What do you think?
Rate this book
Hagar
Love, conflict, and faith are the central themes of the Old Testament story about Abraham the patriarch and the slave, Hagar
Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
4 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
About the author
Lois T. Henderson
16 books30 followersLois T. Henderson is an American author of Christian novels, many of which are dramatizations of Biblical narratives about women.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
September 21, 2021
Ugh! I'm rating this book so low because of how it distorts Scripture. I get that it's a novel and I have absolutely no problem with a Biblical novel making things up to create a story, filling in a made up back story. But I do have a real problem when a "Biblical" novel actually takes a scene out of the Bible and changes it. Then it shouldn't be listed as a Biblical novel, but rather just as a novel. Several years ago I read another Biblical novel by the same author. The book was "Ruth". I really enjoyed that book a lot and yes of course it was a novel so there was a lot of made up back story. No problem. I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed this book, "Hagar", until it got to the parts where Scripture was distorted and portrayed falsely.
Other than the Scripture being falsified (and therefore misleading people), the writing was good and it definitely held my interest.
False Scripture - the book portrayed Lot as having 4 children and one on the way. The Biblical account only accounts for Lot having 2 daughters.
False Scripture (and this one really bothered me) - the account of God making a covenant with Abraham where God told Abraham to cut certain animals into and placing their halves opposite each other in order to walk between them as was the custom when people made serious oaths or promises or covenants. Both parties would walk between the cut up animals. Well in the Biblical account, Abraham didn't walk between the halves only God did. Showing that this was a covenant that God had made with Abraham. It wasn't dependent on any action or contribution from Abraham. But in the book, Abraham walked through the animals first and then God. That completely changes the purpose of the covenant.
So I couldn't rate the book higher. I almost rated it lower, although it was a good read other than the Biblical distortions.
Other than the Scripture being falsified (and therefore misleading people), the writing was good and it definitely held my interest.
False Scripture - the book portrayed Lot as having 4 children and one on the way. The Biblical account only accounts for Lot having 2 daughters.
False Scripture (and this one really bothered me) - the account of God making a covenant with Abraham where God told Abraham to cut certain animals into and placing their halves opposite each other in order to walk between them as was the custom when people made serious oaths or promises or covenants. Both parties would walk between the cut up animals. Well in the Biblical account, Abraham didn't walk between the halves only God did. Showing that this was a covenant that God had made with Abraham. It wasn't dependent on any action or contribution from Abraham. But in the book, Abraham walked through the animals first and then God. That completely changes the purpose of the covenant.
So I couldn't rate the book higher. I almost rated it lower, although it was a good read other than the Biblical distortions.
September 19, 2024
Well written.
My heart ached deeply.
It caused me to think about the story surrounding Hagar, and Hagar herself, in new ways and brought it to life.
A good book. The type of biblical fiction that inspires me to write it.
I'm excited to read more from this author. ❤️
I wish there was a second book. Or an epilogue where we could see what happened next, to tie up some emotional loose ends.
There were two things that bugged me, factually, but it is still a good story.
One thing that bugged me plotwise.
CW: Sexual tension
Mentions of sex, though there are no descriptions or sex scenes.
There are a few instances of assault.
It was true to the time and culture, but still broke my heart. Because... the main character never seemed to realize how deeply wrong it was.
My heart ached deeply.
It caused me to think about the story surrounding Hagar, and Hagar herself, in new ways and brought it to life.
A good book. The type of biblical fiction that inspires me to write it.
I'm excited to read more from this author. ❤️
I wish there was a second book. Or an epilogue where we could see what happened next, to tie up some emotional loose ends.
There were two things that bugged me, factually, but it is still a good story.
One thing that bugged me plotwise.
CW: Sexual tension
Mentions of sex, though there are no descriptions or sex scenes.
There are a few instances of assault.
It was true to the time and culture, but still broke my heart. Because... the main character never seemed to realize how deeply wrong it was.
April 9, 2012
a very easy read, yet wonderful story. The trials that befall Hagar and her son, Ishmael, i did not find myself becoming angry with God, For you know he has great plans for them. But Sarah, yeah, you get to not liking her very much.
November 6, 2018
I loved seeing this Bible story come to life in a new way! I loved the perspective of Hagar through the entire book and I really enjoyed the way the author writes! It was an easy read but still hard to put down!
