Tosca Lee's Havah ~ Reviewed

Havah: The Story of Eve
by Tosca Lee
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: NavPress (October 10, 2008)
ISBN-13: 978-1600061240

Book Description:

What was it like to be the first woman on earth, to wake to a brand-new creation---and Adam? Why did she become so beguiled by the serpent? In this lyrical retelling of the biblical narrative, Lee brings Eden to life, revealing the dawn of mankind from Eve's viewpoint!

My Review:

In the memoir/narrative style that worked so well in Demon, A Memoir, Tosca Lee has returned with her sophomore novel which captures the essence of a woman we all have disparaged a time or two. A woman who traded paradise for a lousy piece of fruit. Havah or Eve, as we know her, is a woman we all resent a little if not a lot, after all the rest of us wouldn't have fallen such obvious temptation. Without her choice we'd be mosquito, disease and death free. A rough price tag.

Enter Lee's mesmerizing word weaving and the epic story that spans a thousand years. From Eve's first blink we witness and almost experience ecstasy, whimsy, beauty and the very presence of God in and through all. The reader is invited to feel the wind, taste the wonder of virgin creation, and delight in God's handiwork. One animal in particular seems to be very wise. He befriends Havah and asks profound questions. His eye is always turned toward her, noticing her beauty, her strength and even the love the Creator bestows upon her. And his beauty is beyond anything she sees in Paradise, a remarkable creature full of reflective, glittering, color and light.

I wept as Eve slowly succumbed to that which looked pleasing, smelled delicious and was able to give knowledge. Surely she wouldn't die. Such a simple act. Death from a taste of the forbidden?

A woman who knew no sorrow found herself plunged into it. With each birth, and each death, Havah begins to despair of ever finding her paradise, or of the promise's fulfillment. Death becomes tangible in every season, every face and every relationship. But, through it all, the death, the despair, the gloom shone the promise. A seed, from her own body, to restore and heal, would enter the now broken world and bring the light with it.

Havah is not only a novel full of beautiful prose spinning, it is a book that causes the reader to pause and consider the state of the soul within. As I read Havah, I was faced with a personal struggle regarding whether I would chose to forgive someone close to me. Havah's path toward death convicted me of my own frailties. In Eve's shoes, I would've fallen.

I recommend this novel to everyone. Be forewarned that the themes and the realities are PG -13 -- from the innocent wonder of the first marriage -- to the decay and sin that enters the world.

Reviewed by: Kelly Klepfer

Tosca Lee's Iscariot ~ Reviewed

Iscariot

By Tosca Lee

Published by Howard Books

ISBN#978-1-4516-83769

336 Pages

Back Cover:  Based on extensive research into the life and times of Judas Iscariot, this triumph of fiction storytelling by the author of Havah: The Story of Eve revisits one of biblical history’s most maligned figures and brings the world he inhabited vividly to life.

In Jesus, Judas believes he has found the One—the promised Messiah and future king of the Jews, destined to overthrow Roman rule. Galvanized, he joins the Nazarene’s followers, ready to enact the change he has waited for all his life. But soon Judas’s vision of a nation free from Rome is crushed by the inexplicable actions of the Nazarene himself, who will not bow to social or religious convention—who seems, in the end, to even turn against his own people. At last, Judas must confront the fact that the master he loves is not the liberator he hoped for, but a man bent on a drastically different agenda.

Iscariot is the story of Judas, from his tumultuous childhood to his emergence as the man known to the world as the betrayer of Jesus. But even more, it is a singular and surprising view into the life of Jesus that forces us to reexamine everything we thought we knew about the most famous—and infamous—religious icons in history.

Review:  Tosca Lee drops you on the streets of Capernaum, Jerusalem. You will see the sights, hear the sounds and live life through the mind and heart of Judas Iscariot. You’ll feel his pain, and despair as Roman armies rule in the land.

Your heart will ache as you read about his turbulent childhood and grieve with him about the horrific experiences as a grown man.

He was a devout Jew who was a keeper of the law and wanted to be a teacher of it. Tragedy strikes and he knows in his heart of hearts he will fail to live up to the standard set by the “law” he loved so much.

Judas was tormented by the law; this author did a brilliant job of showing the struggle everyone had following the “law”. I could see clearly how Jesus came to set us free of our bondage to the law! Hallelujah!

I’m thrilled to have received a review copy of this enlightening, gritty novel, rich in historical detail that helped bring the people and time period to life. This author soaked herself in over a hundred books, lectures, documentaries, commentaries, sermons, and collected articles even went to Israel to see firsthand where Jesus walked.

