Abigail: A Novel

My Synopsis:

Abigail (The Wives of King David - Book 2) by Jill Eileen Smith

(For review from Revell - Blog Tour dates February 21-28)

David has yet to become King. He and his band of followers are on the run from Saul's army. During this time David meets Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel. Abigail has led a life of pain and heartache as Nabal's wife, always in fear of his violent temper. When Abigail helps David to feed his people, Nabal's anger turns on her, but he is stricken down and soon after dies.

David takes Abigail as his third wife. Abigail soon learns that being a wife of powerful man has it's disadvantages. As her love for David grows, she is forced to see that his affection will never be wholly hers. The fact that she has not show more produced a son, is also a misfortune and she wonders if she will ever truly be happy. Will Abigail give David a son, she most desperately wants? When will David become King and how will that change their lives? Does David love Abigail?

My Thoughts:

Jill Eileen Smith does an superb job with the second book in The Wives of King David series. Abigail is poignant and full of deep emotion. Readers will feel Abigail's fear on her wedding night as Nabal shows his contempt for her family and her religion. They will be instantly be transported to the time of 1 & 2 Samuel with the amazing descriptions.

It was easy to see why David was so loved by his followers, as he attends to their needs. Smith, shows David as not only the warrior, but the lover and poet. I loved his character very much. Abigail's character is so human, letting her emotions of jealousy and worry get to her as many women do.

I loved this book! Definitely, one of my favorites of the year! I can't wait to read the next installment in the series, Bathsheba, due out next year.

Available February 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Overall I give this one 5 out of 5 apples from my Book Bag! show less

This is the second story in "The Wives of King David" series, and I found myself enjoying it more than book one, which was about David's wife Michal. It is a story that shows a woman's struggle to love a man who chooses to have many wives. I don't often read biblical fiction stories, but this one did a great job of helping you see the turmoil David experienced by marrying many wives.

Abigail finds herself in a bad, abusive first marriage. When her husband dies, David takes her hand in marriage, making her wive number three. Abigail grows to love David, but as he continues to take more wives, the heartache and pain it causes her and his other wives is obvious. How can you love a man who wakes up in the morning and spends a few minutes of show more his time devoted to you, and then moves on to another wife. A man who sends for you periodically and expects you to be okay with the whole arrangement.

The story was well done. The historical and biblical facts were there, although one will never know exactly what went on between any of David and his many wives. I can only say as the author did at the end of her book, "Despite three thousand years spanning between us, human nature has not changed. Men and women will always find ways to justify their actions." David tried to justify his many wives, but as you can tell from reading this book, his excuses seemed pretty weak in the eyes of someone who loved him. show less

Abigail. Though little is known about this widow of Nabal who wed the anointed but not yet crowned warrior so soon after her husband’s death, she has captured the imagination of many readers of the Old Testament. Readers are introduced to Jill Eileen Smith’s fictional re-imagining of Abigal as a young girl, newly a woman and betrothed to the unpredictable Nabal. Her youthful hopes soon dissolve into agitated resignation as she discovers the man she has wed is both unpredictable and abusive.

Abigail’s journey follows David through his times of wilderness wanderings to his eventual rule over Judah. And through the taking of many new wives, Michal’s return to his side, and on to his acceptance as King by all the peoples of Israel. show more Her story comes to a close before Bathsheba comes upon the scene – Smith’s exploration of David’s partner in adultery will be the final installment in the trilogy and is slated for release in 2011.

The second installment in The Wives of King David trilogy, Smith has chosen to pass over David’s second wife – the even less frequently mentioned Ahinoam – in favor of the woman who clearly possessed a great deal of personal fortitude to move in direct opposition to the wishes of a foolish husband. Told in a tighter time frame, Abigail benefits from richer character development and a fuller ability to understand this woman, than did the series debut Michal which covered a larger span, leaping past decades at a time.

Through Abigail, Smith is able to more deeply explore the struggles women in polygamous marriages may face on a daily basis. Though the third of David’s wives, Abigail was present for the addition of each of his other spouses while Michal was absent for the majority of those marriages. Smith eloquently captures the unquenchable longing of a woman for her husband, resulting in a deeply sympathetic characterization.

Smith’s writing jumps from formal phrasing more in line with historical fiction to surprisingly modern turns of phrase, an irritating inconsistency. Generally true to the biblical narrative, Smith fills in the blanks believably but stretches it once towards the end in a way that I felt was unjustified.

The multi-layered tapestry that Smith is weaving with this series is coming into clearer focus. Characters only briefly mentioned in Michal are seen with additional depth through Abigail’s eyes. When the two novels are read in conjunction with one another multiple points of view on certain events are available for reflection.

Each story in The Wives of King David stands alone, and yet each is linked to the other. It will be great fun to read through the series again once it’s complete – applying the character insights and events of the later novels to those read earlier.

Reviewed at quiverfullfamily.com show less

Synopsis (from the promo materials):

What price must she pay for true love?

Her days marked by turmoil and faded dreams, Abigail has resigned herself to a life with a man she does not love. But when circumstances offer her a second chance at happiness with the handsome David, she takes a leap of faith to join his wandering tribe. Still, her struggles are far from over. How can she share his love with the other women he insists on marrying?

Abigail follows the bestselling Michal and continues Jill Eileen Smith’s rich story of David’s wives.

My Thoughts:

Once again, this was the second book in a series for which I hadn’t read the first book… but in this case, it didn’t really matter. You can read this one as a stand-alone because, show more quite simply, it’s Biblical Fiction. If you know the story of King David (or even if you don’t, really), the book can stand alone because it focuses on a different part of David’s life.