July 3, 2023
This was a relatively interesting look at Hagar's life, how her story might have gone down. As one can guess, it is told primarily from Hagar's perspective and is primarily based upon her story as told in the Book of Genesis, but the author does take some artistic licenses in parts and veers away from what is recorded in Genesis. The character development is decent, I guess. We interpret the internal character of those in the Bible based upon the lenses of the modern day and assume we know this, that, or the other about a character.
The downside(s) of the book: Lot is said to have had two sons, two daughters, and a fifth child on the way. Yet, no name is ever given for the two sons, and we are never told what happened to the fifth child. The two sons are problematic because the Book of Genesis never records Lot as having two sons, and considering how important sons were during that time, their names would have been recorded in the Bible. I don't think the author should have had Lot having two sons, especially when nothing is said about them ever again in the story. What was the point of bringing them up if they are not going to be mentioned or used ever again? It made no sense.
The author skips over the fact that Ishmael is thirteen, fourteen years older than Isaac. Ishmael was circumcised when he was thirteen years old. In fact, the author skips over Abraham being circumcised when he was ninety-nine and all of the other males in the camp being circumcised at the same time. Instead, she writes about Ishmael as if he is only five or six years older than Isaac. A teenager punching a two-year-old (even a fourteen-year-0ld teenager) is going to hurt the infant quite a bit. It makes no sense for her to write Ishmael like she does when he is so much older than Isaac in the Bible. It makes me wonder if something else must have been going on beyond how Ishmael was treating Isaac that made Sarah demand that Hagar and Ishmael be forced from the camp? Perhaps the author is right, that Sarah had grown jealous and fearful of Ishmael and wanted to ensure that Isaac was the heir to Abraham's wealth and not Ishmael?
Also, the author ignores that Sarai gave Hagar to Abraham to be his second wife. Not just as a possible incubator for a male heir. Not just as a possible egg donor for Abraham's seed. The Book of Genesis records that Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to be his wife, his second wife. I think that is pretty significant, too, as I would think (and have not taken the time too look up) that would imply or mean that Hagar's status and position in life changed; I would think it definitely meant that Ishmael was Abraham's first born and heir. Granted, Hagar is still referred to as a slave woman after she becomes pregnant, and again in the chapter in which Hagar is driven out of the camp, she is referred to as a "slave woman", so what do I know? It is just said how things worked out, that Sarah tried to circumvent Yahweh's will by encouraging her husband to take on a second wife to bear him a child since she was barren and then coming to resent both Hagar and Ishmael to the point that she had them driven from the camp and out into the desert.
I think this is important, too - the author ignores that it was Yahweh and Yahweh alone who passed through the halves of the sacrifices to seal the covenant between Himself and Abram. The author has Abram passing between the halves of each sacrificed animal and wondering how Yahweh will be able to do such a thing since Yahweh lacks a physical form right up to the point where Yahweh manifests Himself and passes between the offerings. It was Yahweh and only Yahweh Who passed through amidst the sacrifices, and that, in my mind, is a pretty serious thing to "get wrong" because it changes the very nature of what happened and implies Abraham played some part in what came next in fulfilling Yahweh's promises to him when in actuality it would be Yahweh and Yahweh alone who would fulfill be terms of the covenant (and be able to fulfill the terms of the covenant).
It is kinda nitpicky, but the author has the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah thanking Abram for saving their people and offering him all of their wealth; the Bible records that it was actually just the king of Sodom who thanked Abram and offered to allow Abram to keep all of the wealth he had recaptured in his fights against the larger foe.
The author also skips over a second time that Abraham told another king that Sarah was "just" his sister and not his wife, and how that brought great tribulation upon this second king's household. Granted, Hagar is not mentioned in that story, so perhaps that is why it is not mentioned in this novel, either (as it is not part of Hagar's story).
I did not mind that the author created Meryet as Hagar's older cousin. Granted, her scheming got a little old as the story progressed, but she was still an interesting (albeit annoying) foil for Hagar throughout the book, and I do think it was "wrong" for the author to have Meryet implant the suggestion in Sarai's mind to have Abraham copulate with Hagar until Hagar became pregnant and bore him a male heir instead of having Sarai come up with the idea herself. It felt like "the blame" (or responsibility behind the suggestion) was being shifted from Sarai's lack of faith and not fully trusting Yahweh and His plan to a fantasy character. And, in the end, we see that she does care for her cousin after all, which was nice to see - that she had a human side to her.
