"Lilah"

Author: Marek Halter
Genre: Historical Fiction / Religion / Romance
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group, 2006
Pages: 272
My Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Set in the magnificent culture of the Middle East more than four thousand years ago, Lilah is a rich and emotionally resonant story of faith, love, and courage

Living in exile, Lilah is in love with Antinoes, a Persian warrior. They have known each other since they were children, and Antinoes dearly wants to make Lilah his wife. Yet Lilah does not feel she can marry without the blessing of her brother, Ezra. She and Ezra are close, and Lilah knows her brother well—he does not want his sister to have a husband outside their faith. Ezra is a scholar of the laws of Moses, and Lilah believes it is her brother’s destiny to lead the Jewish people back to the Promised Land. While Antinoes pressures her to accept his proposal, Lilah realizes that before she can consider her own happiness, it is her duty to help her brother accomplish the seemingly impossible task that is before him.
 
Putting herself in grave danger, and with the help of Antinoes, Lilah wins Ezra an audience with Artaxerxes II, the King of Kings, who grants permission to lead the exiles on their journey back to the Promised Land. After a hazardous trip across the desert, Lilah, Ezra, and the thousands who join them arrive in Jerusalem. But the hardship of rebuilding the Temple takes its toll, and the religious enthusiasm of some turns to extremism. Ezra, listening to the zealots, orders all non-Jewish wives and their children banished from Jerusalem. Lilah, whose love for Antinoes has never wavered, is horrified by this command. She knows she must now choose between her brother and her conscience, which tells her that the time has come to defy him.

Lilah is a timeless story of one woman’s stand against intolerance; it will linger in the reader’s mind long after the last page has been turned.

Review: Of the three books that make up The Canaan Trilogy this was my least favorite. Actually, it was not a favorite. I got through it. It was the darkest of the three, but also had the most "fluff". I finished reading it simply because I had read the other two. I wanted to give up many times.

Lilah takes place four thousand years ago, but lacked an existing biblical tale to embellish. As a woman in the 21st century I found it very difficult to follow her reasoning and don't know if much of this would have happened this way 4000 years ago anyway.

This also fell short as a love story/romance.

Read the synopsis above and you will have no reason to read this book. I've read 400 page books that seemed shorter than the 272 this one is. The storyline is drawn out and slow moving. Reviews on Barnes and Noble are no less favorable.

I recommend Lilah if you are reading The Canaan Trilogy (see Sarah and Zipporah) and wish to finish out the series. Otherwise, you can sit this one out.

If you only want to read one book in this trilogy, I recommend Sarah. The other two cannot compare.