Tosca Lee wrote this novel through Judas eyes. This enabled me catch a glimpse of what Jesus ministry looked like through his disciple’s understanding. It also gave me a peek of the crowd Jesus spoke to filled with stalkers, followers and plotters. The stakes were high for the twelve but they felt it was worth the price to follow him.

This author takes her time in laying the ground work and having the reader experience Judas’ development of how he lived and thought. It was realistic and tragic. Judas agonized over Jesus’ situation as the crowds grew bigger, he became more popular and the awareness of the Pharisee and Sadducees’ plot to push Jesus into an offence they could kill him for. Judas felt Jesus didn’t see this happening as he spoke. Tosca captured the political unrest and what was happening around Jesus as he spoke.

Could Judas have been trying to protect Jesus? He felt he knew the law better than Jesus did? Could the religious leaders lead Judas down a path they knew he would take in order to protect his master, Jesus?

Tosca Lee has readers experience Jesus’ ministry through Judas eyes as one of the 12 chosen disciples. Judas felt peace around Jesus and grew to love him like the others. I like how she showed the disciples didn’t get Jesus and they were standing right next to him. He spoke in riddles they said.

Here’s a peek into Tosca’s novel. Jesus tells the man at the Siloam pool, take up your mat and walk. Judas thinks, “That day I understood, if I had not fully before, that Jesus was more than a mystery, more than unconventional, more than a faction able to unite some and divide others.

He was dangerous – to himself and to all of us who followed him…He was the gatherer of multitudes, this Jesus. A man of questioned birth, who claimed the Lord himself, was his father…and then he healed on the Sabbath in violation of God’s law. Man of contradictions! Didn’t he know that there were those who might seek his ruin for this?...He spoke in riddles. He was a riddle himself.”

Judas went on to say, “Our numbers grew. I was nervous because I knew Herod’s spies were everywhere. The Pharisees already conspired against us; soon Herod would come for my master as surely as he had for John the Baptist. We were running out of time…I was also elated because that meant soon the day would come. Jesus would have to proclaim himself- by Passover, I was certain.”

This is a book to be experienced. It will help you slip into the time period and feel Judas and the twelve disciples struggle. This is a haunting tale that helped me prepare my heart and mind for this years’ Easter Celebration. I’ve seen this story with fresh eyes as I went back to scripture and re-read these events, you will too.

Reviewed by: Nora St.Laurent

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Tessa Afshar's Pearl in the Sand ~ Reviewed

Pearl in the Sand
By Tessa Afshar
Published by Moody Publishers, Sept 1, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0-8024-5881-0

Description

Can a Canaanite harlot make a fitting wife for one of the leaders of Israel? Shockingly, the Bible says yes. Pearl in the Sand tells Rahab's untold story. Rahab's house is built into the defensive walls of the City of Jericho. Other walls surround her heart as well—fear, rejection, unworthiness. A woman with a wrecked past; a man of success, of faith ... of pride; a marriage only God would conceive! Through the heartaches of a stormy relationship, Rahab and Salmone learn the true source of one another's worth ad find healing in God.

Review:

Pearl in the Sand, the story of Rahab the harlot who became an ancestor of Christ, delivers a very powerful truth within its pages: forgiveness, redemption, and the changing power of God. An unforgettable read, Novel Journey and I give a high recommendation.

Reviewed by: Ane Mulligan,
editor Novel Journey

Bonus Review:

Writing a book is daunting enough, choosing to write about a Biblical character ups the stakes even more. Debut novelist Tessa Afshar is more than up to the challenge in her beautifully rendered story of Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute named in the lineage of Jesus. Tessa acknowledges there is little known about Rahab and Salome, highlighting the Biblical references and encouraging readers to examine them, acknowledging her story is extrapolation. Her vivid storytelling brings the fall of Jericho into sharp focus, the fear of the Canaanites palpable as God's unusual plan unfolds as the Israelites march around the impenetrable walls. Rahab and Salome's love story is evocative and compelling while Rahab's journey from an idolatrous harlot to a believer in the one true God, is heartrending and inspiring. The spiritual threads are woven effortlessly throughout, from the consequences of Rahab's past and Salome's pride to the healing power of God's forgiveness and the hard reality of His justice. Pearl in the Sand is reminiscent of Tosca Lee's Havah and Francine River's Redeeming Love and I don't make such comparisons lightly. I trust this is just the beginning of many more books from such a talented author.

Reviewed by: Rel Mollet