I've never quite understood Miriam, though I've read the Bible many times. To me she seemed like a woman who had good intentions, but got sideswiped by jealousy a few times. As do we all. After all, it must have been hard to live in Moses' shadow.
I looked eagerly to the opportunity to delve into a (granted, fictionalized) historical account of her life through Miriam, by well-known Christian author Mesu Andrews. I did indeed find myself looking at the time of the plaques in Egypt (the book ends with the deliverance at the Red Sea) through her eyes, and the book made a believable case for her mixed feelings about her brother. I enjoyed also seeing the addition of Hoshea (Joshua) to the story; also a believable character who, I realized, surely was close to Moses' family prior to the Exodus. And I'm thankful to Andrews for painting no one in the story as blameless--including Aaron, Moses and Miriam's brother. Even then, ministry families had their rough spots!
The story is delightful and very rich with behind-the-scenes-this-could-have-been-what-happened events. The only thing I had a difficult time with was that the events seemed drawn out more slowly than necessary. I found myself, especially near the end, wanting the plot to move more quickly. Minor details, such as what the dog was doing in every scene, made me feel like I was trudging a bit through the story. Other readers might not have this experience; it may have just been personal for me.
However, I feel like I understand better who Miriam could have been, and how she got to her insubordinate behaviors later on. Although she resolved her gentle, precious relationship with Yahweh during the book, the events in the wilderness would surely try everyone's humanity!
I received this book free of charge from Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for a fair review. To learn more about the author, go here.
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