Publisher's Synopsis
This creative novel tells the engrossing story of Perez, the handsome, young brickyard slave, who is reluctant to join the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, because on his 'free' day he enjoys promiscuous behaviour with two Egyptian women whom he makes pregnant. Although his parents compel him to marry the pious Elishav, he cheats on her in the Wilderness and sleeps with Nanu, of the mixed multitude, who secretly worships her god, Newet. In the aftermath of the golden calf she is stoned to death. After Elishav is killed in the stampede of Korach, Perez marries Rachel who undergoes the 'bitter water test' to prove her sexual innocence. She gives birth to Hamul. Unenthusiastically Perez permits his father to teach him the laws of Moses, but slowly he connects with the divine flame that guides the Israelites through the Desert. Father and son serve in the battle against the Midianites where Hamul selects a captive to marry. During the last year of the Israelites' wandering in the Wilderness, prior to his death Moses announces a reprieve for Perez and his age group, who turn sixty that year and are destined to die. Israel's new leader, Joshua, appoints Perez as his military adjutant, and Hamul to spy out the city of Jericho. Perez leads a daring raid to hamstring the horses of the Northern Kings. After Joshua allots the land which the Israelites conquer, Hamul accidentally kills a man, and flees with his wife to Hebron, a city of refuge, to escape the blood avenger, until the death of the High- Priest when he will rejoin his parents.
