Zipporah, Wife of Moses
A Novel
Marek Halter
From the internationally bestselling author of Sarah comes the riveting story of the remarkable woman who walked beside Moses.
Although she is a Cushite by birth—one of the people of the lands to the south—Zipporah grew up as the beloved daughter of Jethro, high priest and sage of the Midianites. But the color of Zipporah’s skin sets her apart, making her an outsider to the men of her adopted tribe, who do not want her as a wife. Then one day while drawing water from a well, she meets a handsome young stranger. Like her, he is an outsider. A Hebrew raised in the house of the Egyptian Pharaoh, Moses is a fugitive, forced to flee his homeland. Zipporah realizes that this man will be the husband and partner she never thought she would have.
Moses wants nothing more than a peaceful life with the Midianites, but Zipporah won’t let Moses forget his past—or turn away from his true destiny.
She refuses to marry him until he returns to Egypt to free his people. When God reveals himself to Moses in a burning bush, his words echo Zipporah’s, and Moses returns to Egypt with his passionate and generous wife by his side.
A woman ahead of her time, Zipporah leaps from the pages of this remarkable novel. Bold, independent, and a true survivor, she is a captivating heroine, and her world of deserts, temples, and ancient wonders is a fitting backdrop to an epic tale.
"In this portrait of an astonishingly sensual and independent woman, there is little doubt that Marek Halter will succeed once again in seducing his readers, male and female alike." —Marie Claire
"Enjoyable . . . includes many rich cultural details and plenty of steamy sex." —Publishers Weekly
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.
