Rachel - by Jill Eileen Smith

I have been a huge fan of Jill Eileen Smith since I started reading her Biblical fiction novels about 2 years ago. I usually start reading her novels thinking I know the story and the characters since I grew up in the church, but once I read more I become curious about what did and didn't happen in the Bible and which are fiction. I almost always go back and compare and learn more about the Bible in the process. For example, I knew the story of Jacob and Esau, and I knew the story of a man who worked 7 years for Leah and another 7 for Rachel, but didn't make the connection that this was the same man. Some people may not enjoy Biblical fiction because it sometimes strays from the true story, but I get drawn into the story and find myself wanting to research the story more. 

In this novel I found myself both loving and being irritated with Rachel. I felt her pain when her sister and maids could conceive yet she remained barren. I'm sure many women out there can relate to wanting a child so badly, and yet having difficulty conceiving. On the flip side she acted like a spoiled child in the games she played to keep her husband from his other wives. It was a love/dislike relationship with myself and Rachel's character, but the story was a fantastic read. I love Biblical fiction and would definitely recommend this author!!!

Find out more about this novel below:

Beautiful Rachel wants nothing more than for her older half sister Leah to wed and move out of their household. Maybe then she would not feel so scrutinized, so managed, so judged. Plain Leah wishes her father Laban would find a good man for her, someone who would love her alone and make her his only bride. Unbeknownst to either of them, Jacob is making his way to their home, trying to escape a past laced with deceit and find the future God has promised him.

But the past comes back to haunt Jacob when he finds himself on the receiving end of treachery and the victim of a cruel bait and switch. The man who wanted only one woman will end up with sisters who have never gotten along and now must spend the rest of their lives sharing a husband. In the power struggles that follow, only one woman will triumph . . . or will she?

I received a copy of this book in exchange for this review.