HARVEST OF RUBIES BY TESSA AFSHAR

HARVEST OF RUBIES by TESSA AFSHAR takes place during the reign of King Artaxerxes in Persia.
Sarah is a young Jewish girl whose father is a scribe in the royal palace, and she is the niece of Nehemiah, the king's cupbearer.  She lost her mother when she was young and her father, who is a very shy man, doesn't show her any affection, although he loves her deeply.  This makes her feel that she is unlovable.  She teaches herself to read and write, and is amazed that her father is supportive of her in this, which is unheard of for women at the time, and she feels that her value as a person is only in proportion to her ability as a scribe.  
Sarah turned from God when her mother died.  She used to recite psalms to her mother when she was dying, and later on we see how Nehemiah's wedding gift scroll comes to mean a great deal to her and how God's word helps her when she is unhappy in her marriage.
Uncle Nehemiah feels that the Lord has given her this special talent for reading, writing and languages for a special purpose, even as He used Queen Esther's beauty for the saving of the Jews in Persia when Haman was trying to destroy them.  Nehemiah is a godly man and wants her to fulfill her God-ordained destiny.
Sarah becomes Queen Damaspia's chief scribe and lives at the palace.  She loves her work and is good at it.   Her world is shattered when the queen arranges a marriage for her with a royal relation, a nobleman called Darius.  Darius' mother was Jewish and he promised her that he would not marry a woman who wasn't Jewish so the queen feels she has found the ideal candidate in Sarah.  Damaspia arranges this marriage in gratitude for Sarah's work in uncovering the truth behind a conspiracy to discredit her and cause dissention between her and the queen mother.
Sarah feels that God has abandoned her and that she has to do everything in her own strength.  She is outspoken and not good with relationships.  She has great pride in her work as a scribe and feels she will be worth nothing without it.  She feels that she is ugly and has nothing to offer her noble husband.  
After the wedding, at which she makes a complete fool of him and of herself by looking hideous - she had no patience for the preparations that women went through to look beautiful - he abandons her at his palace.  
Here she humbles herself and enjoys the beauty around her, after spending some time lying in bed and feeling sorry for herself!  Once she sees how her husband's estate is being run into the ground by a wicked and dishonest steward, she takes an interest in what is going on and puts herself in danger to get proof of his dishonest activities. 
She makes friends with the few loyal servants that are there and she also has her beloved maidservant, Pari, who is sent with her.  She also comes to love Darius's dog, Caspian. 
She learns a lot from the elderly gardener, Bardia, who teaches her that vines need to be pruned drastically in order to bring forth fruit.  She takes this lesson to heart and longs to produce "good fruit", even as she is being "pruned" in this strange situation in which she finds herself.  He also tells her a lot about Darius, who he has known since he was a little boy and who he loves dearly.  She begins to understand her husband better.  She finds Darius angry and sarcastic and is unable to make him understand that she did not hurt him intentionally.  He thinks she is a liar.  The picture Bardia paints of him is very different.  His pride was badly hurt by the wedding.
When Darius comes back he is grateful to her and she feels that at last she can be of use to him in sorting out his accounts and working as his scribe. She realizes how selfish she was on their wedding day and wants to make it up to him.   She doesn't see herself as being pretty, and cannot believe that anyone could possibly love her for herself.    
Darius and Sarah are called to the court at Ecbatana and it is there that she falls in love with him. He doesn't trust her and is about to send her away, but when she is attacked when out hunting with the queen,  he realizes that he cannot live without her.  At last she sees that, not only do people love her for herself and not for her achievements, but that God also loves her for herself.  She decides that, even if Darius never comes to love her, she is loved by the Lord, and that is enough.  
Darius is kind and thoughtful and they start afresh with what they have and leave the past behind them.  He is touched by her love for his servants, who are more friends than servants, and for his favourite dog, Caspian.
This book is rich with descriptions of life in Persia and at the king's palace.  It is beautifully written and we learn a lot from the way in which the characters deal with the situations and circumstances in which they find themselves.  We see how the Lord never lets His children go, even when they turn away from Him, and how He lovingly draws them back.  How He can bring forth a "harvest of rubies", not only from the pruned grapevines, but also in the life of someone who has learnt to trust Him  and who has become stronger through the difficulties she has been through.  I can highly recommend this novel.