
Sarah
A Novel
Marek Halter
Sarah’s story begins in the cradle of civilization: the Sumerian city-state of Ur, a land of desert heat, towering gardens, and immense wealth. The daughter of a powerful lord, Sarah balks at the marriage her father has planned for her. On her wedding day, she impulsively flees to the vast, empty marshes outside the city walls, where she meets a young man named Abram, son of a tribe of outsiders. Drawn to this exotic stranger, Sarah spends one night with him and reluctantly returns to her father’s house. But on her return, she secretly drinks a poisonous potion that will make her barren and thus unfit for marriage.
Many years later, Abram returns to Ur and discovers that the lost, rebellious girl from the marsh has been transformed into a splendid woman—the high priestess of the goddess Ishtar. But Sarah gives up her exalted life to join Abram’s tribe and follow the one true God, an invisible deity who speaks only to Abram. It is then that her journey truly begins.
From the great ziggurat of Ishtar to the fertile valleys of Canaan to the bedchamber of the mighty Pharaoh himself, Sarah’s story reveals an ancient world full of beauty, intrigue, and miracles.
"A worthy heiress to Anita Diamant's bestseller The Red Tent, and an entertaining read, with a heroine who uses both her brains and her femininity to astonishing effect." —Atlantic Journal-Constitution
About the Author
Marek Halter (born January 27, 1936, in Warsaw) is a Polish-born French writer, painter, and human-rights activist best known for his historical novels. His Jewish family fled the Warsaw ghetto during World War II, spending the war in the Soviet Union before returning briefly to Poland and then emigrating to France in 1950. His debut novel, The Madman and the Kings, won the Prix Aujourd'hui in 1976. He went on to write acclaimed historical novels centered on biblical and Jewish history, including The Book of Abraham and the Canaan trilogy (Sarah, Zipporah, Lilah). He's also a longtime activist: in 1967 he founded a committee that helped organize early Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Now in his 90s, he remains an active figure in French cultural life.








