Carole Towriss's By The Waters of Kadesh ~ Reviewed

By the Waters of Kadesh

Carole Towriss

284 pages

Released September, 2013

Publisher: DeWard Publishers

ISBN: 978-1936341654

Back Cover:

A displaced soldier anticipates only empty tomorrows. A young widow knows nothing but yesterdays filled with abuse and neglect. A spy sees only a today he can manipulate to gain the power he craves. Will they allow Yahweh to give them what they need? Kamose, once Egypt's most trusted soldier, no longer has a country to serve or king to protect. Moses insists God has a plan for him, but Kamose is not so sure. Tirzah's cruel husband died shortly after they left Egypt. She escaped his brutality, but now she's alone, and once they reach their new land, how will she survive? Gaddiel, Tirzah's brother-in-law, is chosen as one of the twelve spies sent to scout out Canaan. He's supposed to go in, get information and come back, but all he really wants is to bring down Joshua.

Review:

By the Waters of Kadesh is a fictional account of the Ancient Israelites’ journey  through the middle-eastern desert to the promised land of Canaan. We begin in the Wilderness of Zin, encountering a young widow named Tirzah and her two twin children. Having lost her husband, she’s now bound, by property, to the man’s brother, a brute as hateful and harsh as her husband had been. The man treats her like a common slave and her children like pests, and Tirzah must obey or risk losing her only chance of shelter. And so, she endures each bleak and monotonous day with no hope for better. Her only joy comes from her two precious daughters, whom she adores. If only she could pause from this endless sojourning to enjoy them. But she can’t. When the cloud of Yahweh moves, so must she.

And so must Kahmose, former Egyptian soldier who left the power and privilege he once enjoyed serving under the Pharaoh to accompany the Israelites in the desert. Not that he had much choice, after the destruction of Yahweh’s plagues. But now, this foreigner despised by his new countryman must rediscover who he is and what his future holds.

Add to this twelve spies, some paralyzed by fear, two filled with faith, and another hungry for power, even if it means destroying the faith of his people, and you have a powerful story that makes biblical events come alive.

With By the Waters of Kadesh, Carole Towriss once again crafts a story that immediately grips the heart and mind. From the dry and barren desert to the exotic land of the Canaanites, readers are swept into a world of hope and despair, love and hatred, righteousness and some of the most unimaginable evil experienced by man. Each scene and character is so real, so dynamic, one feels as if they were actually there, with the Israelites, when they encounter a land and people groups so contrary to themselves, all they can do is tremble. And praise God He, and not those living in darkness, is in control.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Slattery