The Queen’s Cook

Afshar (The Peasant King) kicks off her Queen Esther’s Court series with a rich and resonant retelling of the Purim story. It’s the 12th year of Persian king Xerxes’s rule and 23-year-old Roxannah lives in constant fear of her erratic father, Lord Fravartish, a former nobleman who sold off the family’s land to fuel his drinking habit. When he’s injured in a fight, Fravartish sends Roxannah to fetch the Jewish court physician, Adin, who’s immediately taken with her, though his faith forbids him from associating with a gentile woman. Meanwhile, court adviser Haman has convinced King Xerxes to issue an edict ordering the annihilation of the kingdom’s Jews. While Queen Esther works to intercede on behalf of her people, sectarian tensions combust into bloody conflict and Roxannah and Adin find themselves on opposite sides of the fight. Then Roxannah starts working in Queen Esther’s court, and they reunite to unravel a secret plot. Afshar rotates between Roxannah, Adin, and Esther’s perspectives, powering a twisty plot full of intrigue and divided allegiances, set against an intricately rendered ancient Persia seething with power struggles and violence. Fans of biblical fiction will be captivated. (Nov.)