IgniteLit

Title: Hadassah: One Night with the King
Author: Tommy Tenney
Major Themes: Biblical Fiction, Thrillers
Synopsis: The fate of the Jewish nation rests on young Hadassah’s shoulders as she is taken by force and prepared to compete in a beauty contest where the winner becomes the next queen of Persia.

When I was young, one of my aunts gave me a young reader’s version of Hadassah: One Night with the King. When she gave it to me, she mentioned the older version of the story, and the fact that I’d probably eventually appreciate that, too. I fell in love with Queen Esther’s story in that young reader edition. I’d been exposed to very few Biblical fiction books at that time, and to get to read about the person I was named after in such vivid detail, not to mention the drama and intrigue that accompanied the story, was a delight to my young heart. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to read the original adult version—after all, if a retelling is good, the original is better, right? It’s taken quite a few years to be able to get my hands on a copy, but I was finally able to get it, and read it over the last week or so. Unfortunately, I found the book as a whole disappointing, although I did enjoy getting to read the story again.

Publisher’s description:

My thoughts:

Queen Esther’s story has captivated readers for generations now, and for good reason, I believe. Hers is a story of heroism, of choosing to put others before yourself, and courage in the face of unimaginable personal disaster. 

On all these points, Hadassah did an excellent job bringing the story to life. It portrays a strong yet flawed woman, who struggled to do what was right, but ultimately put herself in God’s hands, being willing to follow Him even when her world was threatening to come crashing around her. It’s a powerful story, and Tenney did a good job imagining what it may have been like for her without going much beyond the Biblical account.

I did struggle with this book, though. Most of it is written in first-person, as a memoir, and while I don’t mind that technique, in this case, it made certain scenes feel unrealistic and impossible for the memoirist to know about. Occasionally, there are one- or two-paragraph asides to the reader, explaining that the person writing the memoir wasn’t there but had interviewed people extensively on events; other times, she just seemed to know events, with no clear explanation for how she knew them. I found those asides somewhat jolting, breaking my reading concentration. In my opinion, if this book had all been written in third-person perspective, it would have been much stronger. There was also a lot more telling in this story than I anticipated; I much prefer showing. Also, the marriage bed and related themes are discussed more often than I appreciate; that aspect strongly reminded me of Francine Rivers’ books and why I don’t read this type of story very often.

Coming from the young reader’s adaptation, I was expecting great things from Hadassah: One Night with the King, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for me. Did I enjoy the story? Yes, but I never felt particularly “gripped” by the book until I was getting close to the climax. The premise is great, but I felt like the writing style let the story down as a whole. Personally, I’d recommend the young reader’s version over this one; you still get the story as a whole but without as much of the violence and other references of the adult version. I somehow doubt I’ll ever read this book again, even though it is a good story. If you enjoy Biblical fiction and don’t mind the things mentioned above, feel free to check this book out. In the future, I intend to reread the young reader’s version if I ever want a refresher on the story.