The Royal Artisan by Tessa Afshar

 

I have always liked the story of Queen Esther in the Bible. Tessa Afshar brings this story to life in The Royal Artisan--along with some other special characters.

The Royal Artisan focuses on Sazana and her family as they create beautiful pottery. Sazana is a Jew and Lord Haman has vowed to eradicate the Jews. When Haman discovers her true identity, he essentially makes her and her workers his slaves. Then, after Haman's downfall, Sazana's workshop belongs to Queen Esther.

Even after Haman's death, Sazana and her workers are not safe. There is a mystery around their lack of safety. The Queen's man, Jadan, helps Sazana solve the mystery. The Royal Artisan contains SO MUCH--there is history, mystory and romance. This is an enthralling story.

I enjoyed The Royal Artisan as a whole. At first, it took me a bit to get into with the time period changes as the author does go back and forth a bit initially in time frames. It didn't take me long to pick up on that though and then I was all-in. Of course, there is a faith element as you would expect in this book. I liked seeing Jadan and Sazana grow in faith and renew their love for each other after facing the challenges they faced in the book. I liked seeing them solve the mystery. The pottery-making aspect was also interesting to me as I am an artsy person. I just enjoyed this whole book.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own. 

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