Book Review: Abigail by Jill Eileen Smith

I recently had the opportunity to review the book “Abigail” by Jill Eileen Smith, which is the second book in the series “The Wives of King David”.  This book follows the Biblical story of Abigail who was married to a foolish man named Nabal and became the third wife to David after Nabal died.  It begins at the time when David was fleeing for his life from King Saul and continues until he becomes King over both Judah and Israel, uniting the conflicting tribes, meanwhile acquiring four more wives in the process. Understandably, it centers around Abigail’s struggle with sharing the man she loves.

The first thing I really appreciated about this novel was Smith’s obvious effort to accurately portray the time period and the culture of the Israelites.  I felt like I was getting a closer, more intimate look into the lives of the characters and how this story could have potentially played out.  It is often difficult for us to imagine what it may have been like to live in that day and age, but I found myself intrigued and drawn in by Smith’s description of what it was like for David and Abigail in the difficult years of running and hiding, followed by the years of success and the fulfillment of God’s promise to David that he would be king. 

Another thing I enjoyed about this book was how Smith took the limited amount of detail that the Bible provides about Abigail and used her creativity to bring her to life.  This woman who was described as having wisdom, beauty, intelligence, discernment, and a heart after God became real and relatable as the story took us into her personal struggles and weaknesses as a woman who wrestled with being one wife of many.  Similarly, David who is so easy to put on a pedastal as a picture of perfection is revealed as having his own struggles with the burden of responsibility as the leader over a divided and disgruntled people, the difficulties of balancing his roles as a husband and father, along with his desire to pursue God wholeheartedly.

Smith succeeded in capturing my attention with her intriguing storytelling, yet I did find my interest waning towards the end as I waited for her to bring resolution to the story’s conflicts.  Also, since Abigail’s primary struggle was with jealousy of the other wives, the subject of which wife would succeed in gaining access to David’s bed became an overriding theme that I probably wish didn’t have to be so dominant.  It was perhaps unavoidable, since that was reality for them, and I believe Smith was tasteful in her writing about it, but it unfortunately made for a slightly less enjoyable read for me personally.

Overall though, I found this book to be well-written, challenging, and it definitely piqued my curiosity about the other books in Smith’s series on the wives of King David.

Book is courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.  Available at your favourite bookseller.