Loved it. Interestingly, I had forgotten what the blurb said by the time I came to read the book, and as I got into it I wondered where and when it was set ... could be Middle East, Turkey, could be one of many centuries. Village life, with its well, marketplace and olive groves, was lovingly described. As the story unfolded, told by Mariam, the time period and location became crystal clear. Cleverly written and very enjoyable! Had I known beforehand what the story was based on, I might not have been so keen to read it - this would have been my loss.
Thanks to the publisher for a digital review copy.

When going into reading this I didn't know that this was based on a story from the Bible, a biblical retelling of sorts. I found out from reading other reviews afterwards.

It deals with themes such as loss, rape, domestic violence and leprosy and the stigma that surrounds it. I'm not going to go into much detail about the story but this story is much about the oppression of women as much as anything else and was quite a quick read. It delves into religion, and prophets so if you're not keen on religious stories or reading about that then this won't be for you, otherwise I'm sure it'll make for an interesting read as it did for me.

How shall I describe this book? It was one half good and one half 'meh'.

First, the writing was good. I was drawn into the story immediately. I felt for Mariam, the main character, and her struggles in her husband's family.

At first, I thought this was a book about female empowerment in the Middle East. It could have been a rather contemporary work. Bit by bit it became clear, this story is set in a very early century AD among a small Jewish community.

The further I read, the more religious the story became. It felt odd, it drew my focus away from the story of Mariam, and her life.

I thought this was a bible story rehashed tbh?? An interesting story all the same though and quite beautiful in places, Maryam is in an abusive marriage after marrying very young and she has nobody as the only person she loves (her dad) has been banished from the town as he has leprosy!

A well written tale read through Maryam POV, some parts are brutal and some sad but in all an entertaining read. Can't say too much as it will spoil it for everyone else, short read so give it a go!!

I thought I'd read enough novels based on Bible stories for the time being, but this one slipped past my guard. It's sneaky, since the title, cover and blurb give no indication that that's what this is. Neither do other reviewers, so hopefully I'm not being a spoil sport, or breaking some unwritten code. But I wasn't far into the story when the identities of the two sisters and their brother dawned on me. They are none other than Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Their names have been changed slightly to Mariam, Marta and Eleazar, to reflect their ancient Hebrew roots, but it's them alright.

There was a point around the 80% mark when I lost my impetus just a little. Since there were only a couple of Bible incidents about this family that hadn't been covered yet, I could predict what was coming. That's why I was having a break from biblical retellings in the first place. They're not necessarily page turners, but I was happy enough to pick this one back up in my own time.

It's not a total rehash of what we know already. This novel presents several possible scenarios of its own, including how such a lavish alabastar jar came to such a humble family in the first place. That really highlighted how special it was, and what a huge sacrifice the girls made when they decided what to do with it. There's also Mariam's marriage, their father's plight, and Eleazar's attitude before he thought things through.

The harsh New Testament times are really brought to life. A neighbour's bad fortune leads inevitably to nasty gossip and speculations, as people generally wonder if they've sinned. It's sad to read how the townsfolk use their interpretations of the Holy Scriptures as weapons to justify their mean spirited attitudes. It also highlights the immense desperation sufferers must have felt for their prayers to be answered. On top of whatever grief they were already going through, they had the added pressure of knowing that if no evident relief was forthcoming, they'd look like unworthy sinners. The time was surely ripe for the arrival of Jesus, with his message of grace and his new example of being God's hands and feet. (He was never called by name in Mariam's narrative. It was always just 'the Teacher' or 'the Doctor')

It was nice to see the two sisters depicted as close. I've seen other stories which give the impression that Mary and Martha might have been at loggerheads all the time. This one shows them generally on very loving terms, but Martha's nerves snapped because of the pressure of an unusual day. I like to think that's closer to the truth.

I really wish novels came with fragrance. The description of the spikenard once the jar was opened sounded sublime, and I badly wanted a sniff! Who remembers the old scratch and smell books for children? A story like this makes me want something similar for novels, since there's no way we can indulge our curiosity by going to buy spikenard from the local shop, if we could even afford it. Someone make scratch and smell books for adults, please :)

Thanks to Lion Hudson and Net Galley for my review copy.

I did really enjoy this book - it made me think outside the box about a biblical story I know well. It was very well written too.