Friday, September 14, 2012

Asenath by Anna Patricio

Title: Asenath
Author: Anna Patricio
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook 
Release Date: August 30th, 2011
Publisher: Imajin Books
Pages: 224
Format: Electronic Copy
Acquired: From Author
Age Group: Adult

Two Destinies...One Journey of Love

In a humble fishing village on the shores of the Nile lives Asenath, a fisherman's daughter who has everything she could want. Until her perfect world is shattered.

When a warring jungle tribe ransacks the village and kidnaps her, separating her from her parents, she is forced to live as a slave. And she begins a journey that will culminate in the meeting of a handsome and kind steward named Joseph.

Like her, Joseph was taken away from his home, and it is in him that Asenath comes to find solace…and love. But just as they are beginning to form a bond, Joseph is betrayed by his master’s wife and thrown into prison.

Is Asenath doomed to a lifetime of losing everything and everyone she loves?

When it comes to historical books, I go for them, because they are fun and interesting. This book was no different.

Kiya, who will later become Asenath, is the daughter of a fisherman and his wife. After her parent's are killed, she and the other orphans are taken to the Temple of Atum-Re in Heliopolis. There, the high priest and his wife adopt Kiya, where they rename her Asenath. Afterwards, life for her changes drastically. Once just the daughter from a peasant family, she is now apart of the upper class. Soon she and her new parent's travel to Thebes were she meets Joseph. 

This tale is a mixture of a historical novel with a Biblical account about Joseph of Canaanite, who was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt. 

Patricio does an amazing job of mixing history and Biblical stories together in a wonderful tale about love, betrayal, family, and I especially love the setting. I have always had a strange fascination with Egypt, so this story was a wonderful change. Not just for the setting but it just took me into another world and I really liked that. 

The story starts out slow, in my opinion, which is why I gave it three-stars. I almost put this book down several times because I just kept wondering when something interesting would happen. I am glad, though, that it does pick up. 

I also wish there was a little more background. I didn't feel fully immersed into the story as I could have been. Bring Egypt to life, not just the characters. 

This was a great novel and with a few rough edges, but it doesn't take too much away from the central story. I am really glad that Patricio let me read her debut novel. Recommended out there for the Biblical character readers out there. 

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