Publisher's Synopsis
"What Jael Did" is story from the dark ages that is brought to light in way that is modern and fascinating. Jael is sassy, beautiful, and captivating, and READY TO DO BATTLE FOR THE LORD! Jael circled the sleeping figure. She reversed her direction and circled around again. Jael trembled with fear. She could not stop shaking. Her heart pounded furiously and felt as if it was beating out of her chest. This is a bad dream, Jael thought. This cannot be real. Soon she would wake up on her animal print divan in the loving arms of her husband, Heber. No, that would not be possible because Heber had not come home. He had abandoned her. It was so unfair, Jael thought. Wasn't she entitled to have her fairly tale like every other little girl? Why had her marriage turned out so disastrous? Why couldn't she have her happily ever after? Jael wept softly. Through her tears, she saw the sleeping figure stirring underneath the covers. It turned over and muddled up the covers. Jael snapped in a fit of anger. In her mind she no longer realized there was sleeping man under the covers. She saw only black goat's hair tent covering. The tent was falling down again, and it was her responsibility to fix it. All of the housework was her responsibility. What did Heber ever do besides sit around and grumble? Besides, she had just fixed the tent earlier after the sudden storm burst. Jael wasn't weeping anymore. She was angry. She was angry that the tent was constantly falling apart, and angry that her husband Heber was never there to help fix it. Kneeling down she straighten up the covers that had been messed up. She went to each of the corners and smoothed the material neatly into triangles and folded them down. While doing so, her anger escalated as she focused on all the misery in her life. All she ever wanted was for Heber to love her and he did love her at first. But then Jabin, King of Hazor, found out that Heber was skilled in metal smithing and offered him a job working on his 900 chariots of iron. Soon Heber made the acquaintance of Captain Sisera and he no longer had any time for her. What worse, Heber took on Sisera's arrogant and nasty personality. Jael felt like an abused woman. It wasn't fair and tonight was the last straw.
Quest for a new heaven and earth--how can one find it or rediscover what was lost? "L'important c'est la rose". Val associates this maxim with a curly-haired man who tells her that one must love someone to learn his language. He reappears as Angelo to sell Victorine a sewing case for her embroidery. She is freed from housekeeping to live with her poet once more. The world of childhood beckons to the reader of this book. Its spontaneous joy restores new balance to all--readers and characters. Finally, the characters' solitude melds into community spirit, with new brothers and sisters.
