Have you already read and loved The Scrolls of Deborah? Leave your own review here.

What readers are saying about
The Desert Songs Trilogy

“The central theme that lingers in my thoughts long after reading is "connection." In this novel, I found myself deeply connected to the Biblical characters in a way I had never experienced before.”

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“Esther Goldenberg has crafted a masterpiece that leaves readers craving more of her rich storytelling and profound exploration of human connections.”

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“I found it personally comforting, challenging, and wondrous to be invited into a contrasting, more mystical, feminine and embodied way of connecting to the Divine.”

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“In the tradition of the now classic novel The Red Tent, Esther Goldenberg offers a vivid retelling of Biblical times and the roles that women played in establishing love of God and the creation of ancient traditions. Adding new ideas and interpretations, the author gives us a detailed, multi-sensory story that is engrossing and memorable.”

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“The Scrolls of Deborah is a joyous and moving retelling of the Biblical stories of our foremothers. Told with a fresh, insightful voice, this retelling illuminates our ancient stories with beauty and nuance. I highly recommend it!”

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Have you already read and loved Seventeen Spoons? Leave your own review here.

Jackie Pick, Book Reviewer says:

The biblical story of Joseph is a wild ride from favored son to Egyptian vizier. Betrayal! Prophetic dreams! A famine-induced family reunion! Ancient cattle herds! Naturally, one might expect a novel retelling of his life to be just as dramatic. But Esther Goldenberg takes a different approach, leaning into the slow, contemplative, deeply introspective side of Joseph’s journey. Anchored in the biblical text yet rendered with a dreamlike smoothness, it transforms familiar history into something immersive and intimate.

Goldenberg’s Joseph is both a golden child and an outsider, a man marked by divine destiny and semi-dysfunctional family dynamics. He’s naive in his youth, so much so that you want to shake him and say, “Please, for the love of God, read the room.” And that’s part of the charm: Goldenberg makes him endearing, even as he floats through life making choices that range from “wise beyond his years” to “spectacularly oblivious.”

The book’s pacing is a nod to the pace of life of that era. Long stretches of time unfold in spongey, atmospheric detail. Then, suddenly, decades pass in a sentence. Blink and Joseph has gone from “pensive teenager” to “deeply pensive middle-aged man.” The effect is a literary embodiment of how life rarely proceeds at a reasonable speed.

Goldenberg explores the themes of duty and expectation (and boy, how exhausting it must be to be perceived as special!) Joseph isn’t just a guy trying to make it in the world, he’s the guy, the chosen one, the standard-bearer. His interactions with Esau crack open some of the novel’s most poignant moments, highlighting the pain of being either too favored or not favored enough (a reminder that biblical families often struggled with “healthy communication”). Meanwhile, his relationships with his father, with Deena, with his brothers, and with Potiphar paint a picture of a man searching for connection, but never quite finding where he belongs.

And then there’s the longing. Goldenberg does not shy away from Joseph’s desire for love and companionship. His sexuality is explored, his divine destiny never presented as at odds with his human needs. It’s tastefully done, but if you prefer your biblical fiction without surprises in the romance department, just a heads up.

For readers of Goldenberg’s first book in the series, Deborah returns (!), linking the novel to broader conversations about patriarchal narratives and the role of women in biblical history. It’s a lovely reminder that while the focus may be on Joseph, the lives of the women around him are just as rich and complex.

Is Seventeen Spoons a pulse-pounding odyssey? No. But it is a thoughtful, deeply immersive novel that takes a legendary figure and turns him into a living, breathing, yearning human being. Goldenberg proves that biblical fiction can be an excavation of emotions, faith, and the ways we are shaped by the weight of expectation.