Potiphar’s Wife
by Mesu Andrews
Who hasn’t wondered about the woman who was married to
Potiphar but attempted to seduce Joseph?
Mesu Andrews uses the skeleton of the biblical account to create a
well-researched story that will linger for a long time in the reader’s memory.
Set in Crete and then in Egypt, this book was different from
other biblical fiction that I had read. At
first I found it difficult to get into, but I kept reading and was soon
absorbed by the story. It was very
complex and layered, not at all what I had imagined as being a straight-forward
attraction of Potiphar’s wife to Joseph.
She spends much of the book building the scaffolding for the event and
then it occurs quickly near the end of the story. She covers Zuleika, Potiphar’s wife,
thoroughly, but the book ends with most of Joseph’s story untold. A sequel, perhaps?
Readers who enjoy biblical fiction will enjoy this
book. It covers some new ground by being
set in Egypt and focusing on the rich culture of Egypt. It develops the characters outside the
biblical narrative so that they feel “real.”
It contains many twists and turns in the plot so that the reader doesn’t
have a clear view of exactly how the biblical narrative will take place. It concludes with hope for the main
character, Zuleika and for Joseph. I am
curious to see what Mesu envisions as a sequel to this beginning of Joseph’s
life.
I enjoyed this book and am grateful to the publisher for a
complimentary copy in exchange for this, my honest review.
