SARAH'S SONG

Weidner presents a retelling of the biblical story of Abraham, whose wife, Sarah, vows to stop him from carrying out God’s command.

When Sarah overhears the anguished prayers of her husband of 65 years, she knows that Yahweh is sending Abraham and their 14-year-old son, Isaac, on a journey of at least a week involving a sacrifice. But after father and son depart, without telling Sarah, she’s left to worry what, or who, that sacrifice will be. She feels obligated to protect her only son, to whom she gave birth at the age of 90. So, she follows Abraham on a donkey, surmising that his destination is Mount Moriah. Along the way, she’s guided by a brother and sister and a married couple, respectively, and faces such obstacles as a rainstorm, a serious injury, and unexpected losses. Sarah has a gift for sensing danger, including a premonitory dream that shows Isaac on the sacrificial altar. However, although Abraham is driven by his faith, Sarah questions her own, as her arduous journey becomes more spiritual than physical. Much of Weidner’s novel is derived from Bible stories, as when Sarah is tormented after having cast out, into the desert, her former maidservant Hagar, who had birthed Abraham’s son Ishmael at Sarah’s request. However, this narrative also effectively dives deep into Sarah’s headspace, as when she judges Abraham as disrespectful and even deceitful, or refers to Yahweh as “Abraham’s God, the God I struggle to call my own right now.” This is all revealed at a deliberate pace, gradually introducing extraordinary characters such as the aforementioned charitable siblings, Zerah and Yasmine. The author sketches environments and Sarah’s dream-visions with equal panache, from the post-rain “warm embrace” of desert heat to a surreal image of Sarah herself on the altar and a knife-wielding Abraham with “a holy fire in his eyes.” It all leads to a prolonged but worthwhile final act.

An insightful allegorical journey of perseverance and self-discovery.