Short Biography:
MESU ANDREWS is a Christy Award-winning, best-selling author of biblical novels and devotional studies whose deep understanding of and love for God’s Word brings the Bible alive for readers. Her heritage as a “spiritual mutt” has given her a deep yearning to both understand and communicate biblical truths in powerful stories that touch the heart, challenge the mind, and transform lives. Mesu lives in Indiana with her husband Roy, where she stays connected with her readers through newsie emails, blog posts, and the social media we all love to hate. For more information, visit MesuAndrews.com.
Book Bio:
Her first novel, Love Amid the Ashes (Revell, 2011, the story of Job) won the 2012 ECPA Book of the Year for a Debut Author. Love’s Sacred Song (Revell, 2012) relates the poetic Song of Solomon in story form, and Love in a Broken Vessel (Revell, 2013) sets the story of Hosea and Gomer in biblical Israel. In the Shadow of Jezebel (Revell, 2014) displays God’s sovereignty over Jezebel’s daughter, Queen Athaliah. The Pharaoh’s Daughter (Waterbrook/Multnomah, 2015), unveils Moses’ early years, and Miriam (2016) introduces Yahweh’s prophetess during the ten plagues and the Exodus. The Prequel Collection: Prophets and Kings is a collection of three prequels–one for each novel in the Prophets and Kings series: Isaiah’s Daughter, Isaiah’s Legacy, and Of Fire and Lions. Isaiah’s Daughter (Waterbrook/Multnomah, 2018) introduces readers to the prophet Isaiah’s captivating daughter, and its sequel, Isaiah’s Legacy (Waterbrook/Multnomah, 2020), provides the redemptive end to her life and her son Manasseh’s reign. To follow Yahweh’s progression toward the Messiah, By the Waters of Babylon (August 2018) continues the story of the prophets and kings through the exile, and Of Fire and Lions (Waterbrook/Multnomah 2019) tells Daniel’s compelling story. And The Reluctant Rival: Leah’s Story tells of Leah, Jacob’s neglected wife, and how God used her to change the course of history. When Joseph’s brothers sell him into a life of slavery in Egypt, Jacob’s favorite son encounters one of the Bible’s most infamous bad girls in, Potiphar’s Wife (Waterbrook/Multnomah 2022). But God frees Joseph from prison with the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams, and Pharaoh gives Joseph an Egyptian wife, Asenath, who becomes the first fulfillment of Abraham’s blessing to “all nations” In Feast or Famine (Waterbrook/Multnomah 2023). Deep-O-Tionals: Devotions with Depth is a series of devotional studies written years ago and recently edited by Mesu’s husband–Dr. Roy Andrews, PhD–into 15-minute deep dives into whole Books of the Bible meant to: 1) touch the heart, 2) teach the mind, and 3) transform your life. Two short-story collections give voices to lesser-known and/or unnamed biblical characters in: 1) The Edge of Promise – experience what life might have been like for Aaron’s wife, Rahab’s sister, and a shepherd boy who spoke with Moses moments before his death on Mt. Nebo; 2) The Nameless Ones – meet Solomon’s 700th wife, the girl who drew water for Elijah’s sacrifice on Mt. Carmel, and the wife of the man who dug Hezekiah’s tunnel. The next full-length novel series, King David’s Brides, is based on 2 Samuel 3:2-5 and explores the stories of the six women who bore David’s first six sons during his rule in Hebron. Book #1, Brave: The Story of Ahinoam, she’s a dagger-wielding Kenite descendant of Jael who must as herself if she’s brave enough to marry Israel’s next king while on the run from King Saul. Book #2, Noble: The Story of Maakah (link to come), is a biblical tale told through the lens of King David’s only non-Jewish, royal bride.
Contact Information:
- Website: www.MesuAndrews.com
- E-mail: Mesu@MesuAndrews.com
- Mailing Address:PO Box 25706, Fort Wayne, IN 46825
- For publishing inquiries, please contact Mesu’s literary agent, Steve Laube, at steve@stevelaube.com.
Author Photos:
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Information for Isaiah’s Legacy
Buzz Line:
The drama of the Old Testament comes to life as Judah’s most notorious king ascends to the throne in this gripping novel from the award-winning author of Isaiah’s Daughter.
