Month: October 2022

The biblical King David of Israel was referred to as a “man after God’s own heart.” In The Secret Chord, Brooks gives us a fictional story that fleshes out the biblical accounts known about David and provides a glimpse of a possible narrative showing how such a man might have lived out that experience. Brooks does here what she does best in her novels. She takes a historical fact or a small known entity and builds a narrative framework that seems so plausible and real that, at least in my case, makes the reader want it to be true. That may seem odd to say, because she does not shy away from the bad and ugly while also writing about the good. Yet, since we all know that life is not all roses, puppies, and kittens, something can’t seem plausible and real unless the unsavory moments and actions are also included and addressed as well. We are shown a man who does indeed desire to serve his God faithfully and to lead God’s people in his role as king. But, we also see a man. A man with typical human desires and wants that sometimes cause him to stumble and make the wrong choices and take the wrong paths.

We see this story primarily through the eyes of Nathan the prophet, through whom God speaks to David. Nathan is one of the king’s closest and most trusted advisors. As Nathan shares his account with us, the reader, he also gives voice to the women in David’s life and how their lives were impacted and shaped by their relationships with him. This includes his mother, his many wives, and even his daughter Tamar who was raped by her half-brother. Each of these relationships also highlight the complexity of the human condition. In giving space for these women to speak for themselves, Brooks really shines in what I mentioned earlier in providing a plausible story that can easily be seen as possessing the possibility to be true.

One must keep in mind that this is not your grandmother’s Bible study book about the life of King David. However, it was fascinating to read about biblical accounts of the exploits of David from an enhanced perspective. And although challenging, I found her choice to use the Hebrew names for people and places quite interesting and enlightening. It added to the aspect of reading about old stories with fresh eyes and a different view.

I do have one caution to provide to any potential reader. Brooks has decided to include in this narrative an idea that has been proposed and discussed elsewhere by biblical scholars and other authors. That is, the portrayal of David and Jonathan’s relationship as being more than just a friendship and as one that included a sexual component between the two of them as well. If that is an idea and portrayal that is super offensive in that you can’t just ignore and dismiss it and instead will let it over-shadow and dis-color the rest of the narrative, then I suggest you avoid reading the book. It is not a major plot line of the story, but it is included and referenced to several times and runs as a tributary that does feed into the river that is the main story.

Brooks is a master weaver in the art of telling a story. While told in a somewhat linear fashion, she also deftly includes backstory and flashbacks at just the right time. Her poetic prose brings to life the people, places, and settings in such vivid detail. She does not disappoint here in The Secret Chord and has once again helped solidify her spot as one of my top five favorite writers of all time.

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