The Secret Chord: A Novel

If you really want history re-written, and don't mind that King David is made out to be a bi-sexual, then by all means, buy this book. Otherwise, you will be like me, deeply offended at this assumption and betrayal. I get that this is a fictional re-telling, but to take this kind of liberty is ridiculous and rather appalling.

Since I wanted to explore David and his world, and because I really enjoyed Days of Wonder, I thought this book would be a sure thing. It wasn't. I didn't even finish it. Life is too short to be bored while reading for pleasure.

Not my favorite Brooks' novel, but an interesting study of the biblical David as told by his trusted seer Nathan. At times, Brooks writes with exquisite poetic beauty, but, in this particular historical novel, not often enough, in my view. The heavy historical detail of the pillaging, plundering, and rapes of the era make for sometimes difficult reading; but, the reader will come away with a better understanding of our deeply flawed heroes and heroines of the Judeo-Christian past.

If you really want history re-written, and don't mind that King David is made out to be a bi-sexual, then by all means, buy this book. Otherwise, you will be like me, deeply offended at this assumption and betrayal. I get that this is a fictional re-telling, but to take this kind of liberty is ridiculous and rather appalling.

Since I wanted to explore David and his world, and because I really enjoyed Days of Wonder, I thought this book would be a sure thing. It wasn't. I didn't even finish it. Life is too short to be bored while reading for pleasure.

Not my favorite Brooks' novel, but an interesting study of the biblical David as told by his trusted seer Nathan. At times, Brooks writes with exquisite poetic beauty, but, in this particular historical novel, not often enough, in my view. The heavy historical detail of the pillaging, plundering, and rapes of the era make for sometimes difficult reading; but, the reader will come away with a better understanding of our deeply flawed heroes and heroines of the Judeo-Christian past.

I've read several of Geraldine Brooks' books and have loved them -- Year of Wonders and People of the Book were my favorites; I've also read Caleb's Crossing. This one, a fictionalized account of the life of King David from the Old Testament, was just average. The topic must have been so difficult to write a story about, and maybe because it takes place so many thousands of years ago, I just didn't feel connected to the characters. I also felt like I needed to keep an Old Testament open to see what is already tradition and what the author created from her imagination.

This book was interesting, and a good read. As a person who is interested in stories of biblical times, I found this book enjoyable. However, it does not rise to the level of other Brooks novels. I don't see any good reason for changing the names of the well-known biblical characters. Ms. Brooks explains what she did to change the names, but not why. I saw this as a distraction.

Surprising insight into the harsh reality of David's rise to power, One very graphic rape scene. God using a very flawed man in a chaotic culture to fulfill prophecy. Narrated by David's personal prophet "Nathan," all based on historic data. . Learned a lot!! I listened to the CD - well done.

I've enjoyed many of the author's books but this was not up to her usual standard. The story moves quickly with lots of blood and sex.
The characters did not seem real to me... even though they were based on biblical ones. Not much to think about here.

I loved The People of the Book, so I decided to read The Secret Chord. It took a while to get used to the language because it's written in a voice that feels biblical. The story takes a little time to unfold and the beginning is rather gory. Once you get into it, the story is epic. The characters are well developed and you find yourself cheering for them as well as being angry with them for the decisions they make. There are a lot of characters to keep track of but their stories are riveting. A very memorable book.

I purchases this book after listening to Ms. Brooks on the Diane Rhem show, (PBS). She did a good job of selling a mediocre book. Reading this tome on your Kindle is a big mistake. The author consistently uses Hebrew phrases and words with no translation. Although she identifies each character name in a preface, she uses the original biblical names in the story. Unless you want to memorize the preface you quickly lose track of who she is talking about. At least in a hard cover book you can go back and look. However not with a Kindle. I have read other books by this author and she is a talented writer. But she misses the mark with this one.

I am a Geraldine Brooks fan, having read everything she has written. But this novel was a huge disappointment from the made-up names for the well-known characters to the sluggishness of the narrative. I read it , but it was a chore not a pleasure.

I was very disappointed. I have read all of the other Geraldine Brooks' books and was repeatedly engrossed, enlightened and engulfed in the sheer pleasure of reading. I plodded through this book, mostly bored by one gorey battle after another and too many characters to keep track of. Unlike The Secredt Chord, the other books were fluid as the stories unfolded. I feel that I could have read a two page summary to learn the historical "facts" and been done with it. It was not till the last few chapters that I cared about the characters. Till then they all seemed like abstract hedonists.

First, I want to say that I normally love Geraldine Brooks. Sadly, I couldn't even finish this book. I found it tedious and uninspiring. I would find excuses for me not to sit down and read it. It just wasn't up to standard with all of her other fiction books.

"The Secret Chord," by Geraldine Brooks, is a novelization of King David's life, narrated by Nathan, who counseled the sovereign for many years. As the scorned youngest son of Yishai, David spends most of his days tending his father's sheep in the wilderness. Samuel proclaims that David, whom his older brothers ostracized, is destined to become the future king of Israel. The young man's victory over Goliath brings him great acclaim, and initially, King Saul takes the boy under his wing. David not only distinguishes himself on the battlefield, but also composes beautiful music, plays the harp, and sings with divine inspiration. Unfortunately, Saul becomes jealous of David and turns against him in a murderous rage.

The author focuses on David's sensuality, fiery temper, vindictiveness, and violence towards his enemies. Nathan, a seer who reveals his visions to David, informs him that he will lead his people but will not build the Holy Temple with his bloodstained hands. In addition, Nathan warns David that he is destined to pay dearly for his poor judgment, excesses, and transgressions. Those who are familiar with the Bible will find little new in these pages, with one glaring exception. Although Brooks would have us believe otherwise, there is no conclusive evidence that David's relationship with Jonathan was anything but platonic. The author takes literary license when she creates a love triangle between David, Jonathan, and Michal, one of David's wives and the daughter of King Saul.

Brooks's writing is readable but undistinguished. Her efforts to sound biblical sometimes backfire ("Pursue! For you shall overtake and you shall rescue!"), and her characters' occasional use of foul language is jarring. "The Secret Chord" is a bit like CliffsNotes for Prophets, summarizing the highs that bring David great joy and the lows that produce terrible grief and remorse. There is much shedding of blood, bedding of women (sometimes against their will), nursing of grudges, and exacting of brutal revenge. In her eagerness to point out David's foibles, Brooks gives short shrift to his positive attributes, including his solid governance, religious devotion, and sincere repentance in later life. This is a surprisingly awkward work of fiction from a talented woman who has earned a Pulitzer Prize and the respect of millions of devoted fans.

For me, this is a book I should have read 4 years ago when I got divorced. The Author clearly maps out the process and gives advice all along the way. I thought that I had a pretty good grasp of how community and separate property is divided in divorce, but this book is more comprehensive then any other book I can find. The personal stories the author uses to explain specific realities really illustrate how things work out in real life. I love this book! And it's funny!

As a Christian I could not finish this book when I came to the the writing where the author painted David and Jonathon's relationship as sexual lovers. The Bible tells us they were close, defended each other and shared a love as brotherly love nothing more. To write differently is contrary to inspired Biblical text.

I usually love Geraldine Brooks writing, and even though rhis wa fiction it was nothing like "The Red Tent". The names were awful and the characters were terrible in accordance with the real story of David. My whole book club gave it a poor rating.

Geraldine Brooks is Pulitzer Prize winning author and she continues to keep her writing standards high. "The Secret Chord" is a book about King David. One does not have to be Old Testament fan, there are so many stories about King David - just think of the story about David and Goliath. I loved this book from start to finish. It is probably the only book, carefully researched that describes the life of one of the giants of the past from his childhood until his death.

Everything about David is contradiction. From the way he was conceived to the last day of his life. David was raised in a large family and despite of his name that means "Beloved", it was probably only his mother who gave him at least an inkling of love. His father and his brothers banished young David to the mountains to tend to the sheep so he can be out of site and minimize rift within the family that his existence alone seemed to cause.

So from humble shepherd boy, we get to learn about the hero who conquered Goliath and became one of the King's favorite soldiers. David was a quick learner and more importantly he was a survivor. He manages to find his way to king's court and even get married off to one of his daughters. But envy knows of no limits and once again, David finds himself falling out of King's favor and having to flee to exile. His skill as a warrior and drive eventually lead him to become a King himself. David is shrewd and understands that having offspring is the way for him to secure his succession. So with a string of political marriages, he manages to have a large family with multiple wives who give him many sons and one daughter - Tamar. It is in his middle age that David falls in love with Batsheva and it is with her that he conceives a child Solomon (referred to as Shlomo in this book). Solomon is raised differently from the rest of his brothers ad he receives some of the finest education a boy of his time can get. It is with cunning of prophet Nathan and David's wife Batsheva, that Solomon assumes power and becomes King of Israel. It is during his reign that Israel prospered and some of the most beautiful verses of Old Testament are created.

What I truly enjoyed about the book is the relationships that are examined between David and people closest to him. That includes all of his family members, wives, concubines, Yonathan - David's first love, Nathan the prophet and Avigail - David's third wife and his favorite. Avigail is wise, kind, and she manages to give David a son, Daniel who stands out form the rest of his brothers. Avigail is older than David but their bond is strong that perhaps only Batsheva manages to dampen, but than again that is many, many years after both Avigail and Daniel die and David is desperate to find meaning in his life and true love his lost when Avigail died.

I loved this book from start to finish. It was compelling to read about the period in history when the world was cruel and rulers had to have both mental and physical strength to lead their people. But what I also liked is that author found her inspiration for this book when her own son picked up harph to be the instrument he learned to play. It is at that moment Ms. Brooks decided to write a book about king David who wrote beautiful verses and in her imagination composed beautiful songs that he sang with divine voice.

I did not enjoy this book partially because since I'm very familiar with the Biblical version of David, I found it difficult to follow the story using the Hebrew names. Secondly, I seriously doubt that David was bi-sexual. David had many character flaws as noted in the Bible, but no where do you read he was other than heterosexual. Sometimes writers take too much license and causes a reader to lose interest.

I am an unabashed Geraldine Brooks fan. She came to Fort Collins as our Fort Collins Reads author for her novel People of the Book (my favorite of her novels). I read her newest novel, The Secret Chord, in the course of a day. This novel creates a fictionalized version of King David's life using the broad Biblical story as its basis. The Secret Chord sings. One small criticism that I have is that Ms. Brooks, a practicing Jew, chooses to use the Hebrew names for her characters. This proves confusing at times and bogs the story down at first. This will be a controversial novel because of its depiction of David and Jonathan's relationship. The story is told from the viewpoint of the prophet Nathan. His family is slaughtered after refusing to give food to David and his men while they are outlaws on the run from King Saul. Nathan survives because he is a conduit for God's voice and makes a prophecy. When David is older, he commands Nathan to write a true history of his life and Nathan does just that. Some of the stories are brutal and David's flaws are very clear. But his faith shines clearly too. These characters are so real that it's hard to imagine how Brooks could possibly have written them any better. Her historical details seem effortless and bring her version of David's story even more to life. I was completely absorbed.

I couldn't get through it and gave up after a few dozen pages. I wouldn't have chosen to read it, but it was picked by my book group, which doesn't have a stellar reputation when deciding on the next selection

This was the most OUTRAGEOUS depiction of King David imaginable. I am aware the author won the Pulitzer Prize several years ago, but that does not give her a free pass for destroying King David's character, while highly exalting the prophet Natan (Nathan). The book title would have been more appropriately named THE SECRET KING, that is, Natan, who was a noble man insofar as scripture is concerned. Yet the author highly exalts the prophet and beats King David to a pulp. The only thing Natan did not do, according to her, was slay Goliath. Although she exalts Natan, she nevertheless does a pathetic job in the way she portrays the prophet when he receives words from the LORD. It shows her utter ignorance of the prophetic. In her story, the prophet is so "overcome" by the Spirit that he passes out and can never remember what he says during his "prophetic swoons." She narrates the prophet as fighting in the vast majority of David's battles, tells of his accompanying Yoav (Joab) when he captured Yerushaláyim (Jerusalem), as well as being confidante to both Avigail and Batsheva, both of whom David abused, either emotionally or physically ... in the story, she writes that David repeatedly raped Batsheva. The author brazenly depicts the young David as having had sex with sheep when he was a young shepherd boy and after slaying Goliath he participated in a life-long, homosexual affair with Jonathan until his friend Jonathan's death. SAVE YOUR MONEY and read the Bible's true depiction of the Sweet Psalmist of Yisraél. He was, according to scripture, the "apple of God's eye" ... although the author chose to portray this reflection of God Himself as nothing more than a low-life scum bag. Perhaps the author did not realize the truth behind King David's being "the apple of God's eye" according to scripture. That phrase means when God looked into the life, the "eye" of David, He, the LORD, saw His own reflection. So either God Himself was blind when He looked into the life of King David and did not truly see His Own reflection OR the only other option would be that the LORD Himself was as low-life and as much a scum bag as the author portrayed King David.

I didn't finish it. I thought she took very bad and serious liberties with the story of David. She did not stick to the bibllcal story when it was quite clear in Scripture and tried to make David look as bad as she could.

The author, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for another book, must have been in need of money. This book was a huge disappointment, rather like reading a Harlequin-published romance. The book had absolutely no redeeming features.

