Last Days in Moav
By Sharon Reiss Baker (Apples and Honey Press)

Award-winning picture book author Sharon Reiss Baker makes her young adult debut with Last Days in Moav, a biblical epic of mysticism, sibling rivalry and forbidden love. Set on the Plains of Moav (Moab), the novel unfolds in the final days before the tribes of Israel cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land, after 40 years of wandering in the desert.

The novel shifts between the viewpoints of four siblings from the tribe of Yehudah. The main narrator, Netanel, is a rapha, a ghostly spirit of the departed. Netanel died at 10, swept away by a flash flood while hiking through a normally dry desert ravine. His younger brother, Gidon, had warned him that a storm was coming, but Netanel had just discovered a family secret and was determined to learn the truth from another hiker.

Eight years after his death, as the restless Israelites prepare to cross the Jordan, Netanel still hovers over his family, watching them from behind a seemingly impenetrable veil. The other narrators are 16-year-old Gidon and his twin sister, Milcah, and Avidan, their 7-year-old brother, who is often unnoticed by grownups and therefore privy to their secrets.

Gidon and Milcah are healers, revered for their uncanny ability to cure people and livestock with medicinal herbs and prayers to God. Yet suspicion of their gifts sets the twins apart from their tribe. Gidon’s premonitions—including a prediction of Moses’ death—and his clubfoot deepen his sense of otherness.

When Yoram, a powerful warrior, claims the twins killed his goats instead of healing them, he demands that Milcah marry his son as compensation. But Milcah has feelings for Misha’el, a member of the tribe of Gad. Milcah’s father has no other way to repay Yoram, and he would never sanction a marriage outside his own tribe—especially to a Gadite, from one of the tribes planning to remain east of the Jordan after the others enter Israel.

“Why leave something so important up to fathers? I haven’t noticed that they have any divine insight into how to create successful matches,” Milcah reflects, questioning the practice of arranged marriages. Her modern sensibilities will appeal to young readers.

The twins disagree on how to handle the situation, leading to a rift and a dangerous nighttime flight through the desert for the three siblings, risking armed marauders and sharp-toothed leopards.

Each character navigates the tension between family loyalty and individual desire. The observant Avidan wrestles with whether to reveal the secrets he has uncovered. Gidon struggles to stand up to his father and reconcile with Milcah even as the twins fight for control over their futures. Meanwhile, Netanel must find a way to guide his loved ones and make peace with his own fate.

Last Days in Moav proves Baker’s ability at writing for a new audience. Rich in biblical and archaeological
details, her evocative prose and unpredictable plot twists will hold the attention of younger teens and their parents.  

Elizabeth Edelglass is a fiction writer, poet and book reviewer living in Connecticut.