ravishing Rachel and the other handmaiden Zilpah.
Rachel and Leah are introduced to us at the ages of eleven and fourteen respectively. Bilah is a similar age to Rachel and Zilpah a similar age to Leah.
As we read of the lives and interactions of four beautiful girls, each with their own unique personalities and characters, I grew to love and care about them all.
The entry of Jacob fleeing from his brother Esau's wrath shapes the lives of all four girls who will later bear Jacob's twelve sons.
Card departs very little from the Biblical novel while filling in the caps in a most skillful manner.
It is an interesting insight into the intricacies of the lives of the characters who shaped the history of the nation of Israel.
A very sensitive insightful, and compassionate portrayal that kept the right amount of humour and intrigue.
Fascinating insights into the Book of the revelations of Enoch as Enoch, who walked with the people of Zion, is taken up to heaven, as Jacob teaches Leah and Bilah.
The only flaw may be that the author seems to downplay the love of Jacob for Rachel who was in fact the center of his attention, and he turns Laban, who is not well though of in Jewish and Christian scripture into a sympathetic character.
But we feel as if we are really there in Padan-Aram as we share the lives of Jacob and four fascinating young women.
Card shows a deep understanding of women and of men and of their interactions.
It is a novel and a work of historical fiction that is at once engaging and enlightening. It really deepened my perspectives of these events and people.
I am determined when I am next in Israel to visit Rachel's Tomb between Gilo and Beit Lechem and the Tomb of the Matriarchs in Tiberias where Zilpah and Bilah are buried, having visited the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron where Jacob and Leah are buried.
July 23, 2010
It was interesting to read this right after reading The Red Tent. Both authors had completely different interpretations of Rachel, Leah, Jacob, and the surrounding characters. Anita Diamant's book had a very foreign, ancient feel. This book by Orson Scott Card, on the other hand, had scenes and situations that seemed more modern and familiar in comparison. Maybe because I come from his LDS culture, which I presume was his target audience for the Women of Genesis series.
I did like that all Laban's family had an understanding of God, as opposed to The Red Tent where it seemed only Jacob and possibly Isaac believed in one God. In Rachel and Leah the free interaction between men and women seemed unlikely for the time period, although it would be nice if that's how it really was. Both authors had different takes on the Rachel-Leah wedding switch, so even though I generally knew what was going to happen, I was still on edge to see specifically what would happen in the author's interpretation. Card had some interesting insights and I enjoyed seeing Leah's spiritual growth. The story is heartbreaking!
This is the second book I've read by Orson Scott Card. It was very different from Ender's Game but just as thoughtful. I'd like to continue Rachel and Leah's story in the next book (which the Afterward promised, though I can't seem to find it at the moment), and read the Sarah and Rebekah books as well.
This deserves more of a 3 1/2 star rating than just 3.
I did like that all Laban's family had an understanding of God, as opposed to The Red Tent where it seemed only Jacob and possibly Isaac believed in one God. In Rachel and Leah the free interaction between men and women seemed unlikely for the time period, although it would be nice if that's how it really was. Both authors had different takes on the Rachel-Leah wedding switch, so even though I generally knew what was going to happen, I was still on edge to see specifically what would happen in the author's interpretation. Card had some interesting insights and I enjoyed seeing Leah's spiritual growth. The story is heartbreaking!
This is the second book I've read by Orson Scott Card. It was very different from Ender's Game but just as thoughtful. I'd like to continue Rachel and Leah's story in the next book (which the Afterward promised, though I can't seem to find it at the moment), and read the Sarah and Rebekah books as well.
This deserves more of a 3 1/2 star rating than just 3.
July 15, 2009
This book was a huge disappointment for me. I have read many books by Orson Scott Card and greatly enjoyed them all. I also read Sarah,the first book in the "Women of Genesis" series, back when it came out, and I liked it well enough. What a difference from Rachel and Leah!