That said, I expected the book to be decent and readable, and it was. Smith is authoritative in her writing, and does an excellent job of capturing the spirit of this historical period. She has a lot of detail to work with (head on over to Ye Olde Bible and have a read of the original story!) and manages to convey both character and story in a way that’s true to the Scriptures but new enough to compel the reader to keep reading.

The unfortunate side of things for me is that I recently took several Seminary classes on the Old Testament/Pentateuch, so the material was too fresh in my mind to be able to really enjoy the book the way I think I might have, had I not been quite as familiar with the storyline. Mind you, even if you’re really familiar with the story of David and his wives, but enjoy historical fiction of this variety (”Biblical fiction” , in other words), Abigail would be a good choice. If you want, head out and grab Michal and start there, as I’m sure it’s just as compelling as this book (if not moreso… I was always more curious about Michal, so I’m interested in seeing how Smith approaches her story… yes, that means I’ll probably read it in the near future).

My primary complaint is that a significant amount of time was spent telling the story from David’s point of view. I know that it’s important to have multiple POVs if you’re writing in third person (another note: I would be very interested in seeing this tackled from Abigail’s first person perspective, but I suspect that can get tricky with Biblical fiction as people are nervous about diving into someone’s brain and adding thoughts when there isn’t clear Scriptural evidence for certain attitudes, etc.), but I found that having so much narrative from David’s POV cluttered up the story and weakened it at points.

Yes, there probably isn’t enough material to write just about Abigail, and yes, I know that David’s story isn’t complete without his side of things (after all, he’s the central figure in the original account) but the story is called Abigail in a series about the Wives of King David. I would have liked to see more about her daily routine, her interactions with other women, that sort of thing. Yes, I know David feels guilty, but why do we need to see him every second chapter? We know his story. We’ve read it in the Bible. What we want to see now is the women’s side of things! Isn’t that why you’d pick up a book with this kind of title?

I realize there are likely fears about diving too much into the speculative aspect of things, especially when dealing with historical characters, but I think we have more than enough information about this time period to be able to derive some kind of thesis as to how the women spent their days and probably how they felt about each other.

In Conclusion…

Abigail is a well written, highly readable book. I didn’t love it, but that was purely my own fault due to my closeness with the material — but I liked it, and recommend it to others. If you enjoy historical fiction, this is a good choice, and it’s the kind of thing you can pass on to a non-Christian friend very easily. I don’t think you have to be a Christian to enjoy this book (due to the time period & the author’s approach to the story) and I think it would make a great study group choice — the kind of thing you could use to complement a study of David’s story in the Scriptures. There’s lots to talk about and muse over… I just wish that we saw a bit more of the women’s side of things, in the end.

Interested? Here’s a little excerpt for you to try out and see if you might like it! show less

After being included in being able to review this book for a blog tour, I knew I had to go and get my copy of Michal, book 1, in The Wives of King David series. I loved Michal so much that I couldn't wait to get a hold of Abigail and start reading it. Unlike Michal, which took me 2 weeks to read, I read Abigail in 2 days. It was just as amazingly good and powerful as book 1. I didn't want to say good bye to these wonderful Biblical people who felt like friends to me.

As with Michal, this book moved me beyond words. I was again transported back in time to a Biblical era that I fell in love with. I could feel myself there with Abigail and with King David. The feeling of that was so powerful. Smith, again, makes this a wonderful read by show more mixing Biblical dialogue from the Bible in with the fiction. Add that to the suspense of Abigail, not only being saved by King David but by King David also saving her, makes this a most wonderful edge-of-your-seat book.

I will look at 1 and 2 Samuel in a whole new light now, when I read my Bible. I will be drawn back to Smith's work on Abigail (and Michal!) and will want to read these two amazing novels over and over again! Words just can't explain! It makes me anxious for 2011 when Smith's third book in this series is released: Bathsheba....it can't get here soon enough!

Abigail is, like Michal, worthy of so much more than 5 stars but I will only give it 5 stars.....and I will recommend this story to EVERY woman out there.....I'm sure you will love it as much as I did! It is an amazing love story in an ancient time and you will feel so different (in a good way!) after reading this book and feeling a part of a Biblical era. If you would like to see my review of the first book in this series, Michal, please visit here. show less

Second in the Wives of King David series, Abigail is a beautiful story about one woman's journey towards marriage to a king and how she keeps her faith in God along the way. Although we only have what Scripture tells us of Abigail and her story, Jill Eileen Smith fills in the blanks of what might have been to give us a wonderful story of a faithful woman and wife. Through her trials and terrors of being married to Nabal, her first husband, to her marriage to David and her jealousy of his other wives. This story is brought to life through Jill Eileen Smith's wonderful descriptions of sights, smells, sounds, and characters.

Storyline: Abigail is forced to marry the abusive Nabal, and tries to be a faithful and good wife. When she one day show more she learns that David is coming to take revenge on her husband and his household, she decides to take matters in to her own hands. After her husband dies from the shock of what she has done, she receives word from David that he is willing to take her has his wife and take care of her. She quickly accepts, wanting another chance to have the husband she always dreamed of. Will life as a king's life be all that she wants? show less

(Wives of King David, Book 2)

What a great story! From the very first page, I was unable to put the book down — finished it in 2 days!

There were several themes in this book, some of them being obedience to God, trust, contentment, and love. The romance between David and Abigail was very sweet and tender, and made you long for a love like that for yourself.

Throughout the book was the overwhelming –yet, subtle– reminder that God comes to the rescue of all those who trust in Him, as well as the reminder that God will guide us if we will just stop to ask Him for direction and then trust that He will answer.

I highly recommend this book! I can’t wait for the third installment in the series — I’ve now got it on my TBR list!

Rated: A+