Geraldine Brooks' novel of King David may be much longer than the biblical account on which it's based, but it doesn't have much to add to those narratives. The stories surrounding David have such scope that even at 300 pages the novel frequently epitomizes and relies on direct characterization, telling us that David was a canny, judicious leader or a man of great appetites, rather than showing it. The setting is also thinly sketched: there are occasional flashes of vivid detail, but no sense of the way of life and worldview that shaped these characters. The prose in general has a timeless quality, neither convincing nor unconvincing as a rendering of the distant past, though there are flashes of strained old-fashioned language and of contemporary jargon. Matters aren't helped by an awkward conceit in which first-person narrator Natan (the prophet Nathan) interviews figures from David's early life in order to write a warts-and-all biography of him. I use modern phrasing to highlight how unlikely this is, but that's not really the point: the larger problem is that, despite the varied and passionate opinions they express, these retrospective monologues lack tension and urgency, failing to capture the mythic quality of the bible stories of which they are elaborations.

And yet the novel doesn't work on contemporary psychological terms either. Brooks is obviously interested in the ambiguities and ironies of David's character: the devout poet-singer and the fierce warrior, the judicious king and the selfish adulterer. This is promising material, but The Secret Chord doesn't reconcile David's behaviors into a coherent, credible personality. To some extent this is a function of largely taking at face value a narrative that is constructed of generations' worth of divergent stories about a figure who had passed into myth even before the Hebrew Bible was completed. But I think it might have been possible to produce a realistic reinterpretation of the biblical narrative, had Brooks focused more on the character's moral and psychological arc and less on dramatizing all the major episodes of his life in discrete sequences. The closest thing the novel has to a throughline, and its strongest feature, is its examination of the difficult lives and quiet strength of the women connected with David, from his mother to his wives to his daughter Tamar, whose rape by her half-brother Amnon is easily the book's most powerful and unsettling passage. But even these intriguing female characters are thinly drawn, figures of victimhood, or wisdom, or bitterness rather than rounded human beings. And that, again, is the problem of The Secret Chord: it novelizes the Bible in the same way that a writer for hire might novelize a movie. Trivial detail is gained, but little of import is added, immediacy is lost, and you might as well stick with the original.

The Secret Chord is the most recent book by Geraldine Brooks, the 2006 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. In this historical novel, Brooks tells the story of David, King of Israel. She traces David’s life from shepherd to warrior to king.

Brooks tells David’s story through his prophet/loyal servant, Natan. Because of this, the picture of David that emerges in The Secret Chord is not just that of a successful, powerful king. Natan knows all, and we see the entire David: we see the parent who is blind to the shortcomings of his sons; we witness the transformation to the wise king; we learn of the music that is pervasive throughout his life.

The Secret Chord is well written. At the beginning, it moved slowly, but before long, the pace picked up. Also, I found it a little difficult at first to sort out all the wives and sons and other family members. But, the entirety of the book is cohesive, well-presented, and informative. This was my first experience reading Geraldine Brooks, and I am looking forward to reading more of her work.

As a boy Natan was a shepherd, caring for his family’s flock. He lived a happy life with his mother and father, and younger sister in a small village. The day he was approached by the leader of a group of rebels was to be the turning point in his young life; his future was destined.

David had also been a shepherd, but his upbringing was different to Natan’s – cast aside by his father, David was only six years old when he was thrust into the role of shepherd. He had to learn how to look after himself, and his flock in a hurry. When he was older he escaped with the band of rebels and his meeting with the young Natan was to be a turning point in his life as well.

For Natan had another voice, and the day David murdered Natan’s father and uncle was the day Natan vocalised a prophecy to David – instead of murdering Natan, he carried him to his camp to be cared for. Natan the seer; the prophet was at David’s side from then on – visions of the future; of horrifying occurrences yet to come meant those around him were in fear of him; but David fully believed in Natan; trusted him with his life.

As David’s journey evolved, he became many things – a cruel and barbaric soldier; a man who was idolised as well as hated; a husband and a father; an extraordinary player of the harp and with a beautiful singing voice; and eventually he became King David. His many wives from Mikhal and Avigail to finally Batsheva provided him with several sons and also one delightful daughter. Through all these times, both good and bad, Natan was by his side. David’s last born son by Batsheva, Shlomo was to become the light of his declining years.

What would the bitter fighting between the villagers and David’s army resolve? And what did Natan’s final prophecy mean; why could he not speak of it? Was the intense and overwhelming power that David had held over his people for so long finally fading?

The Secret Chord by Aussie author Geraldine Brooks is a fascinating look into the long ago life of King David; his rise from a lowly young shepherd to eventual King and everything in between. His life was one of barbarism and cruelty; also love and family; betrayal and loss. Written in the voice of Natan, who I thoroughly enjoyed, it was at times deep and intense; the lives of people in Second Iron Age Israel were for the main, traumatic and horrific – the women did what they were told; from being married at twelve or thirteen to the man of their father’s choice; to being used by the husbands they (mostly) abhorred. The Secret Chord is a novel which totally absorbed me; the author’s writing is superb. (I was also intrigued with how this novel came about as she mentions at the beginning). I have no hesitation in recommending it highly, and am sure it will become another best seller for Geraldine Brooks.

So, I heard there was a Secret Chord that David played and it pleased the Lord, but I didn't learn anything about it from this book. If the publicists thought naming the book after a Leonard Cohen song might pick up a sale or two, good job! He plays the harp, and apparently he's good, but we don't learn anything Secret about it.

In fact, we don't really learn much about King David at all. I kept wanting to compare this book to The Red Tent, which is a "updating" for a Bible story. In The Red Tent, all of the "Holy Stuff" from Genesis happens off-stage, and we get the behind-the-curtain stuff. Here, Brooks just tells the story. It is framed at first as the Prophet Natan writing a biography of the King, but I think Brooks forgot that she had framed it that way, because she drops it about half-way through.

From there, it's pretty much just the story, unchanged, from the Biblical sources. The story of Nitzevet -- David's mother -- is in there, and that's not in the Bible, but again the story is only minorly updated from the Talmudic sources. And the changes are small enough that it seems like she wanted you to go straight to "deep reading" without bothering to make the shallow reading worthwhile.

So, it's from incident to accident, from hint to allegation, just like in the Bible, with no explanation for why anyone did anything they did. If I wanted that, I could re-read the Book of Samuel. Avsholom (Absolom) bides his time to get his revenge, but then when he's the oldest son so heir apparent, he doesn't show any patience and tries to usurp King David. What in his character changed? Why does he go from patient to hasty? The Bible doesn't tell us, so the author's got a free hand. She doesn't show it.

The other interesting part of The Red Tent was the uncanniness. There was no explicit supernatural events. Jacob wrestles with the angel "off-stage." Here "The Name" speaks through Natan and gives him explicit visions of things that come to pass. No room to doubt or second-guess -- Natan's the real deal Prophet. So what's up with The Name? If he's going to be a character with a speaking part, let's look into his motivations. Why is he okay with David doing all the bad stuff? Why does he turn on Shaul for less? Why does he care so much about some things, and so little about others? It is a mystery in the Bible, and equally so in The Golden Chord.

Overall, just 2 out of 5 Cold and Broken Hallelujahs.

I'm proud to say that I've read all of Geraldine Brooks's books, including her non-fiction. And while some are not as good as others, at her best she is wonderful. From my perspective, "The Secret Chord" joins "March" and "Year of Wonders" as one of her best.

First, she has an uncanny ability to transport her readers to other places and times, as she does here and in the other two favorite works; she includes everyday details, such as food and drink, that make those other places and times real and tangible.

Second, in her best works, she seizes upon intriguing plots and unusual approaches to those plots -- here, the perspective of a prophet who accompanied David throughout his life and was one of the few people who could be candid with and about him.

Last (at least as far as this review is concerned), she is a master (mistress?) of dialogue and description, such that everything seems, well, so natural.

These skills all come together in "The Secret Chord," and as a result the book is not only a great narrative; it is also a study of power and how it corrupts both the wielder of power and those close to him/her.

This book is simply wonderful and will almost surely be in my Top 10 for 2015.

Thanks to Net Galley and to Little Brown Books UK for offering me a free copy of The Secret Chord in exchange for an honest review.
I’ve always thought that the Bible, the Old Testament in particular, is full of fantastic stories, and there are very few plots you won’t find there. Fratricide: check. Murder: check. Incest: check. Adultery: check. Epic disasters: check. Wars: check. Love: check. Magic and miracles: check. Battle of Good versus Evil: check. Prophecy: check. No matter what your beliefs are, as storytelling goes, it’s in a class of its own.
David’s story is a very good example of it. As the author observes in her comments, he is one of the first characters whose story we follow from beginning to end. It has all the elements a fiction writer could wish for: rag to riches, the weak confronting and winning the battle with the mighty, unjustly accused and outlawed makes a comeback and becomes King. He’s also elected by God. A great fighter and leader but a deeply flawed character. He has great joys, but through his own behaviour, brings tragedy and disaster to his family. Like the best heroes, he is also an antihero.
Brooks chooses a narrator, Nathan, the prophet, to tell David’s story. It all starts as Nathan’s attempt to distract the King, who is upset because he has been asked to remain in the palace after a near miss during a battle. Nathan suggests that buildings and palaces won’t make him live in the memory of people, but telling his true story will (a beautiful justification of the power of storytelling). David decides that Nathan should hear the story from others, not himself, and he does not hesitate in sending him to talk to those who might not have that much good to say about the King, including his mother, his brother, and his first wife. Although we go back and forth in time, through the different versions and witnesses, the action starts at a pivotal time in David’s story as he’s about to commit a series of crimes that will be severely punished.
I loved the book. I hadn’t read anything by the author before, but now I will. She writes beautifully, giving voice to the different characters and bringing them to life. The reader experiences Nathan’s visions, is a privileged observer at King David’s court, and although we know (the same as Nathan) what will happen, it is impossible to not get emotionally involved, and worry and suffer with them. Descriptions of David’s playing and singing, dancing to the glory of God are full of wonder and magic. The book pulls no punches either, and descriptions of some of the brutal acts are also vividly rendered.
For me, the book is the story of an extraordinary man, who did many wrong things, but also many great things, and who loved God and his people, even if sometimes he loved himself a bit too much. He is a warrior, an artist, a statesman, a father, a husband, and a faithful servant of God (most of the time). He acknowledges his wrongdoing and does not shy away from his responsibilities. He’s a human being.
Nathan is also a very interesting figure, at times unable to talk despite what he knows, only a passive observer of the tragedy to unfold. But that’s his role, and despite everything, he is loved and cherished by David and later by Solomon. And he is a great stand-in for the reader, knowing but silenced, frustrated and disgusted at times by the King’s actions, but also at time in awe and moved by him.
I couldn’t help but read some of the comments about the book and it seems that most of the people who’ve taken issue with the book, do not like the suggestion of a relationship between David and Jonathan, Saul’s son (and brother of his first wife). It is strange that in a story with murder, incest, rape, pillage and more, the one thing people find upsetting is the suggestion that David might have had a homosexual relationship. It proves that we all bring our own mind-set to our reading experience.
I am not an expert in Bible studies or that particular historical period so I can’t comment on how accurate the book might be in its detail, but for me it brought to life the times, the people and the events.
I finished the book with a greater appreciation for the figure of David (and particularly thankful that the author decided to end the book at that particular point, and on that note) and a wish to read more of Brooks’s books. If you have an open mind, love lyrical writing and are intrigued by the times and the people of that historical period, this is a unique book.

While I enjoy historical fiction, I prefer reading about time periods I know at least something about so reading doesn't turn into information overload, but I know next to nothing about King David, apart from the fact that he defeated Goliath. THE SECRET CHORD is a book about the life of King David, from valorous beginning to tragic end, told by Nathan the Prophet. I'm going to be honest with you here - if my book club hadn't chosen this as the pick of the month, I never would have bothered to finish THE SECRET CHORD. But hey, try new things, right? Maybe it'll work out.

Spoiler alert: it didn't work out. I really had to force myself to stick with this one, and ended up skimming pages towards the end because I just no longer cared about the story. If this hadn't been for book club, I wouldn't have finished - it would have been chucked into the donation bin and deleted from my GR shelves.

But alas. Fate had conspired to burden us with the other's enduring presence.

I put off writing this review because I wanted to think about why THE SECRET CHORD didn't work for me. It's a slow book. The beginning takes a while to gather steam, and the book doesn't reach momentum until about twenty or thirty pages in, only to fall flat at several points in the narrative. Part of the reason was Nathan. I don't really like stories where the "hero" or "heroine" is actually the passive mouthpiece for the voices of others. After a while, that just makes me feel like I'm being talked at. I understand that he is a prophet and a huge part of his life is making these important prophecies that will dictate the lives of others, but oh my gee, it was so boring to read about.

Ironically (considering what I just said in the previous paragraph about mouthpieces), one of the more interesting parts in the book is when Nathan is sent by King David to hear stories about him from lovers, family members and enemies. Why? Because it was interesting to see that darker side to King David. I glanced through the Wiki article before reading this, and King David was a pretty gnarly dude - he was bisexual, committed adultery, slaughtered his enemies, and killed people when it was convenient. Brooks doesn't skimp on the detail, either. Which surprised me and at the same time, didn't, because her other book - YEAR OF WONDERS - is about the plague, and I remember being really grossed out by some of the details in there, too, even though it was a much better story.

THE SECRET CHORD was not badly written, but it wasn't a good story either - at least not for me. The passivity of the hero combined with a very dull storytelling made this book feel ten times longer than it should have been. It's a shame, because the subject matter is quite fascinating and has all the makings of a sensationalist bodice ripper trussed in the garbs of literature - but it would appear that lack of entertainment value is a requisite for literary merit. Boo. Hiss.

P.S. What do you guys do when you dislike your book club's pick? Inquiring minds want to know. ;)

1 out of 5 stars.