I disliked most of the characters in this book and found them all to be unrealistic. The main women were too flawed, too petty, too immature, too quick to anger, et cetera, to be believable human personalities. The main men, on the other hand, were too perfect, too noble, too kind, too wise, too strong, et cetera. The dialogue was similarly unrealistic and unhuman, plus it sounded much too modern to ever let me forget I was reading something from the 21st century.
Similarly, the characters are never shown to be doing anything that's particularly from their time period. They aren't really shown doing work or the activities of daily life, they only talk about doing things. There are no details about their lives that makes it feel like they're living in another time. Consequently, I never got a feel for the time period like one does with good historical fiction. The pacing was also off--sometimes we read about every minute and sometimes years passed from page to page.
All in all, although I was sometimes interested in a storyline or a bit of character development that was taking place, it was mostly a drag to keep reading this book. And when I found out that this was only part one of two...I was honestly not sure if I'd even want to try reading the second part.
I disliked most of the characters in this book and found them all to be unrealistic. The main women were too flawed, too petty, too immature, too quick to anger, et cetera, to be believable human personalities. The main men, on the other hand, were too perfect, too noble, too kind, too wise, too strong, et cetera. The dialogue was similarly unrealistic and unhuman, plus it sounded much too modern to ever let me forget I was reading something from the 21st century.
Similarly, the characters are never shown to be doing anything that's particularly from their time period. They aren't really shown doing work or the activities of daily life, they only talk about doing things. There are no details about their lives that makes it feel like they're living in another time. Consequently, I never got a feel for the time period like one does with good historical fiction. The pacing was also off--sometimes we read about every minute and sometimes years passed from page to page.
All in all, although I was sometimes interested in a storyline or a bit of character development that was taking place, it was mostly a drag to keep reading this book. And when I found out that this was only part one of two...I was honestly not sure if I'd even want to try reading the second part.
January 14, 2010
This book was very well written and I love that it opened with Bilhah and not Rachel or Leah. I was torn between giving this book 3 or 4 stars. It was very painful for me to read the ending of this book and how sad Leah was. The sentence "Look upon my affliction. Let me bear him a son. Then my husband will love me” has such a deeper meaning after you've read 400 pages about these women, instead of a few pages in the Old Testament. Maybe it shouldn't because the book is fiction based on the bible story, but I cried for Leah anyway. I don't know if I can read the second book "The Wives of Israel". How sad for Leah to bear sons to a man who doesn't love her the way a husband should love his wife and sad for Rachel who cannot bear children (until much later) to the man she loves and who was worked for 14 years. We shall see. I probaby will read it because it will bother me forever that I haven't finished all the books in a series. One of my many faults :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 22, 2010
I really liked the 1st book in this series. The next 2 were just okay. I'd have to say this one was my least favorite. Leah was annoying througout most of the book (major emphasis on Leah's character and the two handmaids) and I was very disapointed in how the author portrayed Rachel at the end of the book (very imature). I guess I enjoy when the author is generous to the scriptural women and this book didn't do that for me :). The only woman I really ended up liking in this book was Bilhah. And, for most of the book I really disliked Zilpah. Lets just say that reading the actual scriptural account was more inspiring to me than this book (which I guess is how it should be :) I was also dispointed that this book will continue, who knows when, in another volume. It is always nice to know that going into a book. But, who knows, maybe I'll still have the desire to read the next volume, "The Wives of Israel" whenever it comes out?!? Doubtful.
April 30, 2009
Yikes! I have heard that Orson Scott Card is a fine author but this book was a stinker! The text is primarily dialouge between young 11-17 year old girls....and Card gets it all wrong. It reads like a snarky screen play rather than an interesting insightful look into how it may have been for these women of the Bible. It was painful getting through and I was relieved when it ended abruptly and not satisfying either. Then it had the NERVE to offer questions for a book club! AS IF! I don't even want to remember I ever read this book, let alone sit and discuss it with other women!
The book ends with a "cliff hanger" but rather than go out and buy the next installment from Card, I am seriously just going to read it in the Bible. It will be WAY more enjoyable. TOSS IT!
