Isaiah's Legacy by Mesu Andrews

Shulle is a special eight-year old girl. She has lived with her father in a small village and has helped him navigate his life as an autistic person. Naturally her Uncle Shebna thought of her and brought her to Jerusalem to help Manasseh grow in to the young king he needs to be when his father, King Hezekiah, passes away in ten years as Yahweh has decreed. Sadly, Shebna's guidance isn't as altruistic as it appears at first and Shulle is guided into an entirely different life as she helped educate and influence Manasseh.

As expected, Manasseh becomes the twelve-year-old child-king of Israel when his father passes away. Shulle becomes the queen and Isaiah's Legacy chronicles how their life together could have been lived based on historical facts gathered by author Mesu Andrews.

As I read the first section, I struggled with Isaiah's Legacy. It is well-written but it also shows how the evil one is at work in the world. At one time, I was in an abusive situation, although it was a different than Shulle's situation. Shulle is being cared for by an evil and abusive man, so the first section of this book did trigger some things in me. Shulle was clearly groomed and manipulated into her beliefs and behavior--which also influenced Manasseh. Although, Manasseh did have other influences as well. My son is high functioning autistic and is easily influenced by others so that part just made perfect sense to me--how dark influences could continue to take Manasseh down a road away from God. I read Isaiah's Legacy slowly and prayerfully--and I am so glad  that I did. Andrews put a lot of thought, prayer and research in to her books and it does show. Even though this wasn't an easy book for me to read in the beginning, it was worth my time and effort. Once I was drawn in after the first section, it was difficult to put the book down too. There is clearly redemption in the end for both Shulle and Manasseh as they are both prodigals and I love that. I also know a prodigal that I dearly love and I could so relate to how heartbroken Manasseh's family was when he turned his back on Yahweh. I think I have had a glimpse of how sad it must make God. At the same time, Isaiah's Legacy offers hope to both those who love prodigals and those who are prodigals. I like that a lot.

I received this book from the author and the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.