The idea for The Shadow Women wasn’t hard to come by–I had wanted to tell the story of Moses ever since finishing the story of Joseph that I tackled in DREAMERS, BROTHERS, and JOURNEY. But “biblical fiction” is a hard sell–it is alternately hot and not, and the market didn’t seem right until Anita Diamant’s THE RED TENT hit it big. Suddenly everyone was interested in biblical fiction again, particularly from the Old Testament, and I was hankering to tell Moses’ story.
So WarnerFaith took on the project (and Greenbrier, in this latest incarnation) and I set to work. The challenge, of course, in telling a familiar Bible story is telling it in a unique way, through fresh eyes. So I chose to tell Moses’ story through the eyes of the three principal women in his life: his Egyptian mother, the daughter of Pharaoh; his wife, Zipporah; and his sister, Miryam. I also chose to maintain a distinctly Jewish flavor throughout the story. I wanted to be as true to the story as possible.
And so I pulled out my old books on Egyptian history and added some new ones about Moses. And happily settled in for a week of in-depth research.
Tomorrow: The Research
~~Angie
speaking of the fairlawn series, since the first book in the series came out early, does this mean that the next book will come out early as well?
thanks!
jan
I loved Shadow Women. Read it several years ago and itis on my Keeper shelf – as are all my Angie books. But I missed, somehow, the Joseph story. Is it still available?
I love The Shadow Women, but nothing can come close to my obsession with Dreamers. Joseph’s story has always been my favorite since childhood, and your novel only added depth and color to an already brilliant tale. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve read Dreamers! Is it unhealthy to feel this strongly about a book? 🙂