Interesting in the way this was written as a history of the Jewish people over the course of about 3000 years, but personified by a character named Sarah and the historical events all happen to her in her lifetime. The dialogue and chain of events at times felt forced. I learned some things from reading this book, enjoyed the historical elements, but sometimes it felt long and hard to get through.

I read this mostly for a fictional interpretation of the Jewish journey from BC to present-thought it would be an interesting perspective. But… It dragged out and was hard to follow. By the end I was bored and just wanted to be done.

Absolutely loved this book.

Sometimes I'm so blown away by a book, I don't know what to think (or to write) other than to say that as I read I was troubled, and when I got to the end I was stunned. A couple weeks of ruminating hasn't changed a thing. I'm still troubled. But I would be amissed by not saying the history of Judaism was excellent.

Wow. Such a fascinating book. What a neat idea to make Israel a character and walk through her whole history. Such a great way to get an overall idea of the history of Israel. Very unique book!

I have to admit, I had trouble getting around the allegory to start out with. However, as the story progressed I found myself thinking less about the allegory and more about the story or journey of Sarah (Israel) herself; some of the chapters were real page turners. Lots of solid history and prophecy about the past (and future) of Israel woven in makes this book worth the read in my opinion!

Love this book. Kay Arthur has such a knack of presenting the love of God and his our willfulness. I love this book so much that I keep coming back every couple of years.

Even though it's semi-fiction, I kinda understand why the Jews are still waiting for Messiah to come. I m so thankful that Jesus died for me so that I am looking forward to His return. Reading this book makes me appreciate Old Testament more and definitely would love to make a trip to Israel :-)

There is so much interesting information in this book and the story itself is worth reading, but I struggled enough with the mechanics (for want of a better word) of the book that it interfered with my appreciation of the story.

I understand that Sarah is Israel and have no problem with her being alive throughout the time span covered in the book, but I did not understand why the other main characters had lives spanning centuries and millennia. I tried to come up with explanations and the book would thwart me a chapter or two later. I will say that this is the sort of thing I have issues with when I read, so I know others will not be bothered by it the way I am.

Nitpicky issue: Potatoes in 7 B.C.E. Israel? I'm pretty sure most food historians believe potatoes come from the Americas and that most regular historians would be surprised to learn that Israelis and Incans were trading with one another back then.

Nevertheless, there was a lot of history in the book, and it was interesting to read it in a way that gave me the big picture. The ending, when Messiah returns and they look on Him whom they have pierced and mourn as for an only son, and Sarah/Israel is reconciled to her Husband was beautiful.

This book and To Kill a Mockingbird are my absolute all time favorite books of all. This book is deep and one has to catch the real meaning of the book early on to appreciate and fall in love with this book. It's well written and shows emotion beautifully. A MUST READ

I like the concept, but at times this was hard to follow. There is a lot here and I lost interest in the middle and had to negotiate with myself to finish the book. All in all, it was not bad, but not my favorite.

This book was a difficult but well worth the time and effort. It's a story like no other I've read, but it follows closely to historic accounts and gives a very believable ending. I learned so much about the Jewish belief and seemed to constantly had to look up words to know what it meant in the Jewish faith. I didn't realize that Jews have been hated since the beginning of time.....I loved this book and may have to reread it again soon because there was so much to comprehend. Loved it!