Chapter 33 - The Story

Years ago I worked for a company that used Model-Netics as a corporate wide management language. It had been developed by the CEO of the parent company and sold to the subsidiary companies. While it sounds a little cultish now (and honestly a conflict of interest) it worked at the time. The product used models to describe concepts that were considered positive management concepts. One of these was termed the Seven Ports of Life and the theory was that there are seven areas in a human's life and all seven should be addressed for balance. The areas included Job, Family, Health, Self Development, Recreational, Civic, and Spiritual pursuits. If one of these areas is not being addressed in some way, one will feel unbalanced.

It is a concept that has stayed with me and one which I try to practice even today. I often will pick books which fit into one of the categories to help balance my reading life. Recently I have been focusing on the spiritual aspects of life and the following books have been great historical fiction about biblical characters. In addition they all feature strong women who might not have gotten the full attention they have deserved.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamante - This got a lot of attention when it was first published even being made into a Lifetime mini series. The Red Tent tells the story of Dinah, one of the daughters of Jacob. She is briefly mentioned in the Bible but the story contemplates what her life might have been like. There were rave reviews of the book when it was first published and I think it would be a terrific book club book.

Sarah by Marek Halter - This is the first in the Canaan trilogy by Halter and is about Sarah, the wife of Abraham. While speculative, as no real written history of Sarah exists outside of her being Abraham's wife, it is a splendid account of how life must have been in that day and time. Marek Halter, the author, is quite interesting in his own right, having escaped Nazi controlled Poland with his family moving to Russia and then to France in 1950. He is a prolific author.

Pilate's Wife: A Novel of the Roman Empire by Antoinette May - The Bible tells us that Pilate's wife, Claudia, tells her husband not to have anything to do with Jesus Christ as she has had a dream predicting blood and suffering if Christ dies. This is the story of Claudia's life, how she became Pilate's wife, and the intrigues of living in that era.

Mary, Called Magdalene by Margaret George - Margaret George does a great job of historical fiction and I know I have recommended her books on the Tudor family before. In this book George touches on the time of Christ, specifically Mary Magdalene, her backstory, how she met the apostles, and how her life was impacted by Jesus. Mary was such an important female figure in the Bible, (she was the first to see the risen Christ), and the book makes up for the lack of information therein.

The Foreigner: A Story of Ruth by Gladys Malvern - What we know about Ruth is very limited in the Bible although, interestingly, she has her own book, albeit short. Ruth lived with her husband, sister and brother-in-law and her husband's parents. She was not of the tribe of Israel. After the men died, Ruth's mother-in-law encouraged the other women to go back to their families. While Ruth's sister-in-law did just that, Ruth insisted on staying with the older woman. This book is a good reimagining of why she choose to do this and what happened after.

Do you have any suggestions for strong women of the Bible? Let me know!