The author also creates a character with whom Hagar can fall in love and have her "happily ever after" at the end of the novel. I was ambivalent about that, myself.
I think, though, the story helped me see a few things about Hagar and "her story" that I never saw before or even considered. First of all, either Yahweh or an angel of the Lord spoke to Hagar twice; Sarah was never spoken to by Yahweh or any messengers. That never occurred to me until now, and I think that it does say something special about Hagar (especially considering she was not just slave but a former Egyptian as well). She found out from the Angel of the Lord that the promise that was given to Abraham regarding his heir would not just apply to Isaac but to her son Ishmael as well. I mean, up to that point, only Abraham and Melchizedek had heard the voice of Yahweh; not even Sarai had heard Yahweh's voice (until she heard the Messenger tell Abraham she would give birth to a son within a year's time and she laughed about it). I think the fact that Hagar heard Yahweh's voice and was even obedient to what she was told to do (such as going back to submit herself to Sarai's authority after Sarai had treated her harshly) says quite a bit about her character and said something to Yahweh as well. She does not argue with Yahweh; she submits to His authority and returns to a painful situation not of her own making to be obedient to the God that created her; she fully submitted herself to His will in that respect, and I think that says quite a bit about her, her character, and how Yahweh saw her (especially as she had been arrogant about becoming pregnant, which caused Sarai to react harshly the way she did and drove Hagar away the first time; she knew going back she'd have to submit herself to any punishment Sarai saw fit to mete out to her for fleeing like she did). How many Christians today would do that, would humble themselves and return to a painful/uncomfortable situation if Yahweh told them to humble themselves and submit themselves to the authority that was over them, no matter how uncomfortable or painful it might be? Would a Christian today fight such a command and claim it was from a demon because it could not possibly be from Yahweh? We often forget that Yahweh wants us holy more than He wants us happy, and He will use trials and tribulations and heartache and pain and grief to get us to where we need to be. And Hagar heard Yahweh speaking directly into her life twice and believed what was said to her whereas Sarah did not.
Second, reading this novel had me going back to Genesis to read the accounts recorded in the Bible and comparing them to the accounts as described in her book. So it was interesting to me to read how Abraham made pacts/treaties with Amorites who lived in the area considering how Yahweh would later destroy the Amorites because of how evil they had become. I also found it interesting to read that Ishmael had twelve sons, and that Yahweh was with him as he became an adult. Finally, after Sarah died, Abraham took on a third wife (after Hagar) and bore him several male heirs as well! So the issue was more with Sarah being barren than it was with Abraham's seed. Crazy.
It was an okay novel. I thought the author did a decent job fleshing out Hagar, Abraham, and Sarah based upon what is shared in the Book of Genesis. I was not too happy with some of the artistic licenses she took where she ignores what is shared in the Bible to create her story; the parts that were "extra-biblical" I had no issues with. I probably would have rated it 2.7 stars rounded up to 3 stars, but I think that for the parts in her novel that were taken directly from the Bible, she should have kept as it was described in the Bible and not made any changes to them (especially the covenant sacrifice as described in Genesis and how the changes she made to it essentially changed the nature of the covenant). For me, that bumps it down to 2 stars. It did open my eyes to some things about Ishmael and Hagar that I had not seen before, so that was cool. In the end, I am glad that I took a chance and read the book.
The downside(s) of the book: Lot is said to have had two sons, two daughters, and a fifth child on the way. Yet, no name is ever given for the two sons, and we are never told what happened to the fifth child. The two sons are problematic because the Book of Genesis never records Lot as having two sons, and considering how important sons were during that time, their names would have been recorded in the Bible. I don't think the author should have had Lot having two sons, especially when nothing is said about them ever again in the story. What was the point of bringing them up if they are not going to be mentioned or used ever again? It made no sense.