I think that Geraldine Brooks is one of the most gifted writers today and I adored her novels Year of Wonders, March, People of the Book, and Caleb’s Crossing. I was happy when the store Vine offered her newest effort, The Secret Chord. I shared all four novels with friends and purchased them for gifts. Unfortunately, I found The Secret Chord not as engaging and more difficult to read. I almost gave up on this novel several times, and I can count on one hand the number of books that I decided weren’t worth my time. It’s something that I rarely do. Only the fact that it was a Vine book kept me reading until the end.

The Secret Chord is a historical novel about the life of King David. Most of what we know about King David is written in the Bible. This story is told in the first person by Natan [Nathan] the Prophet. Natan was a seer and advisor to King David. Late in life, David tasks Natan with writing his biography and gives him permission to speak with those who witnessed his past. David had a colorful life from his early childhood to his slaying of Goliath. Then there are his many battles, his wives, his children, his music, and his rise to greatness. While David is a mighty king, he is a very flawed man and suffers greatly for his sins. Because we only know the basics about David, there is a lot of room for Brooks to flesh-out the details of his life.

Unfortunately, I found The Secret Chord difficult to read. Brooks uses names “in their transliteration from the Hebrew of the Tanakh.” Maybe she considered it more authentic, but I didn’t like reading Shaul, Shlomo, Avshalom and Yoav instead of Saul, Solomon, Absalom and Joab. The Secret Chord is filled with different groups including Ammonites, Yebusites, Moavites, Plishtim, Benyaminites, and Hitties—to name just a few. It would have been helpful to see a map where these groups were located, as well as the towns and cities that are mentioned. The Secret Chord is also liberally sprinkled with vocabulary that is primarily Jewish in nature, but Brooks doesn’t provide a translation. So every time I saw a word like “mamzer” or “merkava,” I had to stop reading and look them up—something that slowed down my reading and disrupted the flow of the book. Thank goodness that The Secret Chord did pick up toward the end.

Even though I found The Secret Chord more difficult to read than Brooks’ earlier novels, it did peak my interest in King David and that time period. I guess that is a worthy goal in a book despite some disappointments.

2 1/2 stars
I picked up The Secret Chord because I have liked most of Geraldine Brook's novels, most especially, The March (I gave it 5 stars). However, the subject matter of this book gave me pause. When I discovered that Brooks took the name for the book from Leonard Cohen's song, The Secret Chord, it boosted my interest. I love the song and lyrics, which unbeknownst to me, were about the biblical King David, the subject of this book

The gist of the book is a reimagining of the life of the Biblical David. Though it is not written in strictly biblical language, the tone of the language is biblical. Reading bible is not exactly my thing. But I do credit the author with bringing David and his close aide and confidante, Natan, the prophet, to life. Throughout the story, Naran correctly prophesizes many of the events in David's life. He also tried to keep David more humane and ethical; he tries, but mostly fails.

The book is filled with war and rape and treachery and unethical behaviors, often, as David would say, as a means to an end...but still!!! I guess the gory details were necessary, but all they did for me was to demonstrate that slaughter, massacre, carnage, annihilation, devastation, pure butchery and sadism did not start with the holocaust or the Armenian Genocide or the Killing Fields of Cambodia. No, when it comes to genocide and the many ways of man's inhumanity to his fellow man (always including rape of women), there is, unfortunately nothing new under the sun.

I listened to the audiobook version of The Secret Chord. The reader was Paul Boehmer and to me he sounded like an old man reading bible text. I was often bored and probably let a lot slip by. It turns out he's a young man and does Shakespeare and Broadway. Nevertheless, I didn't enjoy his reading.

Geraldine Brooks is an excellent and intelligent writer. For me, this book missed the mark. Or maybe a fictional account of the Bible is just not my cup of tea.

I was impressed by the historic accuracy of the story of King David, woven throughout this fictional narrative in a very natural way. We don't have much actual, legitimate history for David—the Bible was our only reference for him for decades until new material was (relatively recently) unearthed. That new material doesn't stretch all that far either, and so much of David's history is lost to us.

I knew this going in, and was prepared for a patch job of storytelling, filling the gaps between known history with a plaster made from speculation and outright improvisation. To be sure, there is a bit of that. But it works. The narrative hangs together perfectly.

The story is told from the point of view of Natan, King David's prophet in residence, and through that character Brooks was able to masterfully explore life in David's court, and the culture of pre-Christian Judaism. I appreciated her touches, bringing very human characteristics to light with a hint of divine intervention that made it clear there was a God (The Name) at work in the world, but never quite revealing him directly. As a Christian believer, I found this to be a refreshing approach, keeping things vague enough that the reader can choose how they interpret the more spiritual aspects of the story. Non-believers can safely ignore the hints, without fear that they'll be bludgeoned by any particular spiritual belief.

Where I did have a point of contention was in the way the author inserted modern liberal sensibilities into the day-to-day of an ancient culture. Brooks dropped hints of homosexuality and bisexuality, and glossed them in just the right sheen to make it seem as if everyone was aware of it and accepted it as "just part of the package." Historically, I think there was enough brutality in the world to prove this wasn't the case. But the instances weren't altogether overt, and the story moved past them without lingering.

In addition to these, though, there was also the implication of rape, rather than seduction, in the story of Bathsheba. When Natan admonishes her for tempting David by bathing openly on the roof, Brooks inserts an incredibly contrived story about Bathseba's need to do a cleansing ritual while some of her husband's friends, who are inexplicably not on the battlefront with him, are staying in the home. She refers to bruises on her breasts that took days to heal, just to twist the knife a bit in her cast of David as a far more brutal and self-involved character than he's been portrayed as elsewhere. Ultimately you can hear the liberal admonishment in the story, even if the words aren't said directly, that Natan was participating in "victim blaming." The issue is that, according to the Biblical account, there's a strong indication that Bathsheba was in fact seducing the King. The narrative that she was escaping prying and leering eyes makes no logical sense.

Aside from the occasional and slight shift to the left, however, I still feel this is a brilliant book: Honest, incredibly well written, and an inspirational imagining of the life of one of the most famous characters in history. It's well-deserving of five stars, and I recommend it to anyone interested in an entertaining exploration of the life of David.

It is a homosexual activist book, portraying King David's relationship with Jonathan that way and trying to rewrite history. There is no hint of this in the Holy Bible. Rather, God's spirit would have used Nathan the prophet to condemn that behavior.

Giving this book only two stars just about kills me. I was SO looking forward to it, because I absolutely LOVED People of the Book.

What disappointment. I wasn't really drawn into it at all. I kept thinking, maybe it gets better. But it really didn't. It just wasn't very compelling. I didn't get drawn in entirely by Natan's voice, I didn't develop any kind of liking for King David, I never had that sense you get with a good book, where you think about the characters while not reading and can't wait to get back into the story. Getting through the book was rather painful. The story just sort of slogs along, with not much of a plot. It's really more like a history book with lots and lots of historical figures one can't really relate to that much.

I feel like not only did I not enjoy reading the book, I also didn't gain much insight into history from it, an area where Brooks is normally SO good. I can remember hardly a single name from the book - I would have preferred if she had used the more common biblical names, like Saul instead of Shaul - and in general thought there were way too many characters. None of them really were fleshed out well enough for me to care about any of them, even though the fates of some were very sad.

I think the weak characters are the biggest problem with the book. She might have done well by introducing a wholly fictional character who we as readers could have developed a stronger bond with. Other than that it's hard to put my finger on exactly what it was that made me not like this book. Because it's well written, no doubt, and the voices do sound true to their times, a feat that can't have been easy. Maybe that's the problem - staying so true to history and the right setting in history, I as a reader felt too far removed from it. I never got close to the story, like I would in a good book.

Overall, very disappointing.

You don't have to believe that God exists, or that the bible is the true "Word," to thoroughly enjoy Brooks' latest novel, this story reaching back in history to Old Testament times. I am a secular Jew, and think of the bible as the original written allegory and metaphor of humanity's struggles. I gambled that Brooks' storytelling skills and her finesse in stitching the drama of history to contemporary times would be sufficient to carry me along. It met my expectations in most ways: in its simplicity and lean, tactile prose; her ability to compel with character and plot, and her ideal pacing.

Some of the truisms almost bordered on hokey at times, and Brooks used comfortable, familiar tropes. However, the ancient legend of King David, as with most biblical stories, provided some solid framework for future fiction-writing. So, if you can imagine this story as the provenance of storytelling, then you can imagine it as the genesis for a hundred thousand others that borrowed from ancient scriptures. Did I say fiction? Well, if you believe that King David existed, or if you didn't, you're still just as likely to enjoy it. It's a roaring, lascivious, and even tender tale. Of course, a man like David would be in prison today for his outrageous behaviors. This story has it all: adventure, drama, suspense, war, murder, sex (of many kinds!), romance, homicide, fratricide, bro-love, betrayal, incest...and music and beauty. It was occasionally sentimental, but Brooks pulled it back with the modest restraint of an author confident in her ability to satisfy literary readers, while willing to blandish the book with a mainstream potboiler.

She humanized David, enough so that I understood the combination of respect and fear, and love and hatred that he reaped. It was difficult to stomach how he failed to raise his sons with any core values, and yet his last son, Shlomo (Solomon), he allowed his prophet, Natan, to mentor, which resulted in a pure and angelic boy. Brooks definitely spelled it out, i.e. her characters came with a blast of the shofar rather than the whisper of a breath. The author, in a sense, amplified every characters' honorable vs. flawed nature, and she was almost an apologist for David. But, again, she pulled back before it became too saccharine. However, don't expect high culture here; this is unapologetic entertainment, a bit pandering at times, but still fastening me at the edge of my seat.

In case you don't know the story of King David--the shepherd boy-cum-anointed one, here is a rough description. Prophet Samuel realizes that Saul is not fit for king duties, which makes Saul go mad. Samuel goes to Beit Lechem (Bethlehem) and finds the seemingly unimpressive young David, the youngest brother of a large family well educated in Jewish law. Samuel feels God speaking through him, naming David as future King of Israel.

Brooks story is narrated by Natan, David's personal prophet and scrivener (whose father David slaughtered in front of him)--a man, like Samuel, who hears the "Name" speaking through his body (via tongue rolling, convulsions, and other shaman-like contortions). It is the story of David's vicissitudes as a king--his loves, losses, conquers, falls, courage, cowardice, transgressions, and tragedies. I fail to understand why a benevolent God would commence to create such a violent history, but then, I'm not organically attuned to what I was taught in Hebrew School. But, despite my personal beliefs, Brooks had me at "thou." As in People of the Book, the author is skilled at writing ancient times in a contemporary style. Instead of using a stodgy, fusty Ole English translation of Aramaic, she writes with a lyrical and modern pen, all the while capturing the mood and atmosphere of the era into times past, until you are truly transported into the days of BCE. And yet, the moral core is relatable to the times we live in today. I don't know how she does it, but I am certainly pleased with her execution of words:

"...the stories that grow up around a king are strong vines with a fierce grip. They pull life from whatever surfaces they cling to, while the roots, maybe, wither and rot until you cannot find the place from which the seed of the vine has truly sprung. That was my task: to uncover those earliest roots. And he had directed me to the seedbed."

"David is the first man in literature whose story is told in detail from early childhood to extreme old age." So writes Geraldine Brooks in the afterword to her historical novel about the Israelite King. She also points out that, since David seems to have left little historical record outside literature, some scholars have questioned his very existence. "But I tend to agree with Duff Cooper," she goes on, "who concluded that David must actually have existed, for no people would invent such a flawed figure for a national hero." The flaws undoubtedly interested Brooks, who seems fascinated that a man of such passions, such intermittent blindness, such lusts, who did not even shrink from murder, should be venerated as the first great King of Israel. More revered, certainly, than his father-in-law, the flawed and demented Saul, and maybe even more than his son Solomon, who finally built the Temple that David planned but was never worthy enough to complete. But then Brooks also acknowledges his positive qualities: his courage, his skills in warfare and statecraft, his ability to inspire his subjects and listen to their needs, and above all his talents as poet, singer, and musician. Appropriately, she ends her novel, after all the betrayals, killings, and dark deeds, with a musical paean in words worthy of the grandest moments in Handel.

I found it a difficult book to get into, though. Brooks writes in a deliberately archaic style, gleaming a little too obviously under the patina of history. She also makes a point of using Hebrew names instead of the more common English ones. David is the same, of course, but we have Shaul, Shmuel, and Shlomo for Saul, Samuel, and Solomon; David comes from Beit Lehem and, when he becomes King, takes the city of Yebus as his capital, renaming it as Ir David; the Land is watered by the River Yarden, and the Philistines who constantly threaten it are known as the Plishtim. I imagine that readers with a Jewish education would be marginally less disoriented, but the sheer quantity of strange words, including those for foods and everyday objects, would swamp even that degree of familiarity. I think that Brooks is aiming to create an arcane world that lives by its own laws, much as Tolkien did in THE LORD OF THE RINGS. And perhaps also to give herself the space to tell the story in her own way, free from echoes of the Bible. But I found it distancing, and for the first half of the book I was having no more than a four-star experience. However, as I became more used to the style, and events raced to their climax with David's unruly sons seemingly bent on destroying their heritage and only the quiet Shlomo standing apart from them, my estimation gradually went up.

