Copyright ©1996, ProMotion, inc.
www@acloserlook.com
Paneah? Who's he? Bible readers know him by his Hebrew name, Joseph, but Angela Elwell Hunt's research for the first in a new historical trilogy, Dreamers, is thorough. It shines in a novel rich in scope, filled with detail, and suspenseful in romance.
Dreamers is much more than the story of Joseph's life in bondage. Hunt uses the biblical story as a backdrop, staying true to the facts and embellishing them with the people Joseph meets in Egypt. The slave girl Tuya, who nurses him back to health after he arrives in Egypt and names him Paneah ("he lives"), takes center stage in this narrative. She grows to love the "well-built and handsome" youth, and together they manage PotipherÕs household, struggling to remain pure despite the passion they feel for each other.
Hunt uses vivid word pictures to describe the beauty of the land and the people. Tuya, upon meeting Pharaoh, is "tall and willowy, her skin the color of burnished honey and surely as sweet. She wore a simple linen sheath which accented her naturally elegant posture, and her face, when she finally lifted it to meet his, was as elegantly chiseled as were the goddess statues in the finest temples."
Potipher's wife, Sagira, who had once owned Tuya and then sold her in the throes of jealousy over the slave's beauty, embodies the dark side of human nature.
Dreams weave throughout this novel, dreams of freedom, love, power, and the strange visions Joseph interprets for Pharaoh. They are used to warn, encourage, and grant hope. Tuya and Joseph see some dreams come true, but others may wait on Hunt's industrious pen, with two more books to follow in the Legacies of the Ancient River series.
Sharon Harper designs A Closer Look, and shares affection for Joseph.
Copyright ©1996, ProMotion, inc.
www@acloserlook.com