Isaiah's Legacy: A Novel of Prophets and Kings

by Mesu Andrews

The drama of the Old Testament comes to life as Judah's most notorious king ascends to the throne in this gripping novel from the award-winning author of Isaiah's Daughter.

At eight years old, Shulle has known only life in a small village with her loving but peculiar father. When Uncle Shebna offers shelter in Jerusalem in exchange for Shulle's help tutoring King Manasseh, Judah's five-year-old co-regent who displays the same peculiarities as her father, she's eager to experience the royal court. But Shulle soon realizes the limits of her father's strict adherence to Yahweh's Law when Uncle Shebna teaches her of the starry hosts and their power.

Convinced Judah must be freed from Yahweh's chains, she begins the subtle swaying of young Manasseh, using her charm and skills on the boy no one else understands. When King Hezekiah dies, twelve-year-old Manasseh is thrust onto Judah's throne, bitter at Yahweh and eager to marry the girl he adores. Assyria's crown prince favors Manasseh and twists his brilliant mind toward cruelty, beginning Shulle's long and harrowing journey to discover the Yahweh she'd never known, guided with loving wisdom by Manasseh's mother: Isaiah's daughter, the heartbroken Hephzibah. Amid Judah's dark days, a desperate remnant emerges, claiming the Lord's promise, "Though we're helpless now, we're never hopeless--because we serve El Shaddai." Shulle is among them, a girl who becomes a queen through Isaiah's legacy.

• ISBN10: 0735291888
• ISBN13: 9780735291881
• Publish Date: 18 February 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
• Imprint: WaterBrook
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780735291881

Reviews

[phyllish]

A stunning account of Judah's most wicked king - and his redemption

King Manasseh's history is filled with idolatry and evil, yet it is also a story of redemption and hope. It is so amazing to think that if God could forgive Manasseh, He can also redeem me!

Knowing the despicable things this king had done gave me pause as I considered reading this book. I mean, really, he spent most of his life in rebellion, right? So wouldn't a story about him have to be pretty bad as well?

Before Isaiah's Legacy, I had not read any of Mesu Andrews' books about Biblical characters who were not walking with God through most of their lives. And yet, what I've seen of her heart in her other stories and what I've come to know of her through newsletters and Facebook groups, I just knew, that she would find a way to make Manasseh's story accurate and still filled with hope. And I was right.

I love the way she chose to explain why Manasseh did so many of the things he did. Not by saying that someone on the autism spectrum is prone to evil, because this was not even insinuated. Instead, by explaining that he could have been more easily led astray due to his difficulty in reading social cues that come more easily to many others. In his desire to please one he thought was his friend, he turned his back on the God his father worshipped.

I certainly didn't expect to actually like him in the story, nor to like Shulle, his wife who encouraged him in his evil practices. And yet, in her masterful way, Mesu Andrews created very loveable, hurting, characters who were in need of redemption. While the author didn't hesitate to tell of the sins of the characters, she did not glorify or overemphasize them.

If you enjoy well-researched Biblical fiction that makes history come alive, you won't want to miss reading Isaiah's Legacy.
Read my full review at Among the Reads


I was given a copy of this book. I was not required to give a favorable review nor was any money received for this review. All comments and opinions are my own.