Book Review: Daughter of the King
05/04/2013
Publisher: Prism Book Group
Pages: 256
Price: $12.99
Publication Date: December 12, 2012
ISBN: 978-0615740614
Saul gave his daughter, Michal, to David. But when she saves David from Saul, he gives her to Phaltiel, a hateful drunk who shamelessly uses his wives and their servants to satisfy perverse desires.
When Saul dies, troops come to take Michal away. She doesn’t know whether she is going to her death. Did David believe she willingly went with another man? However, she finds herself back with David whom she loved from the beginning. By now, David has gone from musician to king of Judea.
Happy at first, Michal evolves from David’s cherished and loved first wife to one of many in his mansion full of wives and concubines. The politics of dwelling with a city of wives gives us a glimpse of that unpleasant situation. We see the extent of her pain when she gives permission for her handmaid to marry a poor man. She longs for a poor man who could afford only one wife.
The book stays true to the book of Samuel and Biblical times. It answers plausibly the question of why she became angry when she saw David dance. It departs from the Bible slightly. Michal’s outburst came after David went home—Samuel 16:20-22.
This book is well paced and keeps you reading. We like the good guys, though the bad guys are unforgivably bad. In about three places, I found the descriptions too graphic.