Delilah:Treacherous Beauty by Angela Hunt

Any fan of biblical historical fiction will enjoy this novel.  As you may have guessed, this is the story of Samson and Delilah.  The Bible provides a lot of information about Samson, but very little about Delilah.  Is she truly the villain that scholars make her out to be?  Or could there be more to her story?  This book takes the known biblical account of these two people and uses a little imagination to fill in the blanks.

The chapters are written from two perspectives, some from Samson and others from Delilah.  After reading the book, I went back and read the account in Judges.  I was impressed with how well the author stuck to the original script!  The stories do line up.  The background and motives of Delilah, however, are purely fiction.  That part seems to be a little far-fetched.  It's hard to believe that there could be any good, justifiable reason for betraying a man you love in that way.  However, it did make me wonder whether there was more to Delilah's story than the quick conclusion many jump to of the "greedy, deceptive beauty who was only in it to get rich". The author concludes her Author's Note by writing "Samson and Delilah were not heroes or villains.  They were people...because people, with all their flaws, are what God uses to work His divine will."  It's helpful to remember that all of these Biblical characters are people, with many dimensions to their characters and lives.

There are discussion questions included at the end of the book.  Whether you are interested in the discussion, or simply want to be entertained and challenged to see a familiar story in a different light, I recommend this fictional book.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review.