Lilith by Nikki Marmery

 

My thoughts

This is a whole new to me spin on the Adam and Eve story. The beginning of the start. The Garden of Eden thing. Even a few other things that were have suppose to of happened according to the book called the Bible. While I question almost all of that book as reality some could have happened. But a flood... No way. And the dove bringing back an Olive branch. From where? It would have taken years for a tree to grow and if they were all flooded then the trees were dead. Yes DEAD! As for Adam and Lilith. Adam ruined all of that Paradise. 

In the beginning we actually have no idea who made who or what really happened. Only what a group of "men" want us to believe. That women are beneath them. Women are not as good. Not as smart. Not as strong. Totally dependent on these said men. But what if: What if women and men were equal. What if they would have stayed that way. What if Adam had not of decided he wanted her "beneath" him. Both physically and mentally. What if it too a god and goddess to create or start life. What if people have it all wrong. Since I have so many questions about how things are written in the book called the bible then this is just another possibility. It very well could have happened. Since I have never heard of Lilith then how do I know she did not exist. How do I know there was not a goddess in the beginning. I wasn't there. No one ever told us. Mystical. Myth. Truth. 

I believe if women and men would have live in harmony. In total equality. In a balance if you will. Things would be different. I believe if the men didn't want to dominate women things would be way more peaceful. What gives them the right to say we are beneath them. To say we have no brains. To teach us that they are the superior beings. Look at the world and you might take a different stance on that thought. I believe if women and men would have worked together as equals this world would not be tearing itself apart. It would still be just as strong as it was in the beginning. That is my thoughts.

This book was a fun read. It gives a new light to the beginning. Lilith is a very smart woman. Her mother, the creator of life, wanted her to be knowledgeable and strong. Yes the Goddess, Asherah, was there. She was the Heavenly Mother. But Yahweh, the God or Father of Heaven, didn't want her to be equal either. Thus this story. Asherah went through hell for women. God just merely spoke. Man just called women names and that was the end of them. How small is that. 

This is also a love story. The love between Maryam and Yeshua. They would be Magdelena and Jesus. The story of what really happened had to be covered up for men to stay in charge of the world. Also the love between Lilith and Samael. I enjoyed these very much. They told a whole different story don't you know. How living and giving will work if done together. How sacrifices are made for the ones you love most in the world work out. 

Yes this is a fiction story but it could have happened. It may have. I don't know. I wasn't there. As for Lilith, I loved her. She was good. She was strong. She was loving. She cared. Worked her whole life at bringing a better ending than what we are facing according to men. I honestly did enjoy reading this book. It got a bit preachy in parts but that was needed I think. Lilith lost track of a few years but good grief look at what she was doing. Look at what she did. It could have happened. 

Thank you #NetGalley, #NikkiMarmery, #AlcovePress for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book.

I gave it FIVE big stars because in my opinion it deserved it. This author had to know her bible to be able to write such beauty as this. Thank you for that. I recommend you all read it. Just to see another side.

Synopsis

A triumphantly feminist retelling of ancient creation myths in the tradition of Madeline Miller and Claire North.

Lyrically rendered, this epic U.S. debut tells the story of the woman known as Adam's first wife and her fall from Paradise and quest for revenge.

Before Eve, there was Lilith.

Lilith and Adam are equal and happy in the Garden of Eden. Until Adam decides Lilith should submit to his will and lie beneath him. She refuses—and is banished forever from Paradise.

Demonized and sidelined, Lilith watches in fury as God creates Eve, the woman who accepts her submission. But Lilith has a secret: she has already tasted the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Endowed with Wisdom, she knows why Asherah—God’s wife and equal, the Queen of Heaven—is missing. Lilith has a plan: she will rescue Eve, find Asherah, restore balance to the world, and regain her rightful place in Paradise.

Lilith’s quest for justice drives her throughout history, from the ziggurats of Ancient Sumer, to the court of Israel’s Queen Jezebel, and to the side of a radical preacher in Roman Judea. Noah’s wife, Norea, Jezebel and Mary Magdalene all play their part in Lilith’s enlightenment. In the modern age, as she observes the catastrophic consequences of a world built on inequality, Lilith finally understands what must be done to correct the wrong done to women—and all humankind—at the beginning of time.

Inspired by ancient myths and suppressed scriptures, Lilith is a thought-provoking and ambitious novel with an evocative literary voice and a triumphantly engaging heroine.