SPLENDOR OF THE LAND is the third novel in the King’s Men series by CONNILYN COSETTE. It is one of the most beauriful books I have read in a long time! It really spoke to me as all of this author’s books have done. There is biblical truth, emotional depth, suspense, adventure, betrayal, sacrificial love, bravery, and romance, all against the backdrop of the first book of Samuel chapter fifteen and verse six, where Saul warns the Kenites to leave their homes and lands as he is about to come against the Amelekites who are living among them. This decree, to destroy the Amelekites, has come from Yahweh through the prophet Samuel, to finish what the Israelites had been told to do when they came into the Promised Land so many years before.
Gavriel, a soldier under Yonatan in King Saul’s army, has finally caused his commader to discipline him harshly for his drunken and reckless behaviour by sending him away to help Emmet, a captain who despises him, to help move the Kenites to safety. It is there that he meets his “little dove” Zahava,, and his life will never be the same!…….
The beautiful, although crippled, Zahava, is a brillian maker of red gold jewellery. Her father, Barzel, has taught her secrets handed down by their Kenite ancestors, because he is losing his sight. Her father is a godly man whi, with her mother, follows Yahweh closely. He is particularly protective of his family, especially his damaged middle daughter. Zahava’s mother tells her here how she got her name: “ “You father named you not for the gold that men pull out of the ground by the sweat of their brows, Zahava, ……but for that golden star shining like a beacon - like a blessing from on high - throughout the long hours he waited outside the tent, listening for your first cry.” “ Zahava says “ From my earliest memories my mother had sung a song about how the Creator had fashioned me with elements far stronger and more precious than pure gold, just as he’d made that beautiful star with no more than a word from his mouth.”
Forging, blacksmithing and goldsmithing form an integral part of the story, and we are reminded of God, our Creator, who is forever refining us into His own image.
This novel really makes the Bible come alive and gives us so much background history to that single verse. I cannot recommend Splendor of the Land highly ebough.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bethany House Publishers. The opinions in this review are completely my own.