I think that Brooks' most brilliant stroke is to focus on the prophet Nathan, who (as the jacket rightly proclaims) is the one man who dares confront the King, and to tell the story in his voice. Or one of his voices, I should say. Nathan comes to David's attention while little more than a boy, when he suddenly goes into a kind of fit and speaks with a voice not his own, the voice of the Lord of Hosts, or as he is called in the novel, the Name. But most of the time, Nathan speaks and writes in his own voice, as a concerned observer watching events he can do little directly to change, though always maintaining his role as "eved hamalek," the servant of the King, supporting David as a friend even as he chastises him as a prophet. Nathan is the most original creation in the novel. He is also the character who opens that particular viewpoint that Geraldine Brooks has always said is most important to her: the burden of faith in moments of crisis. You don't glimpse it often in this novel of intrigue and action, but when you do, it shows the writer once more at her very best. Here is Nathan, fleeing to the wilderness like so many Jewish holy men from Moses to Jesus, horrified by David's proxy murder of the loyal soldier whose wife he has stolen:

"I had seen myself as a man in the hand of the Name -- serving the king chosen to lead his people in the Land. But what kind of god could will this baseness, this treachery? What kind of nation could rise under such a leader? If David was a man after this god's own heart, as my inner voice had told me often and again, what kind of black-hearted deity held me in his grip?"

Brooks keeps her story strictly to ancient times. But looking at the Middle East today, where the conflicts between faith and political pragmatism are far more than a philosophical concept, I wonder if she was not also writing with an eye to the present. It is to her credit that she is never preachy or polemical. But is it not a strength that such questions should enter the mind after the reading is over? [4.5 stars]

Here is a man who is both great and flawed, just like those tragic heroes Oedipus and King Lear. Meredith Jaffe, The Guardian

When I read Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders:A Novel of the Plague it changed my mind about historical fiction. I read every one of her novels as they came out: March which won the Pulitzer Prize, The People of the Book, and Caleb's Crossing. I was thrilled to get an ARC through NetGalley of her new book The Secret Chord.

The Secret Chord is a novelization about the life of King David, informed by the Bible and re-imagined from a 21st century understanding. It is narrated by the prophet Natan (Nathan) who channels the Name (Yahweh).

The book begins in the middle of David's life. Natan wants to write the story of David's life and David sends Natan to interview people from his past. With Natan we hear long pages of David's back story, intermixed with his own memories. We learn about David through other's eyes.

The book skips through time before following a consistent chronology starting with David's rape of Batsheva and murder of her husband. The Name requires a fourfold atonement and King David suffers a series of devastating losses. His son rapes and disfigures his half-sister, his favorite son Avshalom (Absolom )prepares an army to takeover kingship and is killed. Because of his warfare David is not allowed to build a tabernacle for the Ark of the Covenant, but Natan prophesies that David is to make his youngest son Slomo (Solomon) king, and he will build the temple and lead their people into peace.

The Old Testament, or New for that matter, is a record of faith (mythos, stories with meaning), not a scientific, verifiable history. I will warn that this a novel, story telling, a re-imagining for entertainment. Brooks has a great story to work with: there is jealousy, warfare and takeovers of cities; there is rape and lust and abandonment of women; there is fratricide and incest and every kind of dysfunctional family problem. Brooks makes Jonathan and David sexual lovers and allows the women to tell of the brutality men inflicted on them. The rape and disfigurement of Tamar and the rape of Batsheva are particularly disturbing, especially as we are aware women still are victims to this day. This isn't your Sunday School David. Even Brooks says the story is "very Game of Thrones."

I didn't enjoy reading this novel. The vividly described carnage of battle, the disjointed narrative, the layering of 21st century sensibilities (such as David's bisexuality), the raw sexual and emotional abuse of the women, left me struggling to continue reading it. Then, I am not a Game of Thrones fan.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

I was sent this as a digital copy for review from the publishers via NetGalley.

I have admired Brooks’ writing since discovering her first book, The Year of Wonders. In The Secret Chord, she is up against a more challenging task in some ways, and yet perhaps an easier one in others.

This the story of King David, from Ancient – History? Allegorical Writing? The Bible, a Holy Book? Many interpretations might be possible.

My knowledge of David was scant – he became King, and Jesus came from ‘David’s Line’ so, clearly he is part of New Testament as well as Old Testament theology.

He was a psalmist, a musician, as well as a king, and many of the Psalms in the book of Psalms are his. He fathered Solomon, font of wisdom, and one assumes the creator of another Biblical Book, The Song of Solomon, deeply poetic, and also erotic – the song can be read as physical or as spiritual in praise, and this tradition of praise to a divinity which also has elements which could be seen as erotic is one found in other poems of love to the divine. David was the young boy, of humble birth, who slayed Goliath, with a stone. David and the then king’s son, Jonathan, formed a deep friendship. David, who seems to be courageous, charismatic, devotional, and is perceived as a wise ruler, also coveted, Bathsheba, his general’s wife, and sent that general into dangerous battle, where he was killed.

His almost seems to be an operatic, soap opera story. I found the Bible original, its 1st Book of Samuel Chapter 16 onwards, through the 2nd Book of Samuel and into the second chapter of the Book of Kings, because I was interested to see the source material she had worked from, and from whence a novelist’s imagination, or, even invention, might arise.

To be honest, it’s a fairly bleak and plain telling, and inevitably reads quite drily. The usual collection of intense smitings and smotings which litters the sometimes sorry history of our species. We do pretty well all of the smitings and the smotings ourselves, without the need of outside agencies, it seems, and utilise those agencies to justify ourselves.

As society becomes more secular (some societies, and I live in one) it perhaps becomes harder to write inside the mind-set of faith base, in a way which can allow readers outside faith to enter into characters and societies for whom it was central, without the reader judging the character as credulous or simple minded.

Brooks does flesh out this rather extraordinary life, and this rather extraordinary world, extremely well. The inevitable parallels to Mary Renault and what she did, particularly in her trilogy about Alexander the Great and the two Theseus books, are not misplaced, though Brooks doesn’t quite manage the hairs up on the back of the neck stuff, the bringing of that long ago time and its mixture of the familiar and the weird, so much into potent reality as Renault does.

Brooks uses a couple of devices in the telling of her story, which a had a slight question mark about. She took the decision to use the original personal and place names ‘in their transliteration from the Hebrew of the Tanakh – so this means, instead of the versions bible readers - and more particularly non bible readers familiar with the place and personal names which have passed into popular culture – are concerned making connections may not be immediately obvious. For example, it was not until I found the source material that I realised that the Plishtim were the Philistines. I thought this decision, presumably to add a kind of historical authenticity was not helpful. It may be that a glossary will be included with the published, as opposed to the ARC copy. The combination of the archaic namings and the use of various period terms with the need at times, where she wants to show salty and foul language, such as used by soldiers, somehow grated. This is always a problem, people will always have used such language, how to marry the need for immediacy without losing a sense of place and time : the challenge of quaint and old fashioned versus something which wrests the reader out of period.

There are also decisions taken (which may or may not be accurate) but which leave the reader ( or did leave this reader) wondering how much a modern gloss, a modern viewpoint, is an accurate one, and how much we are unable to see, feel, think into other times. The most obvious, here is the relationship between Jonathan and David. We live in a world which is overtly sexualised; thus it becomes almost impossible for deep love by adults, between the same sex, or between the opposite sex, to be seen in any other way than actively sexual, or as a conscious or unconscious sexual repression. We may, or may not be far too knowing now to enter into a different time. So Brooks makes David a man of broad tastes. In which she may be right or she may not. There is no concrete knowing, either way. But this decision did also put me out of an inhabitation of the past, making me realise that, for example, a Victorian writing this story may very well have accepted a loving relationship between two men without sexualisation.

She is not in any way salacious or gratuitous in her writing about sexual content – we never go into the bedroom, she does not need to do this, as she chooses the device of having the whole story told by the prophet Nathan :

“I have had a great length of days and been many things. A reluctant warrior. A servant, a counselor. Sometimes, perhaps, his friend. And this, also, have I been: a hollow reed through which the breath of truth sounded its discordant notes.

Words. Words upon the wind. What will endure, perhaps, is what I have written. If so, it is enough.”

Brooks is, as ever, a wonderful story teller, one who makes characters come alive, and one who writes wonderfully.

Going back to the source, she has given rich depth, life and colour to events which were set down and her David is complex, rounded, and as my title suggest, a man full of contradictions, as all humans are.

Edit 15.11. As another reader, Roger Brunyate, has correctly pointed out in my comment section, I am not strictly accurate in saying 'we don't go into the bedroom' Nathan, as narrator, doesn't take us into erotic, loving, sexual scenes, but where violence occurs and women are taken without consent, this forms part of his unwilling 'visions' in the same way as he sees prophetic visions of slaughter on the battlefield.

2 1/2 stars

My expectations were very high, maybe too high, because in all honesty I was a bit disappointed. THE SECRET CHORD was certainly richly detailed and beautifully written, descriptive without being wordy. However, overall it just didn’t enthral me – I didn’t LOVE it. At times the story was slow moving, certainly in the beginning, and the chronological order chopped and changed as Natan related the story and for some reason decided to do this when he pleased rather than starting at the beginning and going to the end. In the end I was at times left feeling very confused. I understand that the point was to get different perceptions of David at various times of his life – but surely they could have been put in chronological order? Add to this the fact that sometimes the beautifully detailed descriptions were just too graphic, I am referring to the savagery of the battle and rape scenes here, along with some pretty horrific actions. I understand that there were part of life then – but even though I know from the Biblical David that bad things happen – and that Geraldine Brooks was fleshing out the bare bones given in the bible – I was not comfortable with it.

David’s story from the Bible is very familiar to me and he wrote some of my most favourite psalms. The David in THE SECRET CHORD was not so familiar to me. I know Brooks wanted to portray the historical rather than the Biblical David – but my heart wanted the man who humbled himself and repented – not the cruel and unfeeling man who I found on the pages of this book. The other problem I had was the use of the Hebrew versions of the names of the characters, so at once I was struggling to connect the book to the Biblical stories and characters I knew and loved. I confess I wrote a little note and kept it beside me so I could remind myself that Shaul was Saul, Slomo was Solomon, Batsheva was Bathsheba, Avshalom was Absalom and Jonathon became Yonatan. Even the narrator is Natan the prophet rather than the Nathan I am familier with. I am sure Brooks did this for authenticity – but it didn’t work well for me. And don’t get me started on all the tribes – I couldn’t even keep track of them all in the Bible!!! And yes I know the whole point is that David united them so they needed to be in the story – but boy oh boy!

In the end I stuck with the story and came to know a little better the David in the book – he was a complex character who did unspeakably horrible things but also did some wonderful things. A man who could kill without a second thought to get his own way, and then write the most beautiful poetry.

for me - 2 1/2 stars means - Average - it was OK, but for one reason or another I found it a bit of struggle to stay focused and finish.

With thanks to Hachette Australia and the author via Netgalley for my copy to read and review.

The Secret Chord is the fourth Geraldine Brooks novel I’ve read. I’m a fan. I was especially interested when I heard she was writing about the life of David. I wanted to know why he was so beloved of the Lord.

Because Brooks chose to tell his story from the point of view of Nathan the Prophet, we do not get inside David’s head. That was probably a wise decision. While I am not satisfied that I better understand the special relationship David had with the Name (as Brooks portrays Jehovah God) I have a deeper appreciation for the historical context in which David became king. Brooks excels at revealing cultural influences and the emotional lives of her character.

Not your Sunday School David

This is not your Sunday School David. I always thought God played hardball with David when he denied him the opportunity to build the temple because he had shed blood. He was a soldier, after all. That’s what soldiers do. But Brooks shows us a David who may have relished his military leader role excessively. She portrays him as so brutal in his quest to unite the kingdoms that God’s withholding this honor was perhaps necessary to restore a sense of balance to the nascent kingdom. Solomon does seem like the better choice restore the kind of peace that allows for temple construction.

Regarding David’s character, some Evangelicals may have difficulty with the quick jump Brooks makes to assert that David and Jonathan’s relationship was sexual.Although such a relationship was outside the Jewish norm, it was certainly not outside the prevailing cultural norm. And Biblical language does seem to raise the possibility.

Brooks does a masterful job of fleshing out a familiar story. Music was as much a part of David’s life as military warfare. The difficulty is that it is easier to employ all the senses to depict battlefield carnage than it is to help us hear the music.

David is a pivotal Biblical character whose life story takes up more than a fair share of Scripture. He was passionate in everything he did, prideful by this account, but a man who humbled himself again and again before his God. He celebrated victory and suffered injury, even self-afflicted setbacks, with all his being. It seems to be his listening ear that earned him the love and respect of his people and rare access to God.

Once you put aside the obvious reactions and remind yourself that this is a NOVEL and not a doctoral thesis, revisionist or fake history, then the reading goes so much smoother. Leave it to the minimalist faction of Biblical archeologists who contend that Kings David and Solomon never existed. That is not what this book is about. Borrowing from the two books of Samuel and the book of Chronicles as well as sources in Midrashic texts, Brooks has crafted an imaginative version, some would say a highly imaginative version of the life of King David. Since we are not there to witness his life we can only make room for those labels but not let them distract us. If you take this book as the novel it was intended to be, borrowing from very ancient texts much the way Arthurian legends accumulated stories that finally made their way into Geoffrey of Monmouth's mind, then Brooks' novel is believable homespun version of the legends of King David.

Orthodox Judaism does not see him as anymore legendary than all of the earlier prophets, including Moses. They see him as the second King of Israel, the sweet singer of Israel, the greatest warrior of the nation. If others want him to be a legend in the Arthurian mold, so be it. I accept him as a real flesh and blood person. Looking to archeology to confirm that belief has to date brought the scantest, the thinnest of evidence. However, the city of David, "Ir Dovid", is continuing to be unearthed in Jerusalem and the finds all point to that having been a royal residence of huge scope. Was it David's home? We might never know and then again when all the digging is completed the evidence might be overwhelming that it was a royal home and it is dated to David's time. At that point will the naysayers give a few inches to the believers? I doubt it and I don't care one way or the other.

