Within the Palace Gates

Within the Palace Gates, by Anna Siviter

This book is a retelling of the story of Nehemiah, and is a good example of historical, biblical fiction. The story is well done with much attention to detail, culture, religion etc. and plenty of action. The story begins with Nehe (Nehemiah) enjoying his position in Persia. The account of Nehemiah's brother coming with news of Jerusalem is really well done- the human touch, the reasonable filling in of details, the attention to historical setting- all is well done. The author never explained why Nehemiah went by Nehe in Persia in her account, but it is certainly reasonable that the portion which referred to Yahweh ('iah') would be dropped by the Persian court. This would be similar to the changing of the names of Daniel and his three friends.

We read this book a year ago, and I just recently did a study of Nehemiah. It was interesting to note how careful and faithful the author was in various points of this book. The story intentionally holds up obedience and reverence to God. It was a fun way to learn more about the Nehemiah story and to be edified. My 6 & 8 year old boys loved it.

It appears that Amazon is limited in its stock on thisbook. You can find it however at Veritas Press.