Recent Reads - Slender Reeds: Jochebed's Hope

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Slender Reeds: Jochebed's Hope by Texie Susan Gregory - The Biblical story of the Exodus of the Hebrew people from Egypt is a popular theme for novels, and for whatever reason, I've been reading several of them recently. This one is a little different because it focuses on the mother of Moses, a woman that we know little about, but who mothered one of the greatest leaders of Israel. The story begins with Jochebed as a young teenager coming of age, and imagines details about her character and family; and the circumstances that led her to place her baby boy in a basket in the Nile.

Jochebed is being raised by her widowed mother; they are slaves in Egypt, but her mother continually shares the stories of their people's history and reminds Jochebed that God is faithful and will keep his promises. The phrase "while it is still dark, God is at work" is a repeated theme. Jochebed struggles with her own doubts about God, but rarely speaks of them. She and her cousin Lili become great friends with a half-Egyptian girl, Shiphrah, rescued from the river, and the three are very close until jealousy and mistrust starts to pry them apart. Jochebed and Shiphrah are the two main characters in the book, along with the Pharaoh Ramses, and his fears and suspicion that eventually lead to his orders to kill Hebrew baby boys. Jochebed discovers that she is pregnant with a third child about the same time that Amram is among the Hebrew men sent away to slave on Pharaoh's latest building project, and the Egyptian guards pay their first visit to the village to murder baby boys. Grief leads to even more suspicion against the midwife Shiphrah, and Jochebed spends her entire pregnancy and the early weeks after her son is born wrestling with her faith and her fears. Eventually she comes to the decision to trust her baby to God by putting him in a basket in the Nile.

Overall I enjoyed this imagining of who Jochebed was and how her character was developed. She and Shiphrah were interesting characters in this story, although very different from what I would have pictured. I was disappointed that Amram is little more than a name in the story, and his relationship with Jochebed is barely hinted at. In fact, he is absent through the majority of the story, even before he is sent away. It's in his absence that Jochebed matures and learns to trust and obey God even though she doesn't understand him or see how he is working.

From the publisher:

Trapped beneath 400 years of Egypt's injustices, the Hebrew people await deliverance from generations of Egyptian slavery. But while it is still dark, God is at work. Young Jochebed is unaware the Master Weaver is preparing her to mother three formidable leaders: Miriam, Aaron, and Moses. Shiphrah, the half-Egyptian midwife tasked to kill Hebrew male newborns, remembers childhood stories of a merciful God and cannot resist His call on her life.

Two women, each following the dangerous path God has set before them - this is their story.

Visit Barbour Publishing for more info on where to buy.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

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