Lilah

By: Marek Halter

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Set in the magnificent culture of the Middle East more than 4,000 years ago, Lilah is a rich and emotionally resonant story of faith, love, and courage.

Living in exile, Lilah is in love with Antinoes, a Persian warrior. They have known each other since they were children, and Antinoes dearly wants to make Lilah his wife. Yet Lilah does not feel she can marry without the blessing of her brother, Ezra. She and Ezra are close, and Lilah knows her brother well - he does not want his sister to have a husband outside their faith. Ezra is a scholar of the laws of Moses, and Lilah believes it is her brother's destiny to lead the Jewish people back to the Promised Land. While Antinoes pressures her to accept his proposal, Lilah realizes that before she can consider her own happiness, it is her duty to help her brother accomplish the seemingly impossible task that is before him.

Putting herself in grave danger, and with the help of Antinoes, Lilah wins Ezra an audience with Artaxerxes II, the King of Kings, who grants permission to lead the exiles on their journey back to the Promised Land. After a hazardous trip across the desert, Lilah, Ezra, and the thousands who join them arrive in Jerusalem. But the hardship of rebuilding the Temple takes its toll, and the religious enthusiasm of some turns to extremism. Ezra, listening to the zealots, orders all non-Jewish wives and their children banished from Jerusalem. Lilah, whose love for Antinoes has never wavered, is horrified by this command. She knows she must now choose between her brother and her conscience, which tells her that the time has come to defy him.

Lilah is a timeless story of one woman's stand against intolerance; it will linger in the listener's mind long after the last moment.

©2006 Marek Halter (P)2006 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"Plenty of highly charged sexuality and some imaginative storytelling." (Publishers Weekly)

The best of them

At least of the 4 I have listened too. The story of Lilah, pulled me in and wrapped me around in it. I felt her frustrations, and her hurt. I could feel her heart and her love. She seemed real to me. the story seemed real, and heartbreaking. Though all of them are read by the same narrator I would say she felt and identified with this Lilah as well, for her performance here out stripped her performances in the others. I don't know of the this Lilah, and I have not searched to see where she comes from in our bible. But this is a story of faith, heartbreak, familial love and devotion. Where the power was in this time and where the fear was. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy biblical fiction. But please remember it is biblical fiction, do not listen to this if you are expecting to find it completely aligned to any story in the bible you will be disappointed.

love and pain

thank G-D for our king Yeshua who brought Jewish and Gentile alike And made us, But I can understand both sides At the time of the story, I see my life here, I see the love of God and all things To the writer I wanna say thank you For granting us Things to think about on our own, I always love this story cause it gave me something to think about And it gave me more Reason to love you Yeshua even more. thanks be To G-D for his only son.