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Devorah, the youngest daughter in her family, lives a peaceful life in ancient Jerusalem. When the sons of a family friend arrive, they encourage them to join them on a quest to find a place where they can relocate due to religious persecution by their neighbors. Devorah, or Didi as she is called, is faced with a sudden change in her lifestyle and environment. Although the journey begins with hopeful thoughts of the future and excitement for living out a real-life adventure, poisonous snakes, scarcity of resources, and declining morale threaten their destination of a promised land. Didi must navigate all of this while becoming a new bride and mother, torn between her devotion to her husband and God, and the growing unrest and danger of their trip to find a new home.
Based on one of the most important figures in the Book of Mormon, this story revisits Nephi’s journey and survival at the hands of his older brothers but is told from the perspective of his wife, who is dealing with the constant adjustment in her life at the side of the young prophet. This simple change of highlight gives the author tremendous space to exercise creativity that highlights the adventure and danger in a more direct way. The story beats and structure will be familiar to readers already acquainted with Nephi's story, but the emphasis on Didi creates new opportunities to detail family friction and emphasize the emotional turmoil of the families in this tale. Combining modern literary fictional styles with historical spiritual figures can be tricky if the embellishments and additions do not capture the characters in question, but this book wisely relates its protagonists to the reader by telling the story happening around them rather than simply rewriting their exploits.