The author skips over the fact that Ishmael is thirteen, fourteen years older than Isaac. Ishmael was circumcised when he was thirteen years old. In fact, the author skips over Abraham being circumcised when he was ninety-nine and all of the other males in the camp being circumcised at the same time. Instead, she writes about Ishmael as if he is only five or six years older than Isaac. A teenager punching a two-year-old (even a fourteen-year-0ld teenager) is going to hurt the infant quite a bit. It makes no sense for her to write Ishmael like she does when he is so much older than Isaac in the Bible. It makes me wonder if something else must have been going on beyond how Ishmael was treating Isaac that made Sarah demand that Hagar and Ishmael be forced from the camp? Perhaps the author is right, that Sarah had grown jealous and fearful of Ishmael and wanted to ensure that Isaac was the heir to Abraham's wealth and not Ishmael?
Also, the author ignores that Sarai gave Hagar to Abraham to be his second wife. Not just as a possible incubator for a male heir. Not just as a possible egg donor for Abraham's seed. The Book of Genesis records that Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to be his wife, his second wife. I think that is pretty significant, too, as I would think (and have not taken the time too look up) that would imply or mean that Hagar's status and position in life changed; I would think it definitely meant that Ishmael was Abraham's first born and heir. Granted, Hagar is still referred to as a slave woman after she becomes pregnant, and again in the chapter in which Hagar is driven out of the camp, she is referred to as a "slave woman", so what do I know? It is just said how things worked out, that Sarah tried to circumvent Yahweh's will by encouraging her husband to take on a second wife to bear him a child since she was barren and then coming to resent both Hagar and Ishmael to the point that she had them driven from the camp and out into the desert.
I think this is important, too - the author ignores that it was Yahweh and Yahweh alone who passed through the halves of the sacrifices to seal the covenant between Himself and Abram. The author has Abram passing between the halves of each sacrificed animal and wondering how Yahweh will be able to do such a thing since Yahweh lacks a physical form right up to the point where Yahweh manifests Himself and passes between the offerings. It was Yahweh and only Yahweh Who passed through amidst the sacrifices, and that, in my mind, is a pretty serious thing to "get wrong" because it changes the very nature of what happened and implies Abraham played some part in what came next in fulfilling Yahweh's promises to him when in actuality it would be Yahweh and Yahweh alone who would fulfill be terms of the covenant (and be able to fulfill the terms of the covenant).
It is kinda nitpicky, but the author has the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah thanking Abram for saving their people and offering him all of their wealth; the Bible records that it was actually just the king of Sodom who thanked Abram and offered to allow Abram to keep all of the wealth he had recaptured in his fights against the larger foe.
The author also skips over a second time that Abraham told another king that Sarah was "just" his sister and not his wife, and how that brought great tribulation upon this second king's household. Granted, Hagar is not mentioned in that story, so perhaps that is why it is not mentioned in this novel, either (as it is not part of Hagar's story).
I did not mind that the author created Meryet as Hagar's older cousin. Granted, her scheming got a little old as the story progressed, but she was still an interesting (albeit annoying) foil for Hagar throughout the book, and I do think it was "wrong" for the author to have Meryet implant the suggestion in Sarai's mind to have Abraham copulate with Hagar until Hagar became pregnant and bore him a male heir instead of having Sarai come up with the idea herself. It felt like "the blame" (or responsibility behind the suggestion) was being shifted from Sarai's lack of faith and not fully trusting Yahweh and His plan to a fantasy character. And, in the end, we see that she does care for her cousin after all, which was nice to see - that she had a human side to her.
The author also creates a character with whom Hagar can fall in love and have her "happily ever after" at the end of the novel. I was ambivalent about that, myself.