Back Cover Copy:
At eight years old, Shulle has known only life in a small village with her loving but peculiar father. When Uncle Shebna offers shelter in Jerusalem in exchange for Shulle’s help tutoring King Manasseh, Judah’s five-year-old co-regent who displays the same peculiarities as her father, she’s eager to experience the royal court. But Shulle soon realizes the limits of her father’s strict adherence to Yahweh’s Law when Uncle Shebna teaches her of the starry hosts and their power.
Convinced Judah must be freed from Yahweh’s chains, she begins the subtle swaying of young Manasseh, using her charm and skills on the boy no one else understands. When King Hezekiah dies, twelve-year-old Manasseh is thrust onto Judah’s throne, bitter at Yahweh and eager to marry the girl he adores. Assyria’s crown prince favors Manasseh and twists his brilliant mind toward cruelty, beginning Shulle’s long and harrowing journey to discover the Yahweh she’d never known, guided with loving wisdom by Manasseh’s mother: Isaiah’s daughter, the heartbroken Hephzibah.
Amid Judah’s dark days, a desperate remnant emerges, claiming the Lord’s promise, “Though we’re helpless now, we’re never hopeless–because we serve El Shaddai.” Shulle is among them, a girl who becomes a queen through Isaiah’s legacy.
Isaiah’s Legacy Official Press Release
Information for Of Fire & Lions
Buzz Line:
The Old Testament book of Daniel comes to life in this novel for readers of Lynn Austin’s Chronicles of the Kings series or Francine Rivers’ Mark of the Lion series.
Back Cover Copy:
Survival. A Hebrew girl first tasted it when she escaped death nearly seventy years ago as the Babylonians ransacked Jerusalem and took their finest as captives. She thought she’d perfected in the many years amongst the Magoi and the idol worshippers, pretending with all the others in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court. Now, as Daniel’s wife and a septuagenarian matriarch, Belili thinks she’s safe and she can live out her days in Babylon without fear–until the night Daniel is escorted to Belshazzar’s palace to interpret mysterious handwriting on a wall. The Persian Army invades, and Bellili’s tightly-wound secrets unfurl with the arrival of the conquering army. What will the reign of Darius mean for Daniel, a man who prays to Yahweh alone?
Ultimately, Yahweh’s sovereign hand guides Jerusalem’s captives, and the frightened Hebrew girl is transformed into a confident woman, who realizes her need of the God who conquers both fire and lions.
Press Release for Of Fire & Lions
Information for Isaiah’s Daughter:
Buzz Line: A captive orphan girl becomes Judah’s captivating queen.
Back Cover Copy: Ishma comes to the prophet Isaiah’s home as a five-year-old orphan, devastated after watching her family destroyed and living as a captive. With tenderness and care, her lively spirit is revived, and the prophet and his wife adopt Ishma, giving her a new name—Zibah, delight of the Lord. As the years pass, Zibah wins Prince Hezekiah’s favor, a boy determined to rebuild the kingdom his father has nearly destroyed. But loving this man awakens Zibah’s painful past and calls into question the very foundation of her father’s prophecies. Can she learn to rely on only Yahweh, who gives life, calms fear, and conquers nations?
Information for Miriam: A Treasures of the Nile Novel:
Buzz Line: Enter an exotic land where a cruel Pharaoh reigns, pagan priests wield black arts, and the Israelites cry out to a God they only think they know.
Back Cover Copy: At eighty-six, Miriam had devoted her entire life to loving El Shaddai and serving His people as both midwife and messenger. Yet when her brother Moses returns to Egypt from exile, he brings a disruptive message. God has a new name – Yahweh – and has declared a radical deliverance for the Israelites. Miriam and her beloved family face an impossible choice: cling to familiar bondage or embrace uncharted freedom at an unimaginable cost. Even if the Hebrews survive the plagues set to turn the Nile to blood and unleash a maelstrom of frogs and locusts, can they weather the resulting fury of the Pharaoh?
Information for The Pharaoh’s Daughter:
Buzz Line: Fear is the most fertile ground for faith.
Back Cover Copy: Anippe has grown up in the shadows of Egypt’s good god Pharaoh, aware that Anubis, god of the afterlife, may take her or her siblings at any moment. She watched him snatch her mother and infant brother during childbirth, a moment which awakens in her a terrible dread of ever bearing a child. Now she is to be become the bride of Sebak, a kind but quick-tempered Captain of Pharaoh Tut’s army. In order to provide Sebak the heir he deserves and yet protect herself from the underworld gods, Anippe must launch a series of deceptions, even involving the Hebrew midwives—women ordered by Tut to drown the sons of their own people in the Nile.
