The Peasant King by Tessa Afshar: A Book Review

The Peasant King
Author: Tessa Afshar

Genre: Historical Fiction, Christian, Biblical Fiction, Romance

Publisher: Tyndale House Publishing

Release Date: 2023

Pages: 376

Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Jemmah has always thought of herself as perfectly ordinary . . . until she faces extraordinary circumstances.

When her mother, the Persian king’s famous senior scribe, is kidnapped, Jemmah and her sister must sneak undetected into enemy territory to rescue her. But infiltrating their adversary’s lands proves easier than escaping them. Fleeing through dangerous mountain passes, their survival depends on the skills of a stranger they free from prison: a mysterious prince named Asher.

Asher is not who the world believes he is. Despite his royal blood, he has had to climb his way out of poverty to forge success from nothing. A manufacturer of some of the best weaponry in the East, Asher has only one goal: to destroy his father. But following his escape from prison, Asher is irresistibly drawn to Jemmah, unaware that she guards her own secret.

Jemmah must convince Asher to give up everything he has worked for, all for the sake of a higher purpose he’s not sure he believes in. The fate of the Persian empire—and possibly the Judean people—hang in the balance and in the persuasive power of one ordinary woman.

My Review: The Peasant King is the sequel to The Hidden Prince. The Peasant King focuses on Jared and Keren’s daughter, Jemmah. When Keren is kidnapped, Jemmah undergoes a dangerous mission to rescue her mother. Once she frees her, she also frees the Median prince, Asher. Jemmah realizes that Asher is the key to help give Cyrus the victory he needs against his father.

Jemmah was a very lovable character. I found her to be very fun and humorous. I admired her sacrifice for saving those she loves. Jemmah is a very loyal woman, and her faithfulness wins the heart of Asher. I adored her romance with Asher.

Asher is a fascinating love interest. He is deeply conflicted. He thirsts deeply for revenge against his father. Once he meets Jemmah, he must make a difficult choice to give up revenge for love. I like how he cares for Jemmah and how he will do anything to keep her safe. Thus, Jemmah and Asher’s relationship was very cute and was the best aspect of The Peasant King.

Overall, The Peasant King is about forgiveness, sacrifice, and belonging. The message of this novel is that God has a plan for each of us. I love all of the characters in The Peasant King, especially Jemma’s foster sister, Zarina. I also like how we get to revisit a few characters from The Hidden Prince like Daniel, Keren, and Jared. I like how King Cyrus the Great plays an important role in the novel! I love how Mrs. Afshar made ancient Babylon come alive! The Peasant King was a delightful and fast-paced novel that is full of adventure, romance, and political intrigue! I had a hard time putting it down, and I read it in one sitting! I recommend The Peasant King for fans of Angela Elwell Hunt, Tracy L. Higley, and Mary Ellen Boyd!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer by Samuel Noah Kramer and Diane Wolkstein: A Book Review

Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer Author: Samuel Noah Kramer and Diane Wolkstein Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography, Religion, Mythology Publisher: Harper Perennial Release Date: 1983 Pages: 256 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis: With the long-awaited publication of this book, we have for the first time in any modern literary form one of the most vital and important of ancient myths—that of Inanna, the world’s first goddess of recorded history and the beloved deity of the ancient Sumerians. The stories and hymns of Inanna (known to the Semites as Ishtar) are inscribed on clay tablets which date back to 2,000 B.C. Over the past forty years, these cuneiform tablets have gradually been restored and deciphered by a small group of international scholars. In this groundbreaking book, Samuel Noah Kramer, the preeminent living expert on Sumer, and Diane Wolkstein, a gifted storyteller and folklorist, have retranslated, order...

Guest Post: The Ladies-in-Waiting: Lady Isabel Baynton by Alexandra Walsh

Today's guest writer is Alexandra Walsh. She is the author of The Catherine Howard Conspiracy , which is a historical thriller surrounding the infamous Tudor queen. In this guest post, Mrs. Walsh discusses the life of Catherine's lady-in-waiting, Isabel Baynton. This post will be sure to fascinate fans of Tudor era. If you enjoy her post, please pick up a copy of The Catherine Howard Conspiracy ! Thank you, Mrs. Walsh! The Ladies-in-Waiting – Lady Isabel Baynton by Alexandra Walsh One of the most enjoyable things about writing an historical novel is discovering the tiny details that make the period real on the page. While I was researching The Catherine Howard Conspiracy , I spent a great deal of time hunting out the life stories of the women who surrounded the young queen in order to create a group of realistic friends and confidants. There are some well-known names linked with Catherine and her downfall: Lady Jane Boleyn,...

Guest Post by Aleksey Linetskiy: The Women Behind the Klondike Story

Today's guest writer is Aleksey Linetskiy. He is the co-author of Finch and Hawk: The Klondike Letters , which is a unique yearly subscription in which the reader reads a story by mail. In this guest post, he introduces us to a few historical women of the Klondike era. Some of these women are Alice Freeman, Flora Shaw, and Helen Dare. Thank you, Mr. Linetskiy! The Women Behind the Klondike Story Before we began writing Finch and Hawk: The Klondike Letters , my partner, Alona Umansky, and I spent a great deal of time researching the Klondike Gold Rush. We were interested in finding the stories of people who maybe didn’t become rich and famous but still went through the experience of a great stampede. As we were reading the newspapers of the time and firsthand accounts, it became very clear to us that we wanted to tell at least part of the story through the women’s eyes. There were so many incredible women who underto...

History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

Search This Blog