Asenath by Anna Patricio

In a humble fishing village on the shores of the Nile lives Asenath, a fisherman's daughter who has everything she could want. Until her perfect world is shattered.

When a warring jungle tribe ransacks the village and kidnaps her, separating her from her parents, she is forced to live as a slave. And she begins a journey that will culminate in the meeting of a handsome and kind steward named Joseph.

Like her, Joseph was taken away from his home, and it is in him that Asenath comes to find solace...and love. But just as they are beginning to form a bond, Joseph is betrayed by his master's wife and thrown into prison.

Is Asenath doomed to a lifetime of losing everything and everyone she loves?



A wonderful historical fiction, this book takes the reader on a trip through Ancient Egypt that will captivate all history lovers.

The heroine, Asenath, is the wife of Joseph, the one who with the coat of many colors, and a character in the Bible that is usually over-looked if not completely forgotten. The author does a great job of presenting her to us as a fully-realized person, with her flaws and strengths. It’s interesting to see her grow and become a more powerful woman. The romantic aspect of Joseph and Asenath’s relationship also keeps the reader interested. It is, for the most part, a believable marriage that sounds real, even to our modern eyes.

The book’s pacing is also handled with skill. We move through Asenath’s life without feeling like we are dragging our feet. We see the events that have made her who she is, and we easily learn to care for her. There are many nice details to the novel that make it a great read for someone like me who is a bit obsessed with anything to do with Ancient Egypt. I do wish sometimes that the setting had been described a bit more, but that’s my own personal preference.

I can easily recommend it to pretty much everyone.