I couldn’t decide between a 3 and 4 stars - so maybe 3.5 ⭐️ would be closer to how I really feel. There were parts I really liked and things about the characters that really frustrated me. But over all I really enjoyed getting a new perspective of Rebekah

I enjoyed this story of Rebekah. Overall it stayed true to the Bible's account, and I like the way the author was able to show what might have been going on the the minds of everyone involved. It made them seem more like real people than just characters in the well known stories.

I read Sarah earlier this year, and I read Rachel & Leah several years ago (not long after it released) but Rebekah is hands down my favorite of the three books.
I struggle to like Rachel & Leah, mostly because the whole premise, even the biblical version, hurts my heart and I really dislike Jacob for the way he treated the women. Sarah hit some tender places in my with her fertility struggles, and self-sacrifices, and I always empathized with her. But Rebekah. Rebekah I really felt like I knew because I saw myself in her. Her fire, her fight, even her relationship with God reminded me of myself. Isaac was wonderful too, even if he couldn't see past his own self-loathing at times. Rebekah's love for him made up for that.
I also really enjoyed seeing so much of her younger years, as the foundation of her adult life was put in place. The strong, devoted young girl was incredible.
It makes me wish there was more in the bible about Rebekah and Isaac.
LOVED!!!

My husband got me 3 of the Women in Gen series for my birthday, and I am so glad he did. These are written as "fiction" but it is evident that there is a lot of research put into it as well. Card portrays an honest view of Jewish life far surpassing the vulgar cave-man "Red Tent" version. My copy of Rebekah has an endorsement from the Jerusalem Post on first page which says a lot about it's accuracy. Also commendable is the fact that Card does not alter the Genesis account. What he adds gives deeper meaning and a higher understanding of what is already in the scriptures. There are hints that some of Rebekah was loosely taken from other ancient texts as well. As an example;

Jasher 24: 39 ... and they gave him Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel, for a wife for Isaac. 40 And the young woman was of very comely appearance, she was a virgin, and Rebecca was ten years old in those days.

Early on in the Book Card mentions Rebekah being 10 years old, and makes a point that she was very mature for her age. Her age is mentioned in such a way that most readers will not realize how young she was when married though. Card also mentions the book of Noah in reference to another account of the flood - and the Book of Noah does actually exist, you can buy it on Amazon, usually in combination with the works of Enoch.

He also discretely brings up the Israelite Goddess Asherah, AKA, Heavenly Mother. If you don't mind, I would like to provide some additional background on Asherah to anyone interested in reading this, or any other books related to Jewish histories. The existence of a Heavenly Mother is not just Mormon doctrine - although I do not want to misrepresent the LDS either, they do not worship Her, they only admit to Her existence. In Genesis 21:33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree (tree of life representing feminine child bearing ability) and called there on the name of Yahweh el Olam (a combination of two divine names). In Genesis 30:13 Leah names her son Ahser whose names means "with Asherah's help". Perhaps the most beautiful description of Asherah in the Bible is the Proverbs 3:13-18 inclusio (happy, wisdom, and tree of life are all "discrete" translations of the Hebrew words Ashre, chokmah, and ets chayyum). Asherah is very much a part of the Old Testament. Just as Abraham sacrificing Isaac represents Heavenly father sacrificing Jesus, I strongly suspect Sarah, Abraham's beautiful wife, represents Asherah. The many righteous barren women combined with the polygamy throughout the OT possibly symbolic of Mary, not Asherah, becoming the mother of Their "only" begotten son. The background of the ever so important baptism as being an actual "birth"... a birth respecting the free agency of the "children" in which divine Parents are chosen rather than forced upon a spirit through a physical birth... Also adding to the reason that Jesus was baptized, not to take away sin, or to become a child of Heavenly Father... the words "This is my beloved son" perhaps being spoken by a female voice after Jesus' baptism. Of course inappropriate worship of the beautiful Asherah lead to Her presence being hidden, the commandment of not worshipping images. Ex 19: 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above - this commandment does not come about until Ex, so Abraham and others are perhaps not really doing something that was wrong at the time although the idea of men protecting and respecting the sanctity of womanhood was in place starting with Adam. Card points out the fact that the Jewish people do not dare utter the name of Heavenly Father and protect Asherah even more vehemently. The great sin of inappropriately worshiping Her much worse than using the Lord's name in vain. (I know the account surrounding Rebekah's mother is fictional, but the points made by the story are very real).

