Sarah: A Heroine Of The Old Testament

Description

The first novel in a sweeping historical trilogy, bringing the Old Testament to life. People may know that Abraham, the great Patriarch of the Old Testament, was the first man to spread God's word. But how many know of his wife, Sarah? How she was born into a wealthy and powerful family in the Sumerian city of Ur? Or how, at the age of twelve, escaping her own wedding ceremony, she ran to the banks of the Euphrates river and into the arms of a young stranger camped on the outskirts of the city. His name was Abraham and, although he was a member of a poor nomadic tribe, their encounter that night was enough to convince Sarah that their future lay together. And so Sarah abandoned everything - wealth, family and status - to follow Abraham and his alien God; a God of whom no one had ever heard; a God who was invisible and who appeared to communicate solely through her husband; a God who, one day, would command Abraham to kill their beloved son in his name, and before whom Sarah would beg for mercy... Set against the epic backdrop of the Sumerian cities of Ur and Babylon four thousand years ago, and in the arid wastelands of the Arabian desert, Marek Halter brings an ancient world vividly to life through the eyes of a beautiful and passionate woman.

Marek Halter was born in Poland, the son of a printer and a Yiddish poet. Narrowly escaping the Warsaw Ghetto during the Second World War, he and his parents spent time in Russia and Uzbekistan before emigrating to France. Once in Paris, he studied pantomime alongside Marcel Marceau before embarking on a career as a painter. In the 1970s, he founded the International Committee for a Negotiated Peace Agreement in the Middle East and played a crucial role in the organization of the first official meetings between the Palestinians and Israelis; a role he continues to this day. Marek Halter speaks ten languages, and is fluent in French, English, German, Russian and Yiddish. He is the author of several internationally acclaimed novels, and is a regular contributor to Die Welt and La Republica. In France, Sarah, Zipporah and most recently Lilah have all been Top Ten Bestsellers.

'Part-fiction, part-based on interpretation of historical fact...a moving, beautifully-constructed story of love, faith and tragedy' * DAILY RECORD * 'A rich and heady paean to Abraham's unsung wife...Hat's off then to Marek Halter for dreaming between the lines and presenting a wry modern spin on this ancient drama. His book is a love story and an epic of the everyday' * JEWISH CHRONICLE * 'A very readable and plausible novel' * HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW * A moving, beautifully constructed story * DAILY RECORD *