This was another good story about King David, this time focusing on Abigail. It covers a part of his life that was left out of "Michal", the first book of the series. I found it fascinating to read the continued character development of David and Abigail, as well as the rest of his wives. From what I can see, the author's account does not stray from the Bible, but there is plenty of room for story-telling and a fine one is woven with this book. Abigail's marriage to Nabal was doomed to failure from the beginning. A handsome man, Nabal arrested her attention from the first and gave her hope for their future together. But when he begins their marriage by behaving shamefully, she still strives to honor her husband despite his drunken revelries almost every night and his blatant disrespect of Adonai. David and his band of men protect Nabal's herds from being harmed in the wilderness, and when Nabal hears of it, he refuses to recognize David's service to him and recompense the men for their trouble. In a fit of anger, David orders Nabal and all the men of his house to be executed. Abigail intervenes by bringing food to David and his men, successfully keeping them from killing the men of her household. When Nabal dies suddenly, she is free to become David's wife. But some serious problems remain in her way: how can God bless David if he continually goes against His commands? And how can she be happy to share her husband with all the other women David keeps on marrying? Was she really better off the only wife to a man that abused her, rather than one of the wives of one of a future king?This was an interesting twist to the well-known story of Abigail in the Old Testament. While we do not know if the real Abigail struggled immensely with having to share the king with his other wives, it stands to reason that women have not changed much over the centuries. This being the case, it was probably very hard to share David. Somehow, it was important to have her story included in the Biblical narrative, and Smith does a wonderful job of bringing her story to life, giving Abigail a voice that clearly echoes a desire to please the Lord in all things.
What do You think about Abigail (2010)?
Amazing! What a brilliant story about a brilliant woman of the Bible! I love Abigail.
—PurpleLibra
Loved this book. Ms. Smith does a wonderful job of bringing the story to life.
—krazykiwi
