This novel is the re-telling of the prophetess Deborah, who is the fourth prophet in the book of Judges in the Bible. She features in from chapter 4 to chapter 6 of Judges.

Deborah is a Jew who is living in a time where God is forgotten. She hasn’t forgotten Him though and often sits under a palm tree praying and listening to God. She hears from Him that it is time to go to war, and she takes this to Barak, leader of the army. With God on their side they defeat their oppressors and the Jews move back into relationship with God.

Wendy will be the first to say that she used creative license although she did base this on the account in Judges. She writes great stories and great books. Deborah is portrayed as a real woman who I could easily empathise with. She faces many challenges, such as losing her husband. It is a good story for Christian women: it shows that women can get close to God and have important roles to play. The message is that women are just as important as men, they just have a different role.

This was an easy read. I was gripped and wanted to keep reading. Virgo writes really well and I find her books really readable and well worth my time.

Waterstones synopsis:

Wendy offers studies of key women in the New Testament as a starting point for a series of reflections on women’s roles in the church today. Some of these women were saints, full of good works; some were frankly poisonous and did considerable harm. From her long experience within New frontiers, Wendy offers a good deal of shrewd advice and writes candidly about her own struggles to fit into church structures. ‘Women can be powerful in a church and can be influential in changing it from a sick community to a healthy one. They can be a tremendous asset or a huge liability. They can influence the whole ambiance of a church…The pages of the New Testament contain a surprising number of references to women to whom we can relate as we seek to build good healthy churches in the twenty first century’.

In this book Wendy studies the women in the New Testament and shows how even though women are not meant to lead the church, they can still influence it, either in a good way or bad. I liked the way Wendy did this – she expands on Biblical story, adding fiction to make the stories substantial and for the point to be explained. There are explanations and examples to help us understand how we can function well in the church. Wendy also uses real life examples, from her own life and friend’s stories, so we can see the impact women can have.

I found this book really useful and will be holding onto it. I think this is an important read for women in church, so they know how they can help the men and wait to watch out for so that they do not cause problems. I for one know I don’t want to be a jezebel and now have an idea of what to be aware of.

This book is for women and does have some strong opinions, such as how women should not lead the church. I think this should be pointed out so people are prepared in case they might be offended/have a different view. I agreed with what Wendy wrote however and found this book incredibly well written, easy to read and very helpful. I have nothing bad to say about this book and highly recommend it.

10/10