There are some highly contentious moments in the book, none greater than the depiction of David and Jonathan's love for each other as a fully physical love. The problem you have to face with that idea is that David and Jonathan were fully observant Ivri, (today we say Jews but that term, as is known, derives from one big tribe, the tribe of Judah). These men were fully aware of the Torah laws and for men to have physical relations with other men was considered disgusting and was completely forbidden. You want me to believe that the man that God has chosen to lead the nation could cast aside Torah laws because he was a hot blooded and passionate man and his love for King Saul's son was a big flame? I don't subscribe to that idea. We are reading into the text from a modern, hyper-secular point of view that sees homosexual relations as normal. That was not the case 3,000 years ago and you have to know that. This is my view and others will differ and that is ok with me.

I have no idea where Brooks' has found textual evidence that Nathan the prophet was also a soldier. That is news to me and until I can find something to support her idea I would say that she has made that up. As a narrative device it works fine in the context of the book. Is it true? Well, Joshua was both a warrior and a prophet. Some would say that King David was imbued with periodic prophetic insights and he sure was a warrior. But, Samuel and Gad, the seer, were not warriors. However, Samuel chopped the head off of the Amalekite King with one swift hack. So, it is problematic at the least.

There were some interesting bits of David's life that were excluded. For example, the text in Samuel said that the "Satan" arose against Israel and motivated David to take an unauthorized census. This is always a harbinger of bad luck with the Israelite's and sure enough a terrible plague hits the nation and over 70,000 die. David approaches a family associated with the slaughter by King Saul of the priests in Nov. He agrees to their demands to have 7 sons of King Saul delivered up to them where they will be put to death, somehow as a rectification of their fathers ruthless murder of almost every single Cohain in the city. A very strange story and one that Brooks' could have had a lot of fun writing about. Not sure why it was excluded.

This is a highly entertaining and believable narrative story based on the lives of King David, his wives, his family, his children, the military leaders and the inner court of his home. It is beautifully written with both tenderness and unbleached and very raw gore, violence and murders. They were excessively violent times and David spent all of his life fighting to help secure the country for the tribes. When he passed the power over to Solomon, the country could finally rest from the constant battles. This is known or at least it is written about in what I consider to be holy books. I am a big fan of Brooks and this is a great addition to her works. I recommend the book but take note again: it is not a history book nor a replacement for holy texts. It is a novel. Let it be read that way. I loved it.

Actually, I listened to this book on CD. I think it was a good choice as the narrator did a wonderful job with voicing, using the authentic version of the characters' names, and transforming his voice when Nathan was prophesying. The book was told through the eyes of the prophet Nathan and covered the life of David from his anointing from Samuel until his waning years and the ascendency of Solomon. Was this book "full of twists"? That depends on the reader's background. Knowing the story of David, for me the book was anticipatory. Had I not known it, the story would be fascinating. I think the author did a wonderful job in her interpretation of the events at that time. She takes a realistic and historic approach which might be somewhat different from the way history is sometimes written by the victors. I feel her interpretation is very believable. It brings to light the savagery of the times which is often brutal to the modern mind. The book also brings to the forefront questions of faith. God's chosen king is nothing like one would expect if read through the filter of Christianity. Nevertheless, brutality, totality, and ruthlessness were needed to establish a dynasty and further the identity of Judaism. The NAME in this book is on David's side (for the most part) and seems more involved in political victory than in ethical or moral standards. This might be a good book to read for a discussion group, although I felt it was a little long and was glad to be done with it.

The prophet Natan (Nathan) is given a directive from King David to write the king’s biography by interviewing people who played key roles throughout his life. So begins an incredible journey for Natan, who from the age of eight has been the king’s seer. He visits each of the people on the list, from wives to relatives to those who fought beside him in battles, in order to create a three-dimensional picture of David from shepherd boy to man to powerful king, beloved and chosen by God. Interspersed with these accounts are Natan’s memories and insights, from the time when David and his band were enemies of King Saul to his coronation and, finally, his last breath.

Written by Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks, THE SECRET CHORD draws the reader in with a beautiful writing style and creative premise, but takes literary liberties with David’s character and story that some readers may not appreciate. Missing here is David’s passion for the Lord, the passion that guided him daily, carried him through fear and heartache, and filled him with a joy that spilled forth in song. Still, there is no denying Brooks’ ability to captivate with her outstanding storytelling skills and paint brilliant images with words. Throughout the book, she uses the Hebrew translation of names, which also will be used in this review.

Natan begins his task by visiting the first person on the list: David’s mother, Nizevet. However, before she is introduced, we meet his brother, Shammah, who is clearly angry about the visit and has no kind words to say about his famous sibling. The subsequent account, given by David’s mother, paints a picture of his early years, beginning with his conception. She reveals the reason his father and brothers despised him (according to this fictional retelling) and why memories of him still break her heart. Next, Natan visits Mikhal (Michal), daughter of King Shaul (Saul) and David’s first wife. Angry and bitter, Mikhal recounts her love for David when he lived at the palace and her joy at becoming his wife. But it is in Mikhal’s interview that, for the second time, the author paints a picture of David and Mikhal’s brother, Yonatan (Jonathan), as lovers rather than best friends.

“But do you know how he came to me on our wedding night? Hot from my brother, reeking of sweat.” In an earlier paragraph, Mikhal says “He asked me to do things in the dark that recalled my brother to him.”

Those familiar with the story of David may be unsettled by this sharp veer from the Biblical account of David and Yonatan’s friendship. A homosexual relationship seems implausible when considering David’s many wives and children, and his overpowering desire for Batsheva (Bathsheba) that led to his temporary but dramatic fall from grace. This, too, is included in Brooks’ novel. In her telling, however, the infamous coupling is portrayed as a brutal rape, leaving Batsheva bruised for weeks. Again, we see a very different David from the Biblical version.

Natan’s interviews continue, with each one adding layers to the complex story of David’s life and revealing the characteristics that formed a king from a shepherd boy. It is a fascinating journey that brings us into David’s past, then into the drama unfolding in the present and back again.

Reviews of this book will differ greatly, depending on the reader’s familiarity with and/or belief in the Biblical account of King David. Either way, it is an intriguing novel, bursting with beautiful and brutal imagery, agonizing tragedy, unequivocal joy, fierce loyalty and fiercer betrayal, all woven together with a breathtaking writing style.

Reviewed by Susan Miura

I didn't remember much about the biblical story of David except that he was a young man who outwitted a giant and killed him with a stone and a sling shot and that he became King of Israel . I also remembered an illicit love affair with Bathsheba. Because I didn't know a lot more than that , I was very surprised and taken by the story that Geraldine Brooks has created where I learned about his multiple wives , and other relationships, his children , the wars, and what a complex man he was .

The story begins with David who as an aging King sends Natan, his friend and prophet to talk to people and write his life story . As Natan narrates , we get multiple perspectives of the people who tell us things about David at various times in his life . He's pitiful at times when pushed away from his family at a young age , loving at times and also a brutal and vicious warrior killing mothers and children. He's a son , a husband , a lover , a father, a soldier and a prophet and a very complex man .

We come to know Natan's story as well and learn how he comes of age , bearing the pain of his father's death on that day when as a child he followed David , drinking to dull his senses to viscous and brutal things he witnesses. Some reviewers have talked about the graphic and brutal nature of some of the scenes and they are not mistaken by any means . There are brutal wars and killing and rapes and some really horrific deeds that were difficult to read about , but yet I was intrigued by the story and I enjoyed the writing.

One thing that was bothersome to me was Brooks' use of the Hebrew names . Perhaps she used the Hebrew version of the names to give the story a more authentic feel but it made it feel more remote to me rather than using those names that I was familiar with . It was Batsheva for Bathsheba, Avshalom instead of Absalom and Shlomo for Solomon to name a few. Overall, it was for me a solid 3 stars . Recommended to fans of Geraldine Brooks .

Thanks to Viking and NetGalley for this ARC.

This is a story of legendary David, biblical figure of Old Testament, set in the Second Iron Age Israel (most likely mid-9th century BCE); a story of a shepherd who rose to be a brilliant soldier and foretold king. The story is told through a courtier, Natan, who chronicles the life of David. He, as a young shepherd, meets David when he is an outlaw. But who David was before, Natan learns from David’s mother, brother, and wives.

Six year old David is sent away by his despising father “to tend the sheep up in the hills…Those years in the hills taught him many things.” The peacefulness of nature sharpens his hearing and appreciation for music and poetry. Exiled from family, later David flourishes as a soldier under stranger’s headquarters, chief Shaul’s court. Meanwhile, he knows how to “draw men to him and make them his.” Some men bond with David through his music, some through his storytelling.

There is no doubt that this author is a very talented writer. I was very impressed by her book, “Year of Wonders,” but with this book sometimes I felt connected and often times disconnected. Not everything was of interest to me. I didn’t care for all the fights and booting of villages, some of them pretty brutal. I think this book might be more appealing to male readers.

In this novel, Geraldine Brooks breathes life into the ancient legend of King David from the Old Testament. Ms Brooks’s portrayal of David covers his journey from obscurity, his transformation from shepherd to soldier, and then to become king, his triumphs and his failures. My recollection of David’s story in the Old Testament is of a hero: a boy with a slingshot who slew the giant Goliath. Of a shepherd boy who rose from obscurity to be King of Israel, and who was the father of Solomon. Beyond that, I remember (or misremember) very little.

Narrated by Natan, David’s personal prophet, ‘The Secret Chord’ describes a very human David, a man who is both noble and flawed, a man with considerable strengths and awful weaknesses. We get impressions of David through the reactions of his wives Mikal, Avigail, and Batsheva, and see him through the eyes of Natan. And David as a father? He fails to be an effective father to all of his children, except in allowing Natan to mentor his lastborn son Shlomo (Solomon). It’s hard to understand how a man so gifted could fail to inculcate any sense of responsibility into his older sons. A curious blindspot in one who could so often read others so well.

This is a novel which incorporates the best and worst of humankind: adventure, beauty, betrayal, drama, fratricide, incest, intrigue, music, romance, sex and violence. At times I felt great sympathy for David, at other times I found his behaviour outrageous. In many ways Natan is the perfect narrator. His gift of prophecy enables him to anticipate some events as well as to add context to others. King David reigned over Israel for almost forty years. In this novel Ms Brooks provides a possible life for him.

Whether you regard the Old Testament as historical fact or allegorical fiction, this novel brings both people and times to life. I enjoyed it very much.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Hachette Australia for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I grew up on the stories of the Bible, including the stories of David: David and Goliath (wait, there were giants?), David and Bathsheba (don't look, man!), Saul with his thousands versus David with his tens of thousands (not your fault, but a totally unfortunate bit of PR). But like most Bible stories and other traditional stories, the details are pretty sparse. Why did David kill so many innocents in his outlaw years, seemingly unnecessarily? Why didn't David punish his son Amnon after he raped his half-sister Tamar? Why was Bethseba bathing on that roof? Why did most of David's sons seem to turn out so badly?

Brooks fills in the scriptural narrative with motives, passions, and details, as told through the eyes of Nathan the Seer. Having a seer as your narrator, incidentally, while not technically granting you an "omniscient third-person narrator," comes pretty close. In the course of the book, Nathan interviews those who knew David in early life, he recounts what he himself has seen, and he drops into visions of far-off, often terrible events. The prose is beautiful. For example, when describing the relationship between three brothers who have fought beside David for many years, she writes, "To say these three were close does not do the matter justice. They had shared more than a womb. They were knit together by the rind of scar tissue that comes after long, bloody service."

As a consumer of legendary tales, I really value Brooks's effort to demonstrate one way that the sparse tales could be filled in with real people rather than the paper cut-outs so often encountered in scripture and elsewhere. What was the relationship between David and Abigail like? and Michal? and what about that friendship with Jonathan? Of course, one could fill in the story in different ways. But by detailing one way, Brooks opens up our imagines to how we might think about the characters in other legendary narratives. As Alana Newhouse writes in the New York Times, this novel, "a thundering, gritty, emotionally devastating reconsideration of the story of King David -- makes a masterful case for the generative power of retelling."

A recurring theme deals with the ends justifying the means, with David repeatedly killing or taking other action for what he views as a greater good. "It was necessary," he tells Nathan over and over again. This refrain both sickens the seer and -- ultimately, sometimes -- makes sense to him.

I listened to the audiobook, which was well narrated by Paul Boehmer.

Note: This book has violence, sex, and sexual violence. Just like the Bible. Oh, and it has strong language. Not to be all judgy, but I hope that's not what pushes you over the edge.

I normally avoid Biblical fiction. Two things made a difference with this book: A friend read it and recommended it highly. Second, the author, Geraldine Brooks, is a Pulitzer Prize winning author. My friend has long been fascinated by the role of Nathan in David’s life. Nathan, the narrator of “The Secret Chord” is not afraid to “speak truth to power.” All people in power tend to be surrounded by people who speak to their vanity. Nathan, on the other hand, as the official historian of David’s life, not only gathers information from others about David, when David’s decisions and his deviation from God’s path become troublesome, Nathan is willing and able to speak the truth the King needs to hear.

Even though “The Secret Cloud” is a novelization of arguably Israel’s most important King, it still manages to use available historical sources for material, when it adds fictional elements, it does so within the realm of the possible. David is not just the “giant slayer,” he is also a person of tremendous ability, accomplishments, talent, and charm, he is also seen as simply human with human flaws. Nathan is able to show clearly how this flawed human is saddled with poor decisions, often bad judgment, and serious personal failings. David’s sin with Bathsheba, wife of Uriah, looms large in the saga of David’s life. David’s lust and consummation of that lust to the point of sending Uriah to the front of a battle to be killed comes with a high price.

