The Garden of Ruth

September 4, 2006
Etzioni-Halevy, an Israeli sociologist and author of The Song of Hannah
, returns to the ancient Middle East for an imaginative second novel riffing on the story of the biblical Ruth. (Ruth, a widowed Moabite princess, converted to Judaism, married Boaz and gave birth to the future king David—but only after a mysterious man, known only as the man who was by law next in line to inherit her family property, declined to marry her.) As Etzioni-Halevy's story opens, Osnath, a head-strong and literate 15-year-old girl, discovers on a visit to Bethlehem an old piece of scroll, addressed to a woman "red-haired and fair" and written by "the man to whom you are pledged." It begs her to "abandon him, who is unworthy of you." Intrigued, Osnath proposes to Ruth's great-grandson Eliab, in whose scroll room Osnath discovered the text, that Osnath research the mystery. Eliab discourages her; she persists. After being "wickedly seduced" by Eliab, she falls in love with his brother David, who spurns her. Osnath then reluctantly returns to Eliab, who promises to unravel the "web of lies... as sweet as honey" that surrounds Ruth's life—but at a price. The mystery is intriguing, and Etzioni-Halevy depicts ancient women chafing at limited choices with verve.

December 15, 2006
Readers well acquainted with the Bible will appreciate Etzioni-Halevy's intriguing interpretation of the story behind the Book of Ruth. As the novel opens, Osnath, the 15-year-old niece of the prophet Samuel, arrives in Bethlehem with her grandmother to visit relatives. There, in a scroll room, she finds a scrap of parchment hinting at an illicit love affair involving Ruth the Moabite. (The wife of wealthy Boaz, Ruth is perhaps best known as the great-grandmother of David, future king of Israel and notorious slayer of Goliath.) Ruth's descendants, especially her great-grandson Eliab, are determined to keep their ancestor's secrets safe. But Eliab's resistance only stokes Osnath's curiosity. Could revelations about Ruth be scandalous enough to jeopardize the inheritance Eliab and his relatives are due? Romantic troubles also plague Osnath, whose feelings for Eliab range from lust to disgust. Etzioni-Halevy, an emeritus professor of political sociology at Israel's Bar-Ilan University and author of " The Song of Hannah "(2005), vividly evokes ancient Israel and the spirited men and women who called this striking landscape home. Add this to the ever-growing list of read-alikes for Anita Diamant's " The Red Tent" (1997).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)