This book was very well written and I love that it opened with Bilhah and not Rachel or Leah. I was torn between giving this book 3 or 4 stars. It was very painful for me to read the ending of this book and how sad Leah was. The sentence "Look upon my affliction. Let me bear him a son. Then my husband will love me” has such a deeper meaning after you've read 400 pages about these women, instead of a few pages in the Old Testament. Maybe it shouldn't because the book is fiction based on the bible story, but I cried for Leah anyway. I don't know if I can read the second book "The Wives of Israel". How sad for Leah to bear sons to a man who doesn't love her the way a husband should love his wife and sad for Rachel who cannot bear children (until much later) to the man she loves and who was worked for 14 years. We shall see. I probaby will read it because it will bother me forever that I haven't finished all the books in a series. One of my many faults :)

More speculative than the other books in the series. It's okay, and could have been good ... but it's just the first half of a story that has never been completed. Can't recommend it.

Interesting quotes by OSC

When full womanhood came on her, though, Zilpah learned that a man's eyes saw only her body, not her illegitimacy. With her mother's fierce protection, the boys and men of the camp had learned not to attempt even a moment's solitary conversation with Zilpah—the tongue-lashing could be heard by eagles overhead and awoke the worms sleeping in the earth, as the saying had it. But that didn't stop Zilpah from toying with them a little, loosening her clothing a bit and bending over at her tasks so that some hapless male was afforded a lingering glimpse down her blouse. The ones who frankly stared at her, she would ignore; the ones who took only furtive glances, though, she would confront with her haughtiest glare, making sure they knew they had been caught. Let men covet her all they wanted, was her opinion, but don't let them get away with trying to hide their lust. It gave her a feeling of power, to control their thoughts that way, and to leave them shamefaced whenever she chose to let them know that she knew what they were about.

Whatever it was that men imagined about women, they did not change their minds just because a woman disagreed. Father was that way, and every other man Rachel had talked to in the camp. It's as if they thought that women were conducting a vast conspiracy to deceive men and make their lives difficult, so that anything a woman might say to simplify things had to be an attempt at deception. If men would only listen to us, they'd find out that each one of us is different, and we're eager to teach you how to understand us. But I can't tell you how to understand Leah—I don't understand her either. And if you did understand her, poor foolish man, you would think you then understood all the rest of us, and you'd be hopelessly wrong. No wonder you despair of understanding women. The best you could ever hope for would be to understand one woman. And that's the goal none of you ever seems to try for.

the dialog between pre-teen women was pretty insipid, made even worse in the audio book. the presentation of the society and camp life of the era was quite interesting.

this book has been on my TBR pile for years and i finally!! got around to reading it!! what it does is it fleshes the biblical narrative and tells the story through the four women’s eyes—rachel, leah, and their handmaidens—kinda like a four-way bildungsroman. it was immersive and convincing, the characters were complex and well-written, and i also liked how the repeated references to jacob tricking esau out of his inheritance kinda suggests that the bridal switch was karmic retribution. highkey wna read the two earlier books in the series now!!

As expected for the third in the series.

Rachel and Leah -by Orson Scott Card
SPOILER ALERT
Genre- Historical Fiction
tThe book Rachel and Leah is based off of the story in the bible when Jacob, Isaac’s son comes to Laban’s desiring to marry Rachel. This story is about the girls rather than Jacob though. It is read from their perspective and their views on the events. The main girls it focuses on are, Bilhah, Leah, Rachel, and Zilpah. Each girl has a distinctive personality that sets them apart, but somehow they all come together in the end.
tI really enjoyed reading this book. I love the stories from the bible, and Orson Scott card has become one of my favorite writers. I really liked how in this book the characters were more than just words on a page. They had really strong personalities and you could relate to them. The story is very descriptive about characters and settings even though the author knew hardly any details.
tThe only thing I did not agree with in this book was how Rachel did not marry Jacob because she was too scared. I think she didn’t get married because Laban wanted Leah to marry first because she was older. I understand and agree that a lot of the things in this book are not true. I know the author was just trying to piece everything together. There still is the possibility though that some of the author’s made up details are true, but we will never know.
tSomething debatable about this story is Leah’s tender eyes. The author makes it sound like she is legally blind, but some believe that her eyes were moist and teary or that she is near sighted. I believe that Leah’s eyes affected her appearance in some way. If her eyes were always red, than that would make her rather unattractive, wouldn’t it? In the Bible, it compares Rachel and Leah according to how they look. It states,
t “16 And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.” Genesis 29:16-17. Rachel was beautiful, but Leah wasn’t because of her “tender eyes”.
tThis book affected me by helping me to understand the past better and has made it more clear to me that these were real people. Even though I have never met Rachel or Leah, or the other characters, they led normal lives. They went through tough times, and they have felt the same emotions as the rest of the world. I think a good theme for this book would be, “see people for who they are and not for what they look like”. I think It is a good moral for the book for the following reasons. Everyone thinks Rachel is just a pretty face and never tries to get to know her. Nobody likes Leah because she’s not as charming as darling Rachel. Most people Zilpah is just as low as you can get, but she’s a great person and really helps Leah overcome her hot headedness. Over all, this was a really good book. I know that some of this book isn’t entirely true, but even though it isn’t, it’s well written and I loved every minute of it.

As I'm not a woman and neither is Orson Scott Card, I'm curious to know how this book resonates (or not) with females. For me, it was a really great story of how the one we are familiar with from the Bible might have actually gone. The characters are round (minus Jacob) and the conflict is genuine and interesting. This series has really got me reflecting on the scriptures in new and very helpful faith-promoting ways. I recommend it!

I enjoyed this book very much. Intriguing how the author creates a plausible reason for why Leah was chosen first to marry Jacob.

3.5 stars
An interesting take on the story, I enjoyed reading it

This is an interesting and well written scenario of how the circumstances between these sisters could have occurred. It does stay within the bounds of the Genesis account, and adds some interesting details about Bilhah and Zilpah, their handmaidens. But somewhere along the way, I realized the characters weren’t sitting well with me. The men are too perfect - the author even manages to explain away Jacob’s and Laban’s deceptions. When I got to the afterword, I realized why. I hadn’t known this book is third in a series. Plus, the source material includes the Book of Mormon, and the author (I presume as a good LDS member) must not suggest flaws in these “prophets.” But the story doesn’t quite work; it isn’t authentic enough.

I love historical fiction. Combine that with Orson Scott Card's writing and women of the Old Testament and it should be a great mix. But I just couldn't get past the testy sister relationship between Rachel and Leah and their incessant snarky comments to each other, so I quit half way through.

So much complaining. We know the sisters didn't get along, but really?! This is a lot of complaining. I didn't like how any of the characters were portrayed.