I think, though, the story helped me see a few things about Hagar and "her story" that I never saw before or even considered. First of all, either Yahweh or an angel of the Lord spoke to Hagar twice; Sarah was never spoken to by Yahweh or any messengers. That never occurred to me until now, and I think that it does say something special about Hagar (especially considering she was not just slave but a former Egyptian as well). She found out from the Angel of the Lord that the promise that was given to Abraham regarding his heir would not just apply to Isaac but to her son Ishmael as well. I mean, up to that point, only Abraham and Melchizedek had heard the voice of Yahweh; not even Sarai had heard Yahweh's voice (until she heard the Messenger tell Abraham she would give birth to a son within a year's time and she laughed about it). I think the fact that Hagar heard Yahweh's voice and was even obedient to what she was told to do (such as going back to submit herself to Sarai's authority after Sarai had treated her harshly) says quite a bit about her character and said something to Yahweh as well. She does not argue with Yahweh; she submits to His authority and returns to a painful situation not of her own making to be obedient to the God that created her; she fully submitted herself to His will in that respect, and I think that says quite a bit about her, her character, and how Yahweh saw her (especially as she had been arrogant about becoming pregnant, which caused Sarai to react harshly the way she did and drove Hagar away the first time; she knew going back she'd have to submit herself to any punishment Sarai saw fit to mete out to her for fleeing like she did). How many Christians today would do that, would humble themselves and return to a painful/uncomfortable situation if Yahweh told them to humble themselves and submit themselves to the authority that was over them, no matter how uncomfortable or painful it might be? Would a Christian today fight such a command and claim it was from a demon because it could not possibly be from Yahweh? We often forget that Yahweh wants us holy more than He wants us happy, and He will use trials and tribulations and heartache and pain and grief to get us to where we need to be. And Hagar heard Yahweh speaking directly into her life twice and believed what was said to her whereas Sarah did not.
Second, reading this novel had me going back to Genesis to read the accounts recorded in the Bible and comparing them to the accounts as described in her book. So it was interesting to me to read how Abraham made pacts/treaties with Amorites who lived in the area considering how Yahweh would later destroy the Amorites because of how evil they had become. I also found it interesting to read that Ishmael had twelve sons, and that Yahweh was with him as he became an adult. Finally, after Sarah died, Abraham took on a third wife (after Hagar) and bore him several male heirs as well! So the issue was more with Sarah being barren than it was with Abraham's seed. Crazy.
It was an okay novel. I thought the author did a decent job fleshing out Hagar, Abraham, and Sarah based upon what is shared in the Book of Genesis. I was not too happy with some of the artistic licenses she took where she ignores what is shared in the Bible to create her story; the parts that were "extra-biblical" I had no issues with. I probably would have rated it 2.7 stars rounded up to 3 stars, but I think that for the parts in her novel that were taken directly from the Bible, she should have kept as it was described in the Bible and not made any changes to them (especially the covenant sacrifice as described in Genesis and how the changes she made to it essentially changed the nature of the covenant). For me, that bumps it down to 2 stars. It did open my eyes to some things about Ishmael and Hagar that I had not seen before, so that was cool. In the end, I am glad that I took a chance and read the book.
January 18, 2020
While it’s not a Francine Rivers novel by any means, it was a quick read to help with my narrative sermon from Genesis 16 this weekend. Knowing that my grandmother gave me this book as part of a set makes me feel close to her this weekend too.
February 8, 2010
I loved this book. This book got me hooked on fictionalized bible tales because it so deftly brings these long ago people to life.
August 29, 2020
This book deviated from the bible quite a bit and I don't care for that.
January 28, 2021
"I don't want your protection or a dowry I don't want you and I don't want your god! . . . Don't pity me. I've served you well, my lord. As payment, at least let me keep some dignity."
The entire story is infuriating from start to finish, not exactly the authors fault here since the original is equally frustrating, but she could have made some better choices along the way such as being consistent with telling the story from Hagar's perspective. Sometimes it strays and you get long passages about Abraham and Sarai without any mention of Hagar, which seems odd. I mean I know that that's how the Bible is but I wish the author would have taken more creative liberty since this is after all a fictionalized account of the story.
I'll admit I didn't read the book completely because I found myself hating it and didn't want to pick it up to read more, but I did skim to the end to see how the author chose to wrap it up, not great btw. Anyway, my few final thoughts...
- Abraham is a POS. In a culture where men/husbands have the final say above all else, why are you just going along with your wife's plan? If you didn't want to have sex with Hagar, you didn't need to. Especially since you stated many times how you see her as your daughter... 🤬 He's supposed to be a leader, but he blames all his actions on others instead of taking responsibility.
- I hate Sarai. Her entire uppity attitude about being better than all the slaves and how their sole purpose is to serve her every need is revolting. She thinks they "saved" Hagar from Egypt, but really you just took her like a piece of property. To save her would be to set her free. Sarai uses her position as Abraham's wife to her advantage in any way she can. She is manipulative and downright abusive.
