I loved it! ( )

Meet Leah, the oldest daughter of Laban, whose "tender eyes" prevent her from fully participating in the daily work of her nomadic family, and Rachel, the spoiled younger daughter, the petted and privileged beauty of the family - or so it seems to Leah. There is also Bilhah, an orphan who is not quite a slave but not really a family member, and Zilpah, who knows only how to use her beauty to manipulate men as she strives to secure for herself something better than the servitude into which she has been born.

Into the desert camp comes Jacob, a handsome and charismatic kinsman destined to be Rachel's husband. But that doesn't prevent the other women from vying for his attention.

Tracing their lives from childhood to maturity, Card shows how these women change each other - and are changed again by the holy books that Jacob brings with him. Ambition, jealousy, fear, and love motivate them as they vie for the attention of Jacob, heir to the spiritual birthright of Abraham and Isaac.

A part of me wishes this book had extended beyond the weddings, but I think OSC was smart in focusing on the buildup to it. These Bible stories are pretty similar, so another story about marriage to someone in Abraham's lineage would have felt repetitive. As always, this book was a fascinating character study. Card brings these people to life in a way that really feels believable. ( )

Sibling rivalry explained, on multiple levels. Because it's an on-going dimension in lots of scriptural stories.

Once again Mr. Card takes the bare bones of a story that has the feel of trickery and reframes it in such a way that I could understand how things could have turned out the way they did. The jealousies and loyalties and conflicting hopes and needs of the four different women who end up bearing Jacob's children intertwine in interesting ways. I ended up liking all of them, though I felt that Rachel was the person least explored. I'm sad that Mr. Card hasn't continued this series. ( )