For the reader who was raised reading the pristine “history” of King David found in the Old Testament, s/he will be in for a shock. Language that is decidedly “non-Biblical” seeps in. There is a suggested homosexual love triangle thrown in. I have read the story of this giant slayer since my youth, and I find very little new, but I did enjoy Brook’s ability to take literary license and create a coherent fictional narrative that was informative and enjoyable. I also appreciate her ability to bring Nathan to the forefront of David’s life as a revealer of David’s good and troublesome characteristics. Even with David’s violence, sexual appetite, and unresolved anger toward those that opposed him, Nathan continued to love his King, after all, we are family.

According the Brooks' afterword David is the first figure in literature whose story is told in detail from early childhood to old age. In fact his biography might be the oldest work of historical writing. Fascinating, isn't it? Not a lot of factual tangible traces, but so much data. And so Brooks took that data and created an amazing fictional account of a man too complex and flawed to be fictional and not have existed.
Great men are seldom good. And so behold David...a brazen upstart, a giant slayer, a brave warrior, an ambitious state maker, a sage king, a passionate love, a devoted father, a loyal friend. And so obversely, behold David...a man of voracious appetites, manipulator, traitor, rapist, murderer, demanding, cruel, unjust. Also, strangely enough, bisexual. Point is Brooks has created a spectacularly multifaceted study of a complicated flawed and fascinating individual, shying away from none of it and exalting none either. It's a phenomenally, awesomely balanced character study. Told from a perspective of David's prophet, advisor and friend, Natan the reader gets to know the great king in all his glory. From early years as a neglected child shepherd to later years as a revered king. Initially through several perspectives (mother, brother, one of the wives), but primarily though Natan's words we see what greatness does to goodness, as David acquires respect, power and land, but errs in his personal choices, particularly blind when it comes to family. It's a terrific story, fit, as they say, for a king, and stunning work of historical and biographical fiction.
Initially, the dramatis personae was quite intimidating, but with Brooks' vivid rendering, story comes to life and is quite easy to follow through political and personal manipulations. Ancient world has long fascinated me, but I normally visit it via nonfiction, finding fictional language presented for the era too difficult to enjoy and stilted (last evidenced in Jong's Sappho's' Leap). Not so here, took a short while to get into, but after that, tough to put down. Completely compelling, moving, emotionally and intellectually engaging this book was a pleasure to read. It had a definitive epic feel to it without the page count normally associated with such a thing, which I really liked. Great read, great introduction the author, great story. Enthusiastically recommended.

I loved Brook’s Pulitzer Prize winning March and Caleb’s Crossing, so I was excited to get an early chance to read The Secret Chord, which chronicles the life of King David from the old testament. I must say I had a difficult “relationship” with this novel. Approaching the one-third mark I lamented having received the book via Vine and feeling obligated to finish it, but not to the point of wailing and gnashing of teeth. Luckily at that point the story really picks up and I enjoyed the remainder of the book as it cleverly lays out the curses of King David for his sins – or one might say the consequences of those sins as much of the sorrow heaped upon David and his family follow from his poor decisions and bad actions.

This is a good fictional account of the story of King David as told in the bible and lays out both his severe and damning faults as well as his important virtues. She begins to cleverly layout these themes through the narrator, Nathan, who is a seer and one of the few trusted counselors at David’s side. And it is Nathan himself, who while fully devoted to helping David be the greatest and best he can be, who clearly exposes his faults and feels great distress at the great hubris and self-centered behavior that not only brings a curse upon David, but severely harms many people, his family included.

While David’s virtues as warrior, a just King, leader, and decision maker are made clear in this novel, especially important virtues in such a time of strife and constant threat of war and violence, it’s the consequences of his sins that make up the main part of the narrative. And the book gets very bloody and violent heading into the twilight and completion of David’s life as everything comes to a head, and eventually a new beginning upon on David’s death.

In the end, I enjoyed this novel. Had I not already been quite familiar with the life of King David and the bible generally I do wonder if I would have enjoyed the book as much as a did. My suspicion is it would have found it hard to appreciate the story as much had not already been familiar with the overall arc of the story.

I love Geraldine Brooks' writing, and have enjoyed each one. The Secret Chord was a surprise, not because it isn't well written (it is) but because it is so dark. I think of David as he portrayed in the famous sculpture in the Uffizi and other places, a brave youth defeating the giant Goliath, a mighty warrior, a poet and singer of songs, and a just king. Brooks' David is that, but he's also manipulative, brutal, and insensitive, and blind to some critical flaws in those around him. Not being very familiar with many of David's stories, these things came as a surprise to me. Most of all, he's a very human, flawed man.

David's story is told by the prophet Natan, who is captured by David when he's the leader of an outlaw band and destroys Natan's village because the headmaster, Natan's father, won't give them the supplies he's asked for. David sees something in Natan and spares his life, which begins a lifelong partnership and friendship between the two men. Natan's visions often guide David's decisions, when Natan is able to share them with him. We meet the women in David's life, his wives, his daughter, and the men in his life, including a his sons, brothers, generals and advisors, but most of all, we meet Shlomo, who will become the wise king Solomon (I'd love to see Brooks write a book about him!). The storytelling is very real, and Brooks brings the characters to life. This is a great read for lovers of historical fiction, and those who used to read the children's bible stories in the dentist's office while waiting for their appointment!

I was fortunate enough to get to visit Israel this past November, and as I was standing in front of King David’s Tomb I realized I didn’t really know anything about him. A friend posted a review of The Secret Chord and I knew it was the perfect book to educate me. (I love Biblical fiction, but struggle reading the actual Bible.)

It wasn’t long before it clicked that this was David of “and Goliath” and “and Bathsheba” fame.

I love ancient history and I think that’s one of the reasons Biblical fiction is so appealing to me. I learned so many interesting things about David, which most of you probably already know, but which were news to me. Like, he wrote a bunch of the Psalms. I won’t say too much about him because I don’t want to ruin the story for those not in the know, but let’s just say, he was a maniac. He is also the first man in “literature whose story is told in detail from early childhood to extreme old age. Some scholars have called this biography the oldest piece of history writing… ” Kind of makes me want to read the bible. Kind of.

I thought Brooks did a really good job with the story. I googled a number of the parts of the story as I was reading, and I don’t think there was much deviation from the bible story. It was well-written and interesting, and certainly a worthy read. I feel like I got a very comprehensive understanding of David’s life, and look forward exploring more about his successor Solomon who may or may not have mines, and something about splitting a baby in half.

The Secret Chord, Geraldine Brooks, author; Paul Boehmer, narrator
This is a book that may not have universal appeal, but anyone interested in Jewish history will find it an admirable and rich re-imagination of King David’s life, authentically presented as it is written in the style and language popular in the days of King David’s reign. The lyrical texture of the prose is magnetic, drawing the reader into the narrative. It lent itself well to the narrator of the audio whose most resonant voice assumed the appropriate tone for each character as he expertly spoke as Natan as Natan related and wrote about David’s rise to the throne and beyond, in an effort to preserve the memory of the man he was, for the world to come. In this retelling, there may be some who may not like the man he was or came to be.
David had been rejected by his own father, Yishai, who never claimed him as a son, believing he was the product of his wife’s adultery. Even when he learned the truth, he refused to accept him until circumstances forced his hand. In addition to the rejection of his father, he was tormented by his brothers. Finally, at the age of six, he was sent to live alone, as a shepherd in the mountains. He was a child who appeared to acclimate to his situation happily. One day, when he impressed King Shaul with his fighting prowess, even slaying Goliath, he was taken to live with him as his son and his days as a shepherd ended. Saul’s own son, Yonatan fell in love with David. His daughter, Mikhal, who was Yonaton’s double, also loved David. All went well until Saul began to have mental problems and he turned against David. David, in turn, formed his own band of men to overthrow Saul.
David is portrayed as a man with an abundant sexual appetite for both sexes, a man with the voice of an angel and magic fingers when he played the harp. The psalms he composed were sung at court and survive today. He had many consorts and many children. Some he loved more than others. He was a study in contrasts, both kind and cruel. A violent warrior, he committed murder with abandon, sacked cities because “it was necessary”, and took women at will. A proud, arrogant man, he found it hard to forgive someone he felt had wronged him, but in spite of that, he often found ways to amend his errors and provide justice. Although he was much loved by his subjects and his wives, he was also much feared and disrespected by some. He was often at risk from family who wished to overthrow him and assume the throne.
Natan was a shepherd. One day, he came upon David and was asked to have his father send provisions to him and his men. When David killed Natan’s father because he had refused to provide him with provisions, Natan had a vision. He spoke in a strange voice and then passed out. He announced that David would ascend to the throne. From that time, beginning, when he was a mere nine years old, he was at David’s side. He was not a seer who could always tell what was about to happen, but he would have visions that put him into a trance-like state, a state in which he sometimes remained incapacitated and unable to speak which prevented him from interfering and altering the future he saw in his visions. To David, he became the prophet G-d chose to speak through. To some, Natan seemed a charlatan, but to David he had the gift of prophecy, and he relied on him often for advice and counsel. It was Natan who chronicled his life for posterity so that he would not be forgotten, but would be remembered for the kind of man he was, remembered as a person, not just remembered for his deeds.

The novel (and I caution the reader to remember that it is a novel, a fictional rendering of the history of the famous Jewish King), takes the reader through the arc of his life until the anointing of his son Solomon as King. Solomon was conceived in sin with Batsheva who was married to David’s most devoted and accomplished soldier, Uriah. David was smitten with her and he called her to his chambers, bedding her although she was married. When her pregnancy was discovered, he did what he had to do to preserve her reputation, and he married her after Uriah’s death. He paid dearly for that transgression for years to come, as it was prophesied.

Before reading this novel, here’s what I knew about King David: he killed Goliath with a slingshot, and he fathered Solomon, who gained a reputation for wisdom. This book jogged my memory with the knowledge that he played the harp and purportedly wrote about half of the Psalms. What I didn’t suspect is that, according to author Geraldine Brooks, he was probably bisexual. I love historical fiction that introduces a little controversy. In any case, David committed a substantial number of serious transgressions in battle and otherwise, slaying civilians right and left, stealing other men’s wives, and looking the other way when one of his spoiled sons raped and disfigured David’s only daughter. The villainous son and abused daughter were half-siblings, but still…. The narrator of this novel is Natan, who has the gift of prophecy and walks a fine line between saying too much and not giving David fair warning so that he can prepare for the trials and tribulations ahead. According to Natan, David may be God’s chosen king, but God does not cut him any slack for his myriad and horrific misdeeds. I liked the author’s fluid writing style, but the subject matter here is not in my wheelhouse. I enjoy reading about flawed characters, but most of the men in this novel lean a little too far in the direction of evil. The women, on the other hand, are primarily victims of David’s whims, and besides, he may have preferred men anyway. King David may have brought unprecedented peace to the region, but the price in terms of human lives lost was exorbitant. Then again, the Bible’s veracity as a historical document is highly suspect, so none of this stuff may have ever happened. Whether the fiction here is historical or not, it was not up my alley.

King David is a biblical icon about whom we actually know very little. If you want to experience (first hand) the highs and lows of King David in a way you never dreamed possible, then read Geraldine’s Brooks’ “The Secret Chord,” which will be released in October of 2015. This fictionalized history of King David’s life, as told by his prophet, Natan, comes alive off the page and pulls you in. If you know your Old Testament (which I do not), you know that David became the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel at a young age, after having slain Goliath. You also might know that David had many wives and at least 20 children, and that many tragedies befell the family. There were many battles, many gruesome killings and a lot of conquering. But you probably don’t know anything about David, the man. The book revolves around Natan’s documentation of David’s life.

Brooks stays true to the biblical story but adds all of the unknown personal details. The story has everything–love, hate, sex, war, infidelity, adultery, jealousy, homosexuality, rape, incest, polygamy, and fratricide, just to name a few (really, is there anything left?).

We first meet David when he is older and appears to be losing his power, complaining bitterly of this circumstance to Natan. He instructs Natan to write his personal history by interviewing his estranged mother, Nizevet, his brother, Shammah, and his banished first wife, Mikhal. We learn all about David the man through these interviews and through Natan’s experience and memory. Brooks begins with Nizevet’s description of David’s isolated childhood, having been rejected by his father and sent to live on his own in a hut tending sheep at the age of six. It was then that David discovered music and taught himself to play a rudimentary harp of his own creation. Music plays a critical role in David’s life throughout the book, reflecting his moods and various life stages. Natan wrote “He said that the music–its order and precision–helped him find the pattern in things–the way through the confusion of events and opinions to direction, to order, and beyond, to inspiration.”

Shaul was the king in David’s youth and Shaul’s prophet, Shmuel, predicted that David would be the next king when David was only a child. David grows into a brutal warrior, killing the strong and the weak – children, men and women alike. Shammah and Mikhal explain that David married Shaul’s daughter, Mikhal, after being rejected by Shaul’s younger daughter; but David’s true love was Shaul’s son, Yonatan. The relationship between David and Yonatan is one of the first indications that David is a more complex and feeling person than the brutal warrior we are introduced to. As time goes by, Shaul feels threatened by David and David challenges Shaul’s power and leadership. In response Shaul renounces David’s marriage to Mikhal and marries her off to another man. David does not seem all that bothered at the time.

As David became more and more powerful he became more ruthless in every way, engaging in adultery and murder and finding new and interesting ways to ruin people’s lives. Observing David’s narcissistic behavior, Natan wondered, “Where, then, was his empathy? Buried, I supposed, beneath his self-regard.” How many people do we know whose empathy is buried beneath their self-regard?

