Solomon’s Song-Roberta Kells Dorr

Solomon’s Song Roberta Kells Dorr River North, Jan 1 2014, $14.99 ISBN: 9780802409553 The three-year long drought has devastated the land. Eighteen years old Prince Solomon believes the people turning away from Yahweh has caused this disaster. His older half-brother Adonijah insists their elderly father King David’s infertility is the reason for no rain; Solomon protests that is the belief of the followers of Baal. Adonijah insists that their sire be tested by the most beautiful girl in Israel; if he fails to plant his seed, he must be replaced by one of his sons. Shulamit the shepherdess is the chosen one to become the latest bride of the king. Three days after Solomon and Shulamit first meet, they fall in love. However, she is to be David’s wife; his mother demands her son’s first bride be a royal; and the future of the kingdom keeps them apart. Based on the Song of Songs, Solomon’s Song is a wonderful reprint of the monarch’s forbidden eternal love. Deeper focus on what the protagonists saw in each other to fall in love so quickly with little unchaperoned contact would have anchored the heartbreak to follow. Still biblical fiction fans will appreciate the heartbroken king wisely without passion choosing for the sake of his people ruling over loving. Harriet Klausner