The book ends with a "cliff hanger" but rather than go out and buy the next installment from Card, I am seriously just going to read it in the Bible. It will be WAY more enjoyable. TOSS IT!
February 12, 2008
I've come to really enjoy fiction based on biblical stories. This is actually the third in a series with a fourth in the works to finish the tribes of Israel story. I really enjoyed "The Red Tent" and was interested in how the same story was depicted by a different author. Whereas "The Red Tent" really focuses on life after the marriage to Rachel and Leah, this deals with the years of servitude that Jacob performs in order to marry Rachel. Though there are similarities in the portrayal of events leading up to Jacob's deception, I think that this one is truer to the bible and also much more heartbreaking in a lot of ways. I'm interested to see what the sequel to this book is like.
July 24, 2009
I liked Sarah, didn't like Rebekah, and am on the fence with this one. I really used to love Orson Scott Card, because his dialogues bring his characters to life in ways that are easy to relate to. But this one had too much bickering, like Rebekah, and it needed to be edited. I wished the story had continued past where it ended. But the premise of Rachel and Leah and how Jacob married them both was believable to me, though I did't like their personalities much. I liked Jacob,though he was more of a hero than a prophet in this book.
February 27, 2014
I loved that in this series Orson Scott Card was able to imagine a relatable world of characters that, until this time, had been completely UNrelatable to me based solely on the limited scriptural accounts of their lives and, to me at least, their often-confounding actions. These books actually helped me to have a greater love and respect for these chosen women (and men) of the Old Testament, simply because I was given a glimpse of how they might have felt, might have lived, might have loved -- all within a framework of understandable AND believable people and relationships.
June 23, 2017
Another good book by Orson Scott Card. I liked this one slightly less than Rebekah, but I really liked how each character had a distinct voice and I loved Leah's character arc. She's always been an interesting Biblical character to me. As with the last book, I feel like there are probably some cultural and historical things that are issues, but Card's writing is compelling enough that I am pulled into it and can let the other stuff go. This was a quick, pleasant read.
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June 22, 2009Okay, I keep hearing how great these books are, but I just can't get into them. I think it's because the actual people from the Bible are made into the main characters. I really love historical fiction, but I like it when made up people are put into the scenes: I learn about what happened, but without all the weirdness of made up things that we have no idea that happened. Anyhow, it would take something huge to get me to try again.
January 12, 2010
Wow! I've never thought so deeply about these women before. This book is all the more interesting to read because we know the ultimate outcome. I'm not entirely sure Card's rendition of the story is entirely plausible, but then how are we to know what was and wasn't so very long ago. It was certainly sympathetic and intriguing. I find it an especially good read, because I think that each of us is both Rachel and Leah in our marriages.
February 10, 2011
This is the third book in a row that I am giving a 3-star rating. I feel so wishy-washy. The actual writing was certainly a 4 for me, but some of the liberties he took with the characters brings my overall rating down to a 3. I am not sure I buy into his wedding night scenario, either. But hey, its the Old Testament--truth really is stranger than fiction. :)
March 7, 2013
We read this one for book club. I think I am done with Orson Scott Card. There were many who thought Card should write the whole Bible. Then there were a few, like me, that thought it wasn't that good. Maybe my bias stems from not really liking the biblical story to start with. Anyway, there was a lot of whining and I didn't like how the women were portrayed. yada yada
June 2, 2024
This book was excellent as I fell in love with each character. Card had a great idea of what Genesis meant for Leah to be "tender eyed." Why not near sighted. That is genius.
Also, it was a warm take of a story that seemed like a scam job in the Bible, when Jacob marries the sister of the woman he has agreed to work for to have as a bride.
Also, it was a warm take of a story that seemed like a scam job in the Bible, when Jacob marries the sister of the woman he has agreed to work for to have as a bride.
October 6, 2007
I LOVED THIS BOOK! Orson Scott Card does an amazing job (how does he know women so well?)! Another "can't put it down".
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