I would actually give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

This book was a difficult book for me to get into as I felt it was complicated but interesting. It makes you really think about how you fit into this world as a woman, mother and wife. This story details the lives of biblical queens, a woman in the 60s and today's woman. It's interesting because it details how each woman is just starting to understand her place in her world and what she really wants and how to get it. I think that it is a great book for those that love biblical fiction, especially with a feminist twist to it.

I would like to thank the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I found this novel quite entertaining and as a woman myself I really pondered each character in the book and their respective lives and roles. Are they a 'first wife or second?" Are they controlled by the men in their lives or do they have the freedom to be in charge of themselves? Maybe they are no wife at all. What do they think of the few female Bible stories that we have? What do I think of these stories? It really seemed like a puzzle within a book, each piece being connected to another until a story became apparent. And I felt like the story had few answers, much like life. A tiny criticism- don't love the title. I feel it hints at something it's not, although perhaps the author is trying to reclaim the phrase and turn it into something else, which if true, well, then that's another thing altogether.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for this ARC.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

Yes yes yes give Vashti her due. As the grown up version of the girl that always had to be Vashti in the Purim Spiel (and twice for Halloween, I love this book. Hopefully will be a feminist classic. Five stars easy.

Literary fiction at its best.A. testament to strong women living in a male dominated world.A book you will pass from woman to woman a novel I was drawn into .#netgalley#henryholt,

I found this to be an interesting novel woven from the story of Esther to other women paralleling their stories. I thought the story of Esther was the more compelling of the book. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.