- Hagar, I'm so sorry for what you went through. I can't even fathom how she endured everything and survived. She's strong and resilient and she deserved so much better. Even in the end after being deserted by Abraham, her "happy ending" is to be with Simeon who slut-shamed her and hit her? What a tragic story...
The entire story is infuriating from start to finish, not exactly the authors fault here since the original is equally frustrating, but she could have made some better choices along the way such as being consistent with telling the story from Hagar's perspective. Sometimes it strays and you get long passages about Abraham and Sarai without any mention of Hagar, which seems odd. I mean I know that that's how the Bible is but I wish the author would have taken more creative liberty since this is after all a fictionalized account of the story.
I'll admit I didn't read the book completely because I found myself hating it and didn't want to pick it up to read more, but I did skim to the end to see how the author chose to wrap it up, not great btw. Anyway, my few final thoughts...
- Abraham is a POS. In a culture where men/husbands have the final say above all else, why are you just going along with your wife's plan? If you didn't want to have sex with Hagar, you didn't need to. Especially since you stated many times how you see her as your daughter... 🤬 He's supposed to be a leader, but he blames all his actions on others instead of taking responsibility.
- I hate Sarai. Her entire uppity attitude about being better than all the slaves and how their sole purpose is to serve her every need is revolting. She thinks they "saved" Hagar from Egypt, but really you just took her like a piece of property. To save her would be to set her free. Sarai uses her position as Abraham's wife to her advantage in any way she can. She is manipulative and downright abusive.
- Hagar, I'm so sorry for what you went through. I can't even fathom how she endured everything and survived. She's strong and resilient and she deserved so much better. Even in the end after being deserted by Abraham, her "happy ending" is to be with Simeon who slut-shamed her and hit her? What a tragic story...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2021
This was an engaging read that brought to life the emotions, anguish and fallen nature of humans in the characters of Hagar, Abraham, Sarah and Hagar's friend. Towards the end, we also see the play of interactions between Isaac and Ishmael. Recommended read.
May 16, 2010
Well written and easy to read. I look forward to reading more from this author.
September 10, 2012
I can't remember when I read this, it's been a while but it stayed with me. Excellent.
January 22, 2025
This is not Henderson’s best piece ever written.
I don’t know if I’ve grown up or if it’s the fact that it’s the story of Hagar, or a mix of both.
We don’t know much about Hagar. She’s mentioned only a few times in Genesis. So of course most of the ideas to make the storyline interesting are made up (just like for the other books by Henderson), yet this one feels too pushy. Theres too many characters and events that add up to the plot of the storyline, which ultimately didn’t feel natural to me.
She connected some stories or created characters where I would’ve been more careful, yet there’s parts of the Bible she sort of neglects or leaves out.
Nevertheless the novel did give me a deeper understanding of the great burden Hagar had to carry. And to be honest: this book does make me question and grief. It will be a little journey for me to pray and understand more about Gods character to accept the fact: he did let it happen. (Since the whole Hagar affair really does not help anyone and I feel like the world and Israel would be good without it!)
Also I realised I want to stop idolising Abraham - which I never did anyway - but this book revealed to me a deeper sense and side for the story. Idk how to really explain this, but thinking about it: I wish it was more talked and preached about what Abram and Sarai did to so many people because of their disobedience. It’s not just a little story that happened. They were the leaders of their flock, role models, bearers of faith. And they messed up pretty bad. And still God chooses to keep on being and working with human beings! What an amazing God (for that part you have to let yourself be humbled by God to show you: unfortunately I’m also not any better than Sarai or Abram).
Two things I know:
1. Hagar became a hero for me and I hope I will see her in heaven one day. I admire her resistance and obedience. I want to be more like her.
2. I pray I will never ever in my life let a behaviour like Sarai’s or Abram‘s overtake and let a mistake like that happen. Lord please keep me on the right path - trusting you all the way!
I don’t know if I’ve grown up or if it’s the fact that it’s the story of Hagar, or a mix of both.
We don’t know much about Hagar. She’s mentioned only a few times in Genesis. So of course most of the ideas to make the storyline interesting are made up (just like for the other books by Henderson), yet this one feels too pushy. Theres too many characters and events that add up to the plot of the storyline, which ultimately didn’t feel natural to me.
