A lush novel about an Old Testament queen who saved her people and a locked-room mystery are good fall reads from two Minnesota authors.
‘ESTHER’ by Rebecca Kanner
The story of Esther, the Jewish queen of Persia who saved her people, is in the Hebrew and Christian bibles. This brave woman is probably closer to the hearts of Jews, who celebrate her annually in the Feast of Purim.
Rebecca Kanner brings Esther to life in her retelling (Howard Books/Simon & Schuster, $22.99) of how a village girl won the heart of Xerxes, the world’s mightiest king.
Kanner’s previous novel, “Sinners and the Sea,” was a dark story about the unnamed wife of Noah and the family’s hard years on the smelly, dirty ark.
Esther’s story takes place amid fragrances and silky veils in the king’s palace, a hotbed of intrigue among harem women and powerful eunuchs.
As the story begins, the king’s soldiers are rounding up all the virgins they can find, including Esther, who had lived with her cousin Mordecai after her parents died. Even though Mordecai had sent her to live in a rural area, she is found by the soldiers and made to march with other girls across the hot desert to the royal palace.
But the newcomers find they had to tread carefully, because there is treachery among some other women of the harem. It takes a year for the virgins to be prepared for their night with the king, and one of his favorite concubines tries to deflower the young women so they will not be permitted to lie with the king.
Beautiful Esther knows she’ll be safe if she makes friends with the eunuch who controls the harem. Her other ally is her faithful servant, Ruti, the only one who knows Esther is a Jew.
Ruti learns that Haman, one of the kingdom’s most powerful men, is asking the king to kill the Jews because Mordecai, a bookkeeper at the palace, won’t bow to him.
Ruti tells Esther: “You must win (the king) and quickly become more valuable to him than Haman’s council and all the riches he would receive were he to allow Haman to annihilate us.”
Esther, who pleads with God to give her power to stop the suffering, responds “I will win him and save our people.”
Kanner keeps the tension high as Esther nears her night with the king, with whom she is by turns obedient and daring in her conversation. She knows she must be careful; the king’s previous wife, Vasthi, vanished after refusing to display herself before the king’s drunken friends.
“I would not be recklessly bold but also I would not be passive and silent like hundreds of girls who had been in his chambers before me,” Esther says.
Esther captivates the king but wearing the Queen’s crown puts her in more danger from other women and some of the king’s advisors. There are attacks on her life and that of her unborn child.
To add drama and some romance (there isn’t much romance with the king, although he’s fond of Esther), Kanner gives Esther a protector, Erez, one of the 10,000 soldiers loyal only to the king. For years, Erez and Esther can only exchange glances and notes.
The book of Esther is considered by some scholars to be a historical novella. Kanner has fleshed out the short story with vivid characters, enchanting descriptions of wealth and intrigue and a heroine who is imperfect but accepts the destiny God has given her.
Kanner, who teaches at the Loft, will read at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, 2100 N. Snelling Ave., Roseville; 7 p.m. Friday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; and 7 p.m. Dec. 1, SubText Books, 6 W. Fifth St., St. Paul.
“The Miser’s Dream” by John Gaspard
The Miser’s Dream is a magician’s illusion based on the idea that a miser wants what he wants without paying for it. In John Gaspard’s third mystery (Henery Press, $15.95) featuring magician Eli Marks, the illusion is performed by Quinton Moon, a superb magician who Marks loathes because he’s so good at magic. And Marks’ girlfriend likes the guy.
The story, set in the Twin Cities, begins with Marks looking out his window and seeing a body on the floor of the projection room of the theater next door. When the police arrive, they break down a heavy door and discover $75,000 left on a table. How did the killer get into the locked room? And why leave the money?
Marks lives with his Uncle Henry and manages Henry’s magic shop. After the murder, he’s visited by the skeletal, strange and very rich Mr. Lime, who asks him to investigate four suspects who might have killed for the chance to buy the only print of a cult movie still in existence. The suspected perps include a tough woman CEO, an alcoholic best-selling author, a rich guy who hides the artwork he buys and the proprietor of a comic book shop. Also, a monkey.
“The Miser’s Dream” is a likable locked-room cozy, and Marks is an appealing protagonist whose relationships include his ex-wife, a district attorney married to a detective. He learns a hard lesson from Uncle Henry, who points out that maybe he’s jealous of fellow magician Quinton Moon because he has let his own act go stale.
Gaspard is not a magician but has directed six low-budget feature films and written multiple books on low-budget filmmaking. He also has written for TV and the stage. He will introduce his book at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Once Upon a Crime, 604 26th St. W., Mpls., with an appearance by a Minnesota magician; and at noon Saturday, Chapter2Books, 226 Locust St., Hudson, Wis.
Mary Ann Grossmann can be reached at 651-228-5574.