When she finds a baby floating in a basket on the great river, Anippe believes Egypt’s gods have answered her pleas, entrenching her more deeply in deception and placing her and her son Mehy, whom handmaiden Miriam calls Moses, in mortal danger.
As bloodshed and savage politics shift the balance of power in Egypt, the gods reveal their fickle natures and Anippe wonders if her son, a boy of Hebrew blood, could one day become king. Or does the god of her Hebrew servants, the one they call El Shaddai, have a different plan—for them all?
Information for In the Shadow of Jezebel:
Buzz Line: In a kingdom controlled by cruel and manipulative women, one princess will discover the power of truth and love.
Back Cover Copy: Trained as a priestess in the temple of Baal, Princess Jehosheba strives to please the demanding Queen Athaliah, daughter of Jezebel. But when a mysterious letter from the dead prophet Elijah predicts doom for the royal household, Jehosheba realizes that the dark arts she practices reach far beyond the realm of earthly governments. Forced to marry Yahweh’s high priest in order to further Athaliah and Jezebel’s power plays, Jehosheba enters the unfamiliar world of Yahweh’s Temple. Can her new husband show her the truth and love she craves? And can Jehosheba overcome her fear and save the family–and the nation–she loves?
Information for Love In a Broken Vessel:
Book Trailer:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=nI5Cav_ApPI%3Frel%3D0
Buzz Line: While unfaithful Israel breaks God’s heart, Gomer’s broken spirit tests Hosea’s faith—an epic journey of intimacy, rejection, and betrayal.
Back Cover Copy: Deserted by those who love her and betrayed by the gods she once worshiped, Gomer lives a bitter existence…until one day her childhood friend reappears—Hosea. But is it too late for Gomer? Is her heart too broken to capture even a drop of love? While unfaithful Israel breaks God’s heart, Gomer’s broken spirit tests Hosea’s faith. Can the two find faith in Yahweh’s power to love?
Information for Love’s Sacred Song:
Book Trailer:
Buzz Line: For young King Solomon wisdom came as God’s gift, but sacred love was forged through passion’s fire.
Back Cover Copy: Standing in the overpowering shadow of his famous father, young king Solomon wavers between fear and bravado, longing for a love that is true and pure—a love that can be his cornerstone. A shepherdess in the northern city of Shunem, Arielah has known since she first laid eyes on Solomon that it was her destiny to become his bride. When her father secures a promise from King Solomon to marry Arielah as a treaty bride to help unite the kingdom, it seems her dreams will come true. But how can this simple shepherdess live as part of Solomon’s harem? Can Solomon set aside his distractions to give himself completely to just one woman? Or will he let duty, deception, and the daily routine divide his heart?
Information for Love Amid the Ashes:
2012 ECPA Debut Novel of the Year
Book Trailer:
Buzz Line: A breathtaking novel of Job’s life through the eyes of the women who loved him.
Back Cover Copy: When scandal and murder rock Dinah’s life, the daughter of the great patriarch Jacob is sent away to Job’s household. After Job’s own world comes crashing down, Dinah finds herself drawn to this great man brought low. What will she risk to fight for his survival? Read this emotional and stirring account of Job and Dinah. Love Amid the Ashes breathes life, romance, and passion into the classic biblical story of suffering and steadfast faith.
Information for The Reluctant Rival: Leah’s Story:
Buzz Line: Can Leah keep her sister from destroying Jacob’s faith in Elohim.
Back Cover Copy: The moment Leah set eyes on Jacob ben Isaac, she was in love. Unfortunately, Jacob preferred her younger sister, Rachel. But when her father hatched a plan that would make Leah Jacob’s wife, she agreed due to her love for him—and fear of Jacob’s brother, Esau. Now, over a decade later, she is one of four wives vying for Jacob’s attention—and the only wife who follows his God. Throughout the years, the boundaries between the four women have been clear. That is until Rachel births her first son, and Leah her first daughter. Joseph and Dinah are the darlings of Jacob’s camp and the newest tension between rivaling sisters.
Leah fumes when she discovers Rachel teaching Joseph and Dinah about pagan gods. Will Rachel’s relentless devotion to false deities poison their children—and perhaps the whole family? Can Leah keep her sister from destroying Jacob’s faith in Elohim?