She connected some stories or created characters where I would’ve been more careful, yet there’s parts of the Bible she sort of neglects or leaves out.
Nevertheless the novel did give me a deeper understanding of the great burden Hagar had to carry. And to be honest: this book does make me question and grief. It will be a little journey for me to pray and understand more about Gods character to accept the fact: he did let it happen. (Since the whole Hagar affair really does not help anyone and I feel like the world and Israel would be good without it!)
Also I realised I want to stop idolising Abraham - which I never did anyway - but this book revealed to me a deeper sense and side for the story. Idk how to really explain this, but thinking about it: I wish it was more talked and preached about what Abram and Sarai did to so many people because of their disobedience. It’s not just a little story that happened. They were the leaders of their flock, role models, bearers of faith. And they messed up pretty bad. And still God chooses to keep on being and working with human beings! What an amazing God (for that part you have to let yourself be humbled by God to show you: unfortunately I’m also not any better than Sarai or Abram).
Two things I know:
1. Hagar became a hero for me and I hope I will see her in heaven one day. I admire her resistance and obedience. I want to be more like her.
2. I pray I will never ever in my life let a behaviour like Sarai’s or Abram‘s overtake and let a mistake like that happen. Lord please keep me on the right path - trusting you all the way!
May 4, 2024
Very good fictional account of the Biblical account of Hagar. I have never though much about Hagar after she is sent away in the Bible. After reading this book it left me wanting to know the historical account of what happened to Hagar and Ishmael. We know that Ishmael is the patriarch of Islam but I need to know so much more of how he came to that and what happened to Hagar. Highly recommend if you can find this book.
June 30, 2018
A quick read with a captivating story. Even though I knew how this would turn out, Henderson did a great job building tension and developing the characters. Henderson brings the human perspective and insight to a story that often made me wonder why did they do that?
February 13, 2025
I enjoyed the book because of how easy it was to read and I liked the writer’s style. I had to remind myself that it was fiction when it didn’t always align with scriptures. I always guard my heart over these things, yet accept that it’s fiction, nonetheless.
January 21, 2020
Story of the Egyptian slave of Sarah and Abraham and how she bore Ishmael and was later sent into the desert to die.
March 25, 2020
Love the fictionalized story of Hagar. It adds a different dimension to the biblical story. It personalizes what might have been the conversations and emotions of the story.
Read
May 25, 2023Felt less substantial than other biblical fiction I've read. It seemed like the author was trying to paint Hagar as a victim, and that's not the sort of character I enjoy reading about.
July 20, 2023
Very good story, I have read it twice!! The worst character for me was Meryet, not Sarah. Scheming manipulant. But all in all Hagar won. She gained freedom at the end and Meryet still was a slave
October 12, 2025
I like books about characters from the Old Testament. This book was good.
October 21, 2025
Very good book! Love to think about how this tragic story could have possibly come about and ended. Someday we will know the whole truth 😉
I love her whole series of women of the Bible… well done!
I love her whole series of women of the Bible… well done!
March 13, 2017
I first read this book when I was 12 or 13 and it moved me in a way no movie ever could have. It is what got me hooked on reading. I kept the same copy until 5 years ago when someone I lent it to misplaced it :( . This is such a moving piece about staying strong no matter how bad it gets. I have not read any other novel based on biblical characters but this is worth cherishing.
October 27, 2015
A Quickie Review
The story of Hagar is a challenging one, but, author Lois T. Henderson handles it very well. This fictionalized account adds some extra details, but still stays true to the Biblical text. However, copies of this book may prove to be hard to find; it was published nearly forty years ago, and has likely been out of print for a while. If you're a fan of literature like this, and you see this book at a garage sale or thrift store, buy it immediately, or else you may never see it again.
Score: 4/5
The story of Hagar is a challenging one, but, author Lois T. Henderson handles it very well. This fictionalized account adds some extra details, but still stays true to the Biblical text. However, copies of this book may prove to be hard to find; it was published nearly forty years ago, and has likely been out of print for a while. If you're a fan of literature like this, and you see this book at a garage sale or thrift store, buy it immediately, or else you may never see it again.
Score: 4/5
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews