Review of The Legacy of Job's Wife

[AlexaRegina]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Legacy of Job's Wife" by Cynthia Koelker.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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The Legacy of Job's Wife by Cynthia Koelker was a fictional retelling of the Book of Job, through the eyes of his wife. Ix’ises, as she was called, grew up with Job. She had a wonderful childhood, with its own share of ups and downs. She married Job and had a blessed family of her own. She had everything. One day, all of it were taken away from her. The book explored how the events affected her and made her utter those desperate words: “Curse God and die.”
It was a story about loss, hopelessness, and depression. It showed that the path to recovery was arduous, long, and filled with doubts. The people around us can help, but if we don't help ourselves or find our own meaning in the suffering, all that help could be useless. I picked this book because even if Job's wife was only known through the one line she uttered, it was intriguing to delve into why she was able to say such things.
It was a smooth read, flowy, no typos or grammar errors, and seamless as it moved on to the next chapter. The songs and poetry were also nice touches. Despite that, I gave it four stars out of five because even if I could understand that the protagonist's entire history needed to be shown to successfully tell how her suffering had affected her the way it had, I felt that the pacing was still a little slow. I wanted to like her, but she just came across as impatient, spoiled, and self-centered. The way Job was portrayed was also a bit lacking. For someone who was supposed to be a man of faith, he couldn't explain God satisfactorily to his wife.
Perhaps one thing that the book excelled was how it showed what depression was like. It might be a great help, especially to someone who experienced loss and helplessness. We didn't know much about the real Job, but if we couldn't read for historical accuracy, we could certainly read for the moral of the story. After all, his wife could be anyone of us who doubted God, who failed to see why unfavorable things happened and, in a moment of weakness, questioned God's intentions.

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The Legacy of Job's Wife
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