Unspoken

Synopsis:

The scandalous affair of David and Bathsheba did not end in one night. Upspoken is the story of one woman’s journey from innocence to despair and of the God who restored her. To many, the name Bathsheba means seduction and sin. Yet God called her His own, worthy of the legacy of His Son.

Review:

Francine Rivers does a wonderful job of retelling this Biblical story. She remains true to the Bible but puts “flesh” on the story with her novelization. As with any other good novel, I felt as though came to know Bathsheba. Before reading this book I had not given a lot of thought to her even though I have read the Biblical account of her adulterous affair with David.

David, too, became more real to me in this book. Both he and Bathsheba realized long afterwards how their sin caused much pain in both families for many years.

I really enjoy reading the interaction between family members especially Francine’s account of Bathsheba as a young child. I imagine it could have been just the way she described it.

This novella, as well as the other four she has written in the Lineage of Grace series, is an historical writing. As described by Francine Rivers herself in the introduction, the outline of the story is provided by the Bible and the facts that are provided there.

Based on the story in Scripture, she creates action and dialogue. Any additional characters she might add are consistent with the biblical record.

For example, she used David’s counselor, Ahithophel, to be Bathsheba’s grandfather. It did not change what happened in the Biblical story regarding Ahitophel, but made his character interesting in that he could have been the grandfather that Bathsheba adored.

After reading Unspoken, I once again read the Biblical account of this story, the battles that David and his men fought, and all the troubles his sons caused him as a result of his sin with Bathsheba.

At the back of the book is a collection of six short Bible studies that you can pursue on your own or with a group. The studies will teach you more about the Biblical account of David and Bathsheba’s story and provides for application of the story to modern life.

I greatly enjoyed the dialogue and interaction of the characters in this fictionalized version of the story and recommend Unspoken as a good read.

Chris Walker

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Click here to see a collection of Francine Rivers’ books.

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