If Orson happens across my ramblings, I apologize for over analyzing your fictional work. Perhaps I read too much into it, or combine it with things I should not... or perhaps I am right, and just not as discreet at introducing some subjects as Card is...

In any event, Rebekah is a beautiful read, perhaps I misrepresent it, I do not think it is meant to be a scholarly research paper, it reads like a best-seller novel, although to those who have read some other things, there are elements in it that are much deeper than perhaps the uneducated reader might grasp - which is what makes all of Card's books so intriguing. Disturbing how accurately Card, a male, is able to portray all that is female. Beautiful that he is able to reveal the real power women had and still have to those who do not yet understand the nobility of being a mother and wife. I will pass this book along to others not only as a testimony builder that brings the scriptures to life, but also as a book that reveals the beauty of male and female roles and the appropriate honest way people from "Mars and Venus" can come to respect and support one another.

My deepest thanks to Bro. Card for all of his work.

I had this book for 2 years before picking it up this weekend to read. It was so much more than I had judged it to be and I found myself really enjoying reading this familiar bible study in a new 'historical fiction' type of way. My only complaint was how long the chapters were (I'm one that must read at least a chapter a setting). But because of it, I finished the story in 3 days.

When it comes to scriptures, we tend to endow the people in them with clear-cut shades of black or white. “Isaiah was a prophet, ergo he must be perfect.” That is why some of the humanizing stories from the Old Testament can be so confusing, the story of Isaac, Jacob, and Esau surely chief among them. Did Jacob really buy the birthright for a mess of pottage? And what’s up with the trickery involved in the actual blessing of the birthright? In Rebekah, Orson Scott Card writes an insightful story that makes the reader nod and say, yes, that could happen.

tRebekah is the story of the wife of Isaac and mother of Esau and Jacob (later known as Israel; guess that makes her the mother of Israel). The story begins with Rebekah’s childhood, telling a story of a girl who grows up without a mother and with a father made deaf by injury in the prime of his life. She lives also with her brother, Laban, who (in another book) tricks her son into marrying the wrong daughter. Although the story of her childhood is spun almost completely from Card’s imagination, he sets the stage for some of her later decisions. Not surprisingly, young Rebekah vows that she will never deceive anyone in her family, least of all her spouse, setting the stage for some irony.

tWhat I found most enjoyable about the novel, however, was the way it treated Isaac and Abraham. As Card tells it, Isaac is a righteous man who knows that his father chose God over him. Despite the fact that he agrees it was the right thing to do, he still lives with that decision. Furthermore, he knows that, because of him, Ishmael his brother was sent away. These two things have a serious effect on his relationship with his father, and he feels as though he can never measure up to the son that was lost – and Ishmael is the ideal “manly” son, compared to the quiet bookish shepherd. And so, when his sons are born, it is no surprise that Isaac strongly supports the manly man he wished he could have been, while spurning the son most like him. It sounds so trite as I write it, but Card manages to make these characters three-dimensional and realistic, so the reader finds themselves nodding and saying, “yes, I understand.”

tWhile Rebekah draws more from fiction than from fact, it is interesting to see the story that Card creates to explain what we have read. He did a wonderful job of researching the time period and the scriptural account, and I found nothing that seemed to be dramatically off-putting. Non-Latter-day Saints may struggle a bit with some of the details – for instance, with the fact that the prophet of God knew that the sun was one of many stars – but overall, I think they will enjoy it and find it based on much of what they know and believe. Another fantastic weave of fact and fiction by Card!

I enjoyed this story, but felt it dragged in some spots.

Didn’t love this one as much as the first book. I didn’t feel the same connection to Isaac and Rebekah like I did with Sarah and Abraham. Still a good story though.

I really enjoyed Orson Scott Card's Women of Genesis series even though I totally read them out of order. I loved how the women came to life and each had unique yet strong personalities. I really hope writes a fourth book in the series!

one of the best historical fiction novels I've read set in old testament times. card really made these people from historic days come to life.

Similar enough to the Biblical story to be recognizable, but Card adds his own details, which make the story novel at the same time.

Get to know the women of the Bible. It is a historical fiction but leaves an impression on your heart. You will always remember the scripture story from now on because you feel like you personally know Rebekah.