The Secret Chord

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of PEOPLE OF THE BOOK, YEAR OF WONDERS and MARCH comes a unique and vivid novel that retells the story of King David's extraordinary rise to power and fall from grace.

'A skilful reