"And when she came to the well, Eliezer, was she wearing the veil? Or did she have a face then?"

"She had," said Eliezer, "the loveliest face I have ever seen."

"Ah," said Isaac.

"But that is not why I chose her," said Eliezer.

"No, of course not," said Isaac. "God chose her."

They walked in silence for a little while.

"But I have one question," said Isaac.

"Yes?" answered Eliezer.

"If she had been ugly, would you have asked her for a drink?"

Born into a time and place where a woman speaks her mind at her peril, and reared as a motherless child by a doting father, Rebekah grows up to be a stunning beauty. Chosen by God to be the wife of the youthful Isaac, she becomes caught up in an emotional maelstrom as she struggles to find her place in the family of Abraham. After enduring an agonizing inability to produce a male heir, she is finally blessed with twins, only to find herself locked in a wrenching conflict with her husband over the destiny of their sons. Should she set aside her motherly instincts and surrender to the established order of things or follow her heart?

In this second novel in a trilogy on the women of Genesis, author Orson Scott Card has created an entirely believable cast of characters — well-meaning men and women, burdened with human foibles, who struggle much as we do to do the right thing in their family relationships and be true to their covenants with God. Rebekah is herself an astonishing personality, complex and intriguing, and her story will engage your heart as it captures your imagination.

Published by Shadow Mountain
Cover Painting: Eucharis, by Frederic, Lord Leighton
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