Bravery, Faith, and Miracles: A Modern “Book of Esther”

Author Louise Domaratius transports us to Iran to explore the trials of a Jewish, female journalist in Writing the Book of Ester, a finalist for the 2004 ForeWord Book Award for Religious Fiction. In Writing the Book of Ester, readers get a captivating glimpse into the life of the Jewish-Iranian “Ester”, a woman who, upon marriage to a Muslim, struggles to stay true to her own faith and still provide an atmosphere of tolerance in her household. With the eventual death of her husband in a bombing, with the strictures of a tyrannical regime, and with the confrontation of issues related to rearing her children alone, Ester is faced with a myriad of decisions for which there are no obvious answers. Not a day goes by that the media does not bring to our attention the story of a woman oppressed and faced with difficult choices as to how she should proceed in the face of moral or religious conflict. Author Louise Domaratius weaves a timely tale that takes readers back and forth from current-day Iran to the ancient kingdom of Asaheurus, offering striking parallels between the Biblical Queen Esther and her modern fictional counterpart, and illustrating that such conflicts have existed throughout history: Both women are forced to take momentous actions, and to rely on faith, intuition, and an ultimate belief in the power of love and justice.

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