My friend, Tessa Afshar, is one of the most gifted, hard-working, and passionate women I know. Her unique heritage, education, and experience give her powerful insights into the people, lands, and events of the Bible. (CLICK HERE to read the bio on her website.)
I’ve read and enjoyed ALL of Tessa’s books. Her research is stellar, her writing top-notch. Her newest couplet of books, The Hidden Prince and The Peasant King, are my FAVORITES of any she’s written! (CLICK HERE to see my review of The Hidden Prince, the prequel to The Peasant King.)
Book Description
Jemmah has always thought of herself as perfectly ordinary . . . until she faces extraordinary circumstances.
When her mother, the Persian king’s famous senior scribe, is kidnapped, Jemmah and her sister must sneak undetected into enemy territory to rescue her. But infiltrating their adversary’s lands proves easier than escaping them. Fleeing through dangerous mountain passes, their survival depends on the skills of a stranger they free from prison: a mysterious prince named Asher.
Asher and Jemmah
Asher is not who the world believes he is. Despite his royal blood, he has had to climb his way out of poverty to forge success from nothing. A manufacturer of some of the best weaponry in the East, Asher has only one goal: to destroy his father. But following his escape from prison, Asher is irresistibly drawn to Jemmah, unaware that she guards her own secret.
Jemmah must convince Asher to give up everything he has worked for, all for the sake of a higher purpose he’s not sure he believes in. The fate of the Persian empire—and possibly the Judean people—hang in the balance and in the persuasive power of one ordinary woman.
My Review
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 5 Smiles
Not often does an author write an even more powerful sequel to an already significant story like The Hidden Prince. But Tessa Afshar did it! The Peasant King delivers even more intrigue, romance, humor, and history by weaving together fictional Jewish characters with King Cyrus’s fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. She does it by bringing to life plausible narrative with vivid details informed by her Middle Eastern heritage.
This novel seamlessly introduces necessary relationships early in the book that later play key roles. The mastery with which the plot evolves is testimony to the author’s skill but also–I believe–some Divine help. How else could she so clearly have explained the way God moved in men’s hearts, preserving their ability to choose right and wrong, while also displaying God’s sovereign power to fulfill His plan for rulers and nations set in place centuries before?
During a time when our current world is rocked by fear and confusion, this book builds faith and restores hope in the God who rules all nations. I highly recommend The Peasant King to everyone that enjoys historical and biblical fiction.
You need not read the prequel to enjoy The Peasant King, you will, of course, enjoy Jemmah’s story more if you realize the foundation of her parent’s love story that was built in The Hidden Prince.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchase links.
Comments 1
Want to mention how I love reading Biblical stories, I have followed Tessa Afscar and you Mesu
And others, I cannot always get them because I am in Canada. Maybe there is a way, can you help. Would so appreciate it and will trust for the Lord to make a way.
Thank and I send my love and blessing to you all. Jannie