Draft:The Book of Jezebel

The Book of Jezebel is a fictional retelling of the life of the Biblical Jezebel, written by author R.M. Watters. A revisionist tale, it presents her as a powerful high priestess who believes herself to be the incarnation of the goddess Astarte, divine counterpart to her god, Baal. It follows her from the beginning of her marriage to Ahab, with whom she shares a passionate and devoted relationship (despite his many wives and concubines), and covers their many conflicts with Elijah, Naboth, and other Yahwists as a result of their differing religious beliefs.

In the novel, Jezebel (known by her Phoenician name Yezeba'al) struggles alongside her husband--and, later, their sons--to hold together the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) in a time of great civil and religious strife.

Publication
The Book of Jezebel was published through Philosopher's Stone Books, an imprint of Frequency 3 Media, on March 1, 2024. A paperback copy of the novel is housed with the Library of Congress.

Synopsis
What if the most hated woman in history could speak for herself…?

A queen made equal to a king...accused of murdering her rivals. A priestess, called goddess incarnate...denounced as a harlot and sorceress. ''They needed to suppress her power to control the narrative. And when she refused to obey...they tried to silence her forever. But she will not be silenced...''

Jezebel. Her story comes down to us from the writers of First & Second Kings in the Hebrew scriptures, also known as the Christian Old Testament, in which she is portrayed as a scheming murderess, harlot, & notorious the epitome of feminine evils. Her name has become a symbol, an archetype representing a woman capable of the worst of human sins.

There are two sides to every story, yet only the voices of her detractors have come down to us, while those who supported her & her husband, King Ahab, have been conveniently silenced in the annals of Judeo-Christian history.

But what if she could tell her own story? Her first act in taking back her voice might be to reveal the true name by which she was Yezeba’al, Queen of Yisrael. This is her account of the tales previously handed down to us by the winners in history.

This is her story.

Historical Accuracy
The Book of Jezebel is a work of fiction; it is not intended to be seen as a scholarly source, except in cases where it may be used for literary analysis. While the author claims to have conducted research and attempted to maintain historical accuracy, according to the Author's Note in the novel, she admits that she had to take a lot of creative license in Jezebel's story due to a lack of primary sources limiting knowledge about the historical characters and daily life in the Iron Age Levant.

In an interview conducted by Sassy Reviews, the author explains, "Researching the Iron Age Levant, particularly the world and characters of Jezebel and Ahab, one is limited mostly to tertiary sources. I’ve done painstaking research, starting with the Biblical accounts and the Midrash, then combing libraries, academic journals, etc., in an effort to better understand the world in which Jezebel lived and to portray her and her story accurately. But when it comes to understanding her and the people in her life, we have very few primary and secondary sources."

Shortly after the novel's release, author R.M. Watters appeared on Central Valley Talk's web series "Briggs on Books", where she was interviewed by host Mike Briggs to discuss the novel, her research, and the history that influenced its inception.