A Cry from Egypt tells the story of the days leading up to the Exodus from Egypt from an Israelite family’s perspective. In the Bible we see this story from the viewpoint of Pharaoh’s palace and the miracles and pronouncements Moses made there. In A Cry from Egypt we see a fictional account of this story from the perspective of Hebrew slaves, living in Goshen, who aren’t quite sure what’s going on but are trusting God. The author, Hope Auer, leads you to compassion for them from the first page.
The main character of A Cry from Egypt is Jarah, a young Hebrew slave girl. Your middle aged children especially, (about ages 9-13,) will be drawn to her and her family and friends. They’ll see life that isn’t “fair”, a family’s love and struggles, and friends that make even a very hard life enriched. They’ll see the tension in a home where one parent is a believer and the other isn’t. They’ll see prejudice overcome by kindness. They’ll see love blossom and be led aright. Miss Auer shows that family life back then and today have many similarities in the issues it deals with, and packs in a lot of Biblical thought in working through those universal issues. Above all, she shows that universally, God is sovereign, and He loves and cares for His people in all ages and times.
I enjoyed reading this book. It presents a familiar story from a fresh outlook, and has plenty of action to keep the storyline moving. Miss Auer did her research, and documents it, and does a good job of showing what it was like to live in that time and place. I think it would be a good book for either your middle aged readers to read on their own, or for reading together as a family read-aloud. The story is not so deep that it will go over your younger children’s heads, but the action and older characters will keep your older children interested too.
For our studies of this time period in Ancient Egypt, in addition to the Bible, we have read and enjoyed two other fictional works, both written in the 1800’s, The Sign Above the Door, by William Canfield, written from the perspective of an Egyptian Governor’s household during these events, and The Cat of Bubastes, by G.A. Henty, (audiobook) more a story of Egyptian life. Both of those are written at a little higher level of understanding. A Cry from Egypt, written for a little younger audience than those and from a Hebrew slave’s perspective—and as truly Christian fiction, without preachiness or moralizing—is a welcome addition to our recommendations for this time period.
A Cry from Egypt is published by Great Waters Press (the authors of Raising Real Men) and is available from the author here. Book 2 in The Promised Land series is coming soon.
