This is no Red Tent
For those of us expecting a novel like Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, this book is a big disappointment. The Red Tent is about women's relationships with each other, and tells of -albeit fictional- background that may help our understanding of Biblical events. This book is written by and about one person, Esther. Esther is clearly the innocent heroine, the perfect victim who rises to every occasion as she is prepared for one task, to sexually please King Xerxes (known to many of us as King Ahasueros).This is a romance novel! That's the only explanation and the only possible category for it. Pity, because it appears that the author did a good amount of research into the history and lifestyles of the harem and royalty. But it's a romance novel, with the girl and the two men, one the beloved and one the powerful. It's an overdone theme, and it's not worthy of the story of Esther.