Natan predicted many horrible things to befall David and his family and the rest of the book tells the stories behind the reality of that prophecy. Brooks writes of themes of cruelty, narcissism, love, sorrow and regret – themes that we experience in our modern lives and that make David a more human, understandable character. Although David lived almost 1,000 years Before the Common Era, the story feels current (other than perhaps the brutal killings) and the reader (at least this reader) finds herself comparing David in his various stages to people in her life.

Geraldine Brooks is a brilliant writer. Her skill in bringing character and place to life make what could have been just another fictionalized story of biblical history a masterpiece. Put this book at the top of your reading list!
If you like this review and would like to read more, please visit [...]

I have enjoyed the gifts of Geraldine Brooks -novels that bring historical events to life, usually through the eyes of interesting characters. The Pulitzer Prize winner, March was an excellent novel, depicting the absent father in Alcott's Little Women as he leaves behind his family to aid the Union cause in the Civil War. This novel also takes a small reference of the biblical prophet Natan and turns him into the narrator of the life of King David. In this way I found the novel similar to Miller's The Song of Achilles. In both novels, the stories of famous legends are told by the companion of the main hero. That being said, this was a good read, a bit of history that is made more fascinating through the abilities of the author. Natan became attached to David quite uniquely. David slays his father for not giving him some provisions for his men. Just as Natan attempts to seek his revenge, he has a vision, a prophecy that David will become the King of all of Israel , a united Israel. From this point on he becomes David's trusted advisor and his conscience. We read of the story of Goliath being defeated by the rock, of David's lust for women and for Jonathan and of his prowess in battle. There is, in other words, plenty of action. What is more interesting though is the intrigue of the politics, the varying plots to succeed the throne and how the sins of the father are repaid times four. I also enjoyed how the genesis for this novel may have stemmed from the Cohen song, "Hallelujah" . I too have always been intrigued by that opening line -" They say there was a secret chord that David played and it please the Lord. " I am not sure why, but I always love hearing that song. I suspect that I will continue to enjoy the works of Ms. Brooks as well.

I read The Secret Chord for book club. I’ve read two other books by Geraldine Brooks (for book clubs) and, although I think she’s a great writer and admire the way she weaves historical fact into interesting stories, the subjects of those books were only mildly interesting to me. I also felt that they sometimes bordered on too much detail and got a little boring in the middle. This is my favorite of the three I’ve read because I found the story and the characters so engaging. It kept me interested to find out what happened next. I thought it was very effective to have the narrator be Natan, David’s prophet and counselor. He was in a position to know everything that was divulged in the story.

I’ve never given much thought to David. I knew he was little and Goliath was big when he became famous for defeating the “giant”. And that’s about all I knew of David other than he was the subject of the famous statue by Michelangelo. But, I now feel like I’ve read his biography and have learned all about his life from birth through death. And, what an interesting life he had! From very discouraging beginnings, to a youth of brilliance and success, to leading a triumphant kingdom, to his slow demise, David is a flawed hero who is difficult to reconcile at times. Brooks definitely made him seem human—wise yet imperfect. I thought it was a great novel.

If you like this novel, I recommend The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. It, too, takes a much closer look at a flawed, heroic historical character and brings him to life.

As a fictional device, Natan, is a clever way to flesh out and create a coherent narrative of King David. But as the "King's Conscience," Natan fails miserably in doing what a conscience ought to do -- namely, to control our baser instincts and to help us "do the right thing." And as with the narrator's failure, so, too, goes the literary device -- it's a clever way to "tell the story," but in the end, so what? Do we care? Do we have new insights into Kind David's complexity and contradictions? Do we long for more, and sigh with regret that the story ends? Unfortunately, no, no, and no. Nathan's love for and loyalty to this monstrous id is unconvincing. Brooks is such a talented writer that I stuck it out to the end, but it is a far, far cry from her best. I've both read and gifted "People of the Book" numerous times, and sincerely hope that Brooks will return to her former stellar craft in her next novel.

After a host of light fiction, women's fiction and romance, this was just right. A book which was like an autobiography of one of the greatest historical figures ever - David of Israel.

I myself did not know of David's ancestry or his rise to fame and fortune and greatness. From being a shepherd boy herding his father's sheep in obscurity, to be propelled to greatness had to have a hand of fate. It just had to be!

The story charts his rise from a simple boy then someone who becomes a soldier much loved guardian of the King, then thrust into kinghood, just and kind, mighty and good, then murderous and machiavellian, cunning and everything that he should not have been.

His many marriages, some political, some of the heart added a lot of interest to the story. The many sons he had created problems from the start as one knew divisions would arise when a kingdom of this stature was at stake. How the break up happened, how he lost it all is detailed in this book. The past history of David is derived from three sources - as told to Natan and as he wrote it down. That gives a faithful account of history upto that point. The future is still to come and that was what Natan saw and dreaded.

The story told from the point of Natan, a seer and prophet, one who was loved and trusted by the King and the heartache of Natan who knew what was coming was very sensitively told.

This was a book that could not be read quickly. You had to savor the read as it was very intense.

I have long enjoyed reading historical fiction, but had never read biblical historical fiction until picking up The Secret Chord, by Geraldine Brooks. Being familiar with the biblical story of David, I wanted to see how she would create a novel that would keep my interest throughout. Now that I've read it and had a few days to reflect, I believe that she has done a fine job telling this story.
She had my interest from the beginning, telling the story of David as the unloved, neglected son so cruelly treated by his father, Jesse, and his older brothers. She wove a story that, for me, filled in the gaps in David's young life, that I often wondered about. Throughout the book, I feel she did a wonderful job pulling together the Bible story of David as seen through the eyes of the prophet, Natan. She skillfully filled in gaps in the story, making David seem real and believable.
I enjoyed this book very much, and look forward to reading some of her other fictional works.

Fictionalized version of the biblical story of King David, meaning Samuel I and II, and the beginning of Kings I. It's the story of King David, as told from the viewpoint of Nathan the Prophet. Charged by King David with writing a chronicle of David's reign for posterity, he interviews those around David, including mother and wives, to write a fuller portrait of this powerful and complex ruler. I strongly suggest you read Samuel I and II, and Kings I beforehand. It's the original Game of Thrones, and it's very compelling, if you read it slowly and carefully, and consider the action that is happening behind the spare language. Brooks' fictionalized, embellished retelling of the story is good, but cannot hold a candle to Mary Renault's historical fiction.

I could not finish this book. Felt it was blasphemous to assume David was homosexual. I had read about Nitzevet his mother and could understand possibly what Brooks wrote about David being rejected by his father and brothers being true. But to say he and Jonathan were lovers was too much. David made mistakes, plenty of them, but he loved God and understood grace better than most believers today, if you look at his writings in Psalm 32 and 103.
I am looking forward to meeting King David in heaven someday and will try to forget what I read in this book, for it did not fit the man after "God's own heart."

David, King of Israel after Saul, slayer of Goliath; one of the only ancient figures whose life is chronicled almost from birth to death in the Bible, but there is little else to prove his existence. Geraldine Brooks in The Secret Chord, though, paints a compelling fictional picture of the man and the myth through the voices of those closest to him, his wives, children, and most importantly, through Nathan the prophet, a man who was probably closer to him than any other.
A book that neither venerates nor execrates, it shows a complex personality who is often at war with himself, and pulls no punches in its description of society in the Second Iron Age of Israel. Nor does it spare David, as it moves from his youth as a beautiful, but ambitious singer/musician to his days as a bandit, and then his tumultuous reign as king, when he sways between being a merciless tyrant and a benevolent father figure. An addictive read, this book will pull you in and not let you go.
I received this book as a gift, but was so touched by it, I had to share my feelings.

The Secret Chord is a novelization of the story of David. We are invited to read about his life from a different viewpoint. He was gifted with the ability to learn quickly and, when he was placed in the king's court, he was able to keep his life.

I have read other works by Geraldine Brooks and these are books that have found a permanent place on my reading shelf, while I tell others about the artistry of this writer. She has a way of taking the reader to a level beneath the surface so that we feel we are truly seeing all aspects of David. We discover how he related to all those in his lives, including his friend and wives.

David's story is a glorious Biblical story and Geraldine Brooks was able to allow me to see it differently, yet keep my feelings about him with me. This is a book that is difficult to put down and even though we know the ending from the Bible, I still did not want it to end.

I was given this book by NetGalley and Penguin Group - Viking in exchange for my honest review.

I did not think it possible, but Geraldine Brooks has outdone herself! Although "March" (2005) won her a Pulitzer Prize, every one of her novels is prize worthy. My favorite Brooks novel (and one of my favorite novels of all time) is "People of the Book" (2008) which, every time I reread it (like all great literature), I gain greater insights and additional pleasure. "The Secret Chord" will assuredly become a classic. Brooks captures the reader and transports her to another time and place creating characters more real than our neighbors. In this case we are transported back 2,000 years to ancient Israel. The central character is the complex biblical King David whose life is narrated by his prophet Natan (Nathan). Brooks uses the Hebrew transliteration rather than English spelling of names. She also writes in a style that hints of, but is not as arcane as, biblical Hebrew. She succeeds brilliantly with this literary device. Ms. Brooks is as impressive a researcher as she is a writer. Brooks captures the landscape as well as the culture and politics of the times with scholarly accuracy. She portrays her characters, such as the wives and many offspring of David, with such vividness the reader feels varying degrees of empathy with, or hostility towards, each of them--in some cases the feelings merge. Geraldine Brooks is one of the great novelists of our time. Warning: you will not be able to put this book down until the end and you will not be able to get the characters out of your mind afterwards.

The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks is a wonderful novel in many ways. The recreation of King David's life from youth to old age through the eyes of Nathan, the prophet who spent his whole life beside the king, makes for a unique story. Nathan provides us an intimate perspective (as a companion who sees with his own eyes and as a seer who sees with his prophetic visions), as well as a bird's eye view of the larger events and developments. Nathan is a recorder of dramatic history that he personally witnessed and influenced, as well as a sensitive and wise observer, making for marvelous storytelling. This is truly an unforgettable novel. Bravo!
Deborah Rising: A Novel Inspired by the Bible

The Secret Chord offers a new perspective on the life of King David of the Old Testament. Narrated by David's prophet and contemporary, Natan (Nathan), readers follow David's rise from a poor shepherd boy to king of all Israel, the one who has been chosen by "The Name." Just as he is in the Bible, the David of this narrative is a courageous and charismatic man, but he is also deeply flawed.

I enjoy historical fiction of all types, and I found this book very interesting. Brooks fills in many of the missing spaces in the Biblical history, she fleshes out the individuals mentioned in the Bible and gives them new life in the pages of her book. I particularly enjoyed her treatment of some of David's many wives.

I have a fair acquaintance with Bible stories from my childhood so was looking forward to this fictionalize biography of David from one of my favorite authors. Initially I found the substitution of Hebrew names for the Christianized names difficult, but then I realized that it helped it to be more than just a fleshed out retelling of a familiar Bible story. Just the same I was never completely comfortable with the Hebrew names and it was a while before I realized that Beit Lehem was Bethlehem. I must say that it had never crossed my mind that David and Jonathan had a homosexual relationship - interesting thought. The horrifying rape of Tamar and her subsequent helplessness is the most vivid part of the book for me. It was never a gripping fast-paced novel but I trudged to the end and perhaps that's because I knew how it was going to end. I wonder how readers to whom this story is new perceive the book. David was a fascinating man, that's for sure.

In this retelling of the story of King David, the narrator is the prophet Nathan. To be quite honest, David comes across as a jerk and a way too over-indulgent father. To fill in the blanks where Nathan was not an observer to the event, the author has him writing a biography of David, so he has to interview David's older brother, mother, and first wife. The author also uses the narrator's prophetic ability in order to see other other events he is not present at like the rape of Tamar. Overall, it was a very well-written book, but would not recommend it to anyone who has an overly romantic view of King David.

A note to those who listen to the audio version of the book. The names are pronounced as they would be in Hebrew. So Nathan becomes Na-tahn. Jonathan becomes Jo-na-tahn. Abigail becomes Ah-vee-guile. Solomon becomes Shlo-mo.

I knew very little about King David. That he had killed Goliath, and had sent Bathsheba’s husband off to be killed so that he could have her. That he was the father of Solomon. But I’ve always been intrigued by people’s mythologies. I’d read just about everything I could get my hands on regarding the myths of Greece, Rome and the Norse, so I thought I’d tackle those of the Middle East. The story of David seemed a good place to start.

I wasn’t disappointed. Brooks fills in all the little details gleaned from the Bible (where they are all over the place,) and creates a full range of complete and intriguing characters. There is, of course, David, a man perhaps too flawed to not have very likely existed. Batsheva (Bathsheba,) who is given a surprising, yet more realistic, story than I would have imagined. And Solomon who, even as child, shows the greatness and wisdom that he is remembered for. Natan was someone I knew nothing about, so I don’t know how much of his story is taken from the Bible and how much was created for him. In either event, he is a vital component in the story of David.

Brooks also includes references to other people of the region, giving the story even more realism. I’m not sure who she meant by the “Sea People,” as the Minoan civilization had already fallen. The Greeks, perhaps, even though they were in a Dark Age. Whoever they were, I really liked that Brooks showed that Israel was not alone in the world.

This is the story of the Biblical King David, as told by his seer and adviser Natan. The author, through Natan, offers a shrewd dissection of the nature of power. David is charismatic, driven and courageous. He manages the competing factions around him with charm and guile. He builds alliances based on friendship and marriage, but he is also brutal and ruthless.

The story is told with immediacy, energy and rich characterisation. It is unflinching in its portrayal of both military and political conflict and so has relevance well beyond its beautifully realised setting.
*
I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley.

