Book Review: Asenath by Anna Patricio

Asenath by Anna Patricio
Release Date: 24th September 2011

Publisher: Imajin Books
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 215
Rating: 3.5/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2012 OTS Challenge

Summary from Amazon:

"In a humble fishing village on the shores of the Nile lives Asenath, a fisherman's daughter who has everything she could want. Until her perfect world is shattered. 

When a warring jungle tribe ransacks the village and kidnaps her, separating her from her parents, she is forced to live as a slave. And she begins a journey that will culminate in the meeting of a handsome and kind steward named Joseph. 

Like her, Joseph was taken away from his home, and it is in him that Asenath comes to find solace…and love. But just as they are beginning to form a bond, Joseph is betrayed by his master’s wife and thrown into prison. Is Asenath doomed to a lifetime of losing everything and everyone she loves?"

Review: 
I'm not entirely sure what to say about this book. From the start, it pulled me in - just being based on Joseph's wife (as in, the Joseph from the Bible as well as the protagonist in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat) had me interested. I didn't even know Joseph had a wife! So, to read about Asenath, albeit a fictionalised version of her life, interested me. Overall, however, the story was only, really, ehhhhh. I liked the storyline, but the romance seemed almost fabricated. I just didn't believe it. And the fact that the plot basically relies on this impacted the book greatly for me. Putting that aside, the book was enjoyable. I really enjoyed the beginning, really enjoyed the middle, and I enjoyed the ending but probably not as much as a should have. Overall, a satisfying read that fans of historical fiction (maybe not so much romance, in my opinion) will enjoy.