About the Author: Tracy L. Higley started her first novel at age eight and has been hooked on writing ever since. She has authored many novels, includingGarden of Madness and So Shines the Night. Tracy is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Ancient History and has traveled through Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Italy, researching her novels and falling into adventures.
See Tracy's travel journals and more at: tracyhigley.com
About the book: From the servant halls of Cleopatra's Egyptian palace to the courts of Herod the Great, Lydia will serve two queens to see prophecy fulfilled.
Alexandria, Egypt 39 BC
Orphaned at birth, Lydia was raised as a servant in Cleopatra's palace, working hard to please while keeping everyone at arm's length. She's been rejected and left with a broken heart too many times in her short life.
But then her dying mentor entrusts her with secret writings of the prophet Daniel and charges her to deliver this vital information to those watching for the promised King of Israel. Lydia must leave the nearest thing she's had to a family and flee to Jerusalem. Once in the Holy City, she attaches herself to the newly appointed king, Herod the Great, as handmaid to Queen Mariamme.
Trapped among the scheming women of Herod's political family---his sister, his wife, and their mothers---and forced to serve in the palace to protect her treasure, Lydia must deliver the scrolls before dark forces warring against the truth destroy all hope of the coming Messiah.
My Thoughts:
In The Queen's Handmaid, Higley masterfully blends rich history, faith and fiction. Her descriptive detail places you right in the middle of the story as if you were an observer there in person. And while the descriptive detail slowed the story down a bit in places, I appreciated being able to have the picture Higley painted with her words in my mind as I read Lydia's story.
This book is as much a history book as it is a novel. I loved how Lydia "told" the story, but you also get to hear snippets of what the other characters are thinking and feeling throughout the story. Through Lydia's journey, Higley does an exceptional job of showing readers a genuine struggle with feelings of unworthiness and loneliness and how the One True God - Yahweh fills all the empty spots in our hearts and meets all our longings with Himself.
You will not be disappointed with the time it takes you to read this book. And with the way Higley strategically places little twists and turns within the fictional portion of the story, it won't take you very long at all to finish!
Thank you LitFuse Publicity for sending the complimentary copy of the book for the purpose of this review.
Happy Reading,
Jennifer
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