The Secret Chord
by Geraldine Brooks
2015 / 320 pages
read by Paul Boemer  13h 8m
rating  7.5  / literary historical fiction
(both read and listened)

I tried to listen to this book twice and got so confused I just finally put it down – gave up and actually returned it for the credit.   But I really wanted to read it!  So when a group selected it I got the Kindle version and I’m both reading and listening (much more reading) – this is better.

The problem is that the basic material story is complex enough for us folks who are not Bible scholars,   Brooks definitely did some intense research.  But there are too many strangely named characters and  their relationships and various motives adds another dimension.  I suppose this was to increase a sense of unfamiliarity in folks who know the story from the Bible – this would enable Brooks to add both fictional and less familiar elements perhaps from Jewish sources, more readily.  >>>>MORE (no spoilers) >>>>