This book was a huge disappointment for me. I have read many books by Orson Scott Card and greatly enjoyed them all. I also read Sarah,the first book in the "Women of Genesis" series, back when it came out, and I liked it well enough. What a difference from Rachel and Leah! I disliked most of the characters in this book and found them all to be unrealistic. The main women were too flawed, too petty, too immature, too quick to anger, et cetera, to be believable human personalities. The main men, on the other hand, were too perfect, too noble, too kind, too wise, too strong, et cetera. The dialogue was similarly unrealistic and unhuman, plus it sounded much too modern to ever let me forget I was reading something from the 21st century. Similarly, the characters are never shown to be doing anything that's particularly from their time period. They aren't really shown doing work or the activities of daily life, they only talk about doing things. There are no details about their lives that makes it feel like they're living in another time. Consequently, I never got a feel for the time period like one does with good historical fiction. The pacing was also off--sometimes we read about every minute and sometimes years passed from page to page.All in all, although I was sometimes interested in a storyline or a bit of character development that was taking place, it was mostly a drag to keep reading this book. And when I found out that this was only part one of two...I was honestly not sure if I'd even want to try reading the second part.
Yay! I finally finished!! :) I did really like this book. I didn't realize it was part of a series when I started, but really would love to read the other book in the Women of Genesis Series. As a woman I have always been facinated with the women of the scriptures hoping to learn more about myself and how to be a good Christian Woman and drawer nearer to Christ. I definately related to Leah and Rachel in this book. Perhaps more towards Leah as my eyesight has always been awful. It was interesting to see how it possible came to pass with Jacob marrying both sisters and that maybe it hadn't been meant to be as detrimental as it had been... It was nice to gain more insight of to each of the 5 individuals (Jacob, Rachel, Leah, Billiah & Zillpah) who they were what they loved where they came from and just how their lives became intertwined. I highly recommend, I've always loved Orson Scott Card and he has delivered again! I am excited to read the rest of the women of Genenis. This book did drop off just when I felt things were picking up and could have gone much further... kind of felt that there might be a sequel to Rachel & Leah, but not sure... yet. Enjoy!
What do You think about Rachel & Leah (2005)?
Myths, fairy tales, stories told in the oral tradition of ancient people have always a compelling fascination, even for modern readers. However, being a modern reader, I also love in-depth character development, psychological analysis, detailed dialogues, and exploration of complex relationships, so I have an especial fondness for the novels in which an author tells one of those ancient stories and builds in those modern components. This is precisely what Orson Scott Card does in Rachel and Leah, developing strong, unique personalities for all the familiar but flat Biblical characters. He devises events and emotions to provide comprehensible motives and reasons for actions that, in the Biblical telling, sometimes seem baldfacedly cruel—such as Laban’s trickery in substituting his daughter Leah for Rachel in Jacob’s marriage bargain. In Card’s story, everyone’s motives are good, and the trickery becomes a misunderstanding, leaving the reader feeling sympathetic towards all the characters, and villainizing no one.
—Danika
Darn! I think I lost my first comment when I went to your book list. My sentiments of the book were exactly the same but I guess we'd better leave that discussion for the meeting on Oct. 30. See you then.Donna
—Jennifer
I really liked this book, but I couldn't give it a four because it made me angry. The resolution of how Rachel and Leah both became wives of Jacob was upsetting, and the way Jacob is a know-it-all perfect human being until, arguably, the end, was infuriating. It's hard to tell if this or The Red Tent was more accurate. I know many people's dislike of RT - too fairy tale, too perfect, etc. I think if you're interested in the women of Genesis in a historical fiction context, both books are worth your time. Just try not to take it too seriously. Card's own religious philosophy shone through in a lot of the religious conversations between Jacob and Leah, and that was interesting to me. I also enjoyed reading the Afterword, where he thanks his wife and talks about friends and such. Despite relative doozies like Treasure Box, Card is still near the top of his game :-)
—Emily
