Esther

About this book

Ataxerxes, King of Persia needed a wife. This warrior lord was so powerful that he could make his choice from all his Empire. He picked the one girl who would have given anything to have been passed over, a Jewish scholar, Esther, from the back streets of his capital, Shushan. To a King bored by the chattering of women wreathed in musky scents, this changeling was a breath of fresh air. But the new Queen of Persia was lost in a world of protocol and soon lost her husband's favour. Worse, she had to hide her faith and deny her origins for Haman, the King’s favourite, was an Amelekite, an ancient enemy of the Jews, and determined to have revenge. Esther's only hope to avert a holocaust was to risk her own life and go, uninvited, before a King who had already disposed of one unpopular wife. Norah Lofts’ Esther, first published in 1951, is a magical re-telling of the Old Testament Book of Esther, the story behind the Jewish festival of Purim. [From Amazon.com]

Themes & subjects

About the author

Norah Lofts

27 August 1904 – 10 September 1983

Norah Lofts, née Norah Ethel Robinson was a 20th-century British writer. She also wrote under the pen names Peter Curtis and Juliet Astley. She wrote more than fifty books specialising in historical fiction, but she also wrote some mysteries, short stories and non-fiction. Many of her novels, including her Suffolk Trilogy, follow the history of specific houses and their residents over several generations.