Geraldine Brooks breaths life into the story of the King David. Using the Bible as a jumping off point, Brooks starts with David's youth and brings us through his life. We get a complex character full of contradictions who is can be both noble and self-serving. The story is told through voice of Natan, the prophet. This gives us the advantage of an intimate view, and at the same time external that can present the good with the bad.

From his early life as a cruel bandit, through his fighting years to kingship. David often perpetrates and is surrounded by violence. At the same time, there is affection and love. Indeed, the most controversial part of this book is David's relationship with Yonatan, only hinted at in the Bible. But this is Brooks's gift - her ability to develop a historical novel that is firmly set in the Biblical era, yet written with a modern sensibility that will appeal to a broad swath of readers. Moreover, she is able to shed greater light on internal motivations that drive these characters to commit many of the acts that are only flatly told in the Bible.

I was a bit disappointed in this. I did not want a thoroughly modernized take on the story of David, but I was hoping for something a bit richer. Something that made him the main character of a novel rather than an almost detached recounting of his story as I remember it from the Bible.

David seems too removed with another as a narrator. He ends up lacking the complexity that is arguably one of the most interesting in the Bible. David was the epitome of the warrior king who basically saves his own culture and expands it. War was such a defining point of his life; playing the role of shaping his character and shaping his relationships. The flip side being how a man of culture he turns out to be win war is no longer the main role he pursues.

And yet that all falls a bit flat with the remove that the author employs. Lots of tell and not much show is almost criminal in such a book. Delving into the nature of a man who perseveres over many chances of betrayal only to commit his own later on in the name of love is a fascinating dichotomy that should encourage an author to peel back the layers and even indulge a bit in fictional exercise. But I felt that not only did that not happen, but Brooks is deliberate in that regard. Making for a dull main subject and a slow story in what is actually a rather short novel

Geraldine Brooks creatively uses an expanded role of Nathan to tell the story, both the glorious and the sinful, of David, second king of Israel, a flawed man, but nevertheless a man after God's own heart.

Ms. Brooks unnecessarily panders to cultural inclusiveness, though, in fabricating her plot device of an overwhelming David-Jonathan sexual relationship, and the resulting marital damage between David and Michal, Jonathan's sister and David's first wife.

While one can applaud the author's desire to use Hebrew name transliterations in honoring her own Jewish roots, the other 99% of the world's population would have benefited from an easily accessible glossary of such names with traditional Western spellings.

Whoa, this wasn’t a story of the Biblical King David I was expecting! He’s wildly successful in the battle to become king, but he also is arrogant and his low points are spectacular, too. Brooks has chosen his prophet, Natan, to tell the story—a much more reliable historian than David. Battling family, claiming wives he desires, outsmarting foes describe David as does his remarkable ability to play the harp and sing. If I were to use one word to describe David, it would be “contradiction”. I love books that take the “holy” out of holy people and show them to be people with faults as well as strengths. I’ll be interested in hearing how this book is received among conservative Christians who see the Bible as literal. I’m not looking at reviews until finish writing my one. I wish I had read this book in traditional format rather than on the Kindle. There is such a cast of characters to keep track of, it would have been easier to page back to the list of characters in book form.

A terrific book that brought me to tears at the end. I have to admit that the beginning was heavy going, as it took time to figure out the names and characters. However, it repaid stick-to-itiveness by really getting into gear about a third of the way in. Brooks is especially adept at making biblical characters so three-dimensional that they could be walking about on our streets today. The outlines of the story are, of course, familiar from the bible but that doesn't take away from the power and pathos.

An especially good choice for those who liked Anita Diamant's THE RED TENT.

I enjoyed this account of David. It was well-written and fascinating. The strength of character he exhibited and the talents he showed fit with my thoughts on David. The author did a great job of showing his weaknesses and downfalls, as well. I found the suggestion that David may have been gay a little disturbing, but I chalked that up to Michal, the sister of Jonathan, being was a scorned lover. Outside of that one detail, I thought this was an excellent story. I will be reading more by Geraldine Brooks.

Brooks brought King David out of the Hebrew scriptures and into vivid life for me, portraying him as a remarkable yet flawed human being. He was perhaps a rapist, but also a mystic; a warrior, but also a musician; a king, but also the humble servant of God. He is shown as a leader who does what he thinks is necessary, even if it means slaughtering women and children. A man of his time certainly, but also one with the vision to unite a kingdom. ---Veronica Dale, author of Blood Seed,Dark Twin, and Night Cruiser: Short Stories about Creepy, Amusing or Spiritual Encounters with the Shadow

David is probably the most famous of the Old Testament (and Torah) kings, and much of his life story is recorded there. Building on those and other sources, Geraldine Brooks has created an absorbing novel of David's story, told through the eyes of his longtime seer and servant Natan. The story contains the familiar elements -- his rivalry with his erstwhile mentor Saul, his relationship with Saul's son Jonathan and daughter Mikal, his decision to have the brave soldier Uriah sent to the battlefront and slain so David can satisfy his lust for Uriah's wife Bathsheba. David's bravery; his skill as a singer, poet and lute player; and his skill in leading his soldiers are part of the story, but so are his callousness and brutality. There are some surprising elements to the story as well, told with an intimacy of someone who knows David from his teens to his old age and death.

Brooks writes with her customary skill, making David, Natan and those around them into human beings, not just figures from a distant past. Through her words, the reader can see, hear, and smell the gore of the battlefield and the grit of everyday life in the ancient Middle East, even in the palace. I found this book thoroughly enjoyable.

Geraldine Brooks can't write a bad book. I think our book group has read all of her previous books. "The Secret Chord" is a departure for her as it goes back before B.C. and chronicles the life of David. Its primary strength for me was how it captured the setting surrounding David's life and the brutality. It isn't easy reading for the sensitive reader, but it's worthwhile. A very original book from a world class author! Can't wait to see what topic Brooks tackles next.

I came to this novel a big fan of Ms. Brooks', but this one blew me totally away. So rich with history and information, palace intrigue, bloody battles, prescience, and at the heart of it all, a shepherd boy who united a region and became king. The best book I've read this year.

The Beauty Of This Novel, Is In the Writing.

Like her earlier historical fiction, The Year of Wonder, Geraldine Brooks, surpasses her wonderful writing, in this her new historical novel,
"The Secret Chord."

Her writing is so intense, so intimate, so real, that you feel she must have gone back into time, and channeled this breathtaking novel of King Dvid through the eyes of the Prophet Nathan.

It is such a beautiful novel, one to behold, and hopefully will become a deservedly best-seller in America.

This is Brook's version of the life of David. I started it one night and finished it the next afternoon, all 302 intense, beautifully written pages. It's told in the voice of Nathan, David's prophet and counselor and leaves out no detail of an amazing life. David was everything from a lonely shepherd boy to a soldier, both hero and traitor, musician and poet, lover, husband, adulterer, father, beloved of God, both sinner and sinned against. All I have to say - if this version of David's life isn't true, it ought to be! All of the books I've read by Geraldine Brooks have been challenging and complex. This is my favorite to date.

Having read a number of novels by Geraldine Brooks I find her novels to be very hit and miss. When Ms Brooks is a bit like the Little Girl With The Curl in the middle of her forehead, when she is good she's very, very good but when she's bad she is horrid. To say I was extremely disappointed by (a) the quality of the writing and (b) the literary licence Brooks felt compelled to use to "modernise" the biblical text, would be an understatement. This novel smacks of the literary contract satisfied ie the author signs a contract which requires them to churn out x number of novels in y years for an agreed sum. I doubt I will be bothered to read any further publications by this author. I have deleted it from my library.

I found this book engaging--it puts a very human face on Biblical characters, which is a difficult thing to do. I'm not much of an expert on the original story of David, so I don't know how much of the narrative events comes from the Bible and how much from the author's imagination. In any case, it works, and I liked the choice of narrator.

There were two aspects I found less than perfect. One is the dialogue, which tends to tip uncomfortably between Biblical-sounding and much more modern. I understand what Brooks was trying to do, because too much Biblical dialogue would be awkward to read and tend to distance the characters. But you need some to set the tone and place. Still, I sometimes found the shifts jarring.

Second, the timeline wanders back and forth a bit, and because I'm not overly familiar with the story, I occasionally got a little lost.

Despite the shortcomings, I very much enjoyed the book.

I might be writing this review from a different perspective in that I have little to no biblical knowledge to compare David - the subject of Brooks' new novel - to. Aside from a vague familiarity with the whole David and Goliath reference, my knowledge of this apparently well-known biblical figure was pretty much zero going into this book. And I am perfectly fine with that because it meant I wasn't going to be persnickety about the details in this work of fiction.

So from that perspective, I have to tell you that I very much enjoyed the book (despite a slightly slow beginning). Despite a soap-opera quality, which I'm going to assume wasn't of Brooks' doing but taken from her source material (ha), she still manages to give *some* dignity to this lurid tale of a very flawed man trying, and often failing, in his roles as father, husband, ruler. Ultimately I would say that it is Brooks' writing that saves this novel from being just another lascivious historical fiction novel which it probably would have been in anyone else's hands. Brooks handles lurid scenes with a deft touch - enough to keep you on the edge of your seat without letting it all get tacky.

As noted, I can't speak from a religious person's point of view or imagine how they'd view this novel. But as a non-Christian with little knowledge of the religion, I found it highly entertaining. Recommended.

David is a charismatic biblical figure and his story - including his love for Jonathan and the taking of Bathsheba - has the potential to really engage the reader. However this telling leaves me fairly cold. The main issue is that so much of it is told in the past tense (in flashback). Although the narrator does return to the present from time to time, this leaves very little opportunity to build the sort of 'here-and-now' tension that keeps you turning the page. The use of slightly inflated 'poetic/classical' language doesn't help here, either. The writing feels like it's trying too hard to be 'biblical' rather than real, putting you at arms-length from the characters.

Female characters in particular seem to suffer in this novel (surprising, as it is actually written by a woman). They are generally noble, long-suffering individuals who live to serve their men, and as a result they come across as one-dimensional and rather dull.

I finished the book, but it felt more like a chore than a pleasure.

This was our book club selection last month. We’ve read many of Brooks’ books in the past and really enjoyed them – especially Year of Wonders and People of the Book. But only the moderator finished the Secret Chord. Most didn’t get very far – they said the book had too much war and brutality and they weren’t drawn into the characters. I got about 80% through before I was just too disgusted with the main character to continue. The book did spark an interesting discussion on our beliefs about seers and prophets.

The Secret Chord is the story of David of Israel from his childhood to his passing. Now I must confess all I knew of David was Michelangelo's statue and the story of David and Goliath. But David comes to life in all his glory and his failings in this book. Told from the perspective of his prophet, Brooks draws you in from the beginning. I laughed, cried and read on with suspense as the story unfolded. The use of old jewish names threw me a bit in the beginning, but not for long. I love history and I loved this story. - A copy of the book was provided for my unbiased review.

I was impressed with the research that Brooks tackled to write this book. I didn't always agree with some of her fictional conclusions to that research. I really think she missed the mark in describing a prophet and the way he receives revelation. The attention to the details found in the Bible was good.

The Bible’s King David is a complex character, and it is his prophet Natan who narrates David’s turbulent life. From his humble beginnings to his giant-slaying heroics, he was a bandit, a warrior, and finally a king. But David’s reign came at a great cost. Much blood was shed to unite his kingdom, and he didn’t exactly make the wisest decisions along the way (ahem, seducing Batsheva, the wife of Uriah). While blessed and anointed by God, he was cursed when he sent Uriah to his death. He was a good king, but a bad father, and the indulgence of his sons led them to be rapists, murderers, and usurpers. I find it ironic that David’s one decent child was his son by Batsheva, and Shlomo (Solomon) would become his heir and Israel’s greatest and wisest king.

The book had its ups and downs, especially after a relatively slow start. But by the time of Shlomo’s birth and Natan’s tutelage of the boy, I found the groove. Brooks’ narrative is elegant, but there are so many characters (generals, offspring, wives, etc), that it took me a while to keep them all straight. Otherwise, it was a powerful portrayal of a flawed but talented ruler. I really appreciated Natan’s insider perspective as David’s counselor and prophet. Even more effective, though, were his divine visions and his ability to see the consequences of David’s actions. It’s a story that has endured millennia, and it remains a timeless tale of power, ruthlessness, and redemption.

I love Geraldine Brooks very much. I was so excited when I saw a new book out after I thought too many years had passed. Now I know as she must have researched like a professor or known much from her life. I think though I did struggle to keep in touch by goggle who is what and who is Nathan verses Natan about who is the King Davids phophet. I think being Jewish would help very much with the names some of which are not on the character's list. Personally I would have liked a map of current area that King David ruled and the past on so you could visually see what distance means and also the current map of all the trouble now in that area that could certainly have still influenced the current problem. Basically I am finding it hard to read but feel that I must finish a work by one of my favorite authors. I guess my poor knowledge of the Bible is one basically problem in keeping in touch with the facts and stories.

A most engaging story of of King David and his times, beautifully and colorfully told, reflecting deep knowledge of the Hebrew tradition in which it is embedded. Like much of the Hebrew Bible itself, this is a story of God's presence manifesting through the actions of passionate, flawed, sometimes tragically flawed, human beings. I laughed and cried with these Biblical characters and -- as with Aristotle's definition of tragedy as that which purifies the soul by purging it of pity and terror -- came to feel a deep resonance with the mythic themes that run through it all.

This is an imaginative yet faithful re-telling of the King David story of the Hebrew scriptures. Brooks is a great writer and has clearly done her homework. This is a novel, however. Brooks takes the known facts and then tells the story as it might have been in an "ardent imaginative engagement with the blank spaces in history's record." Nathan, the prophet and close friend of David, is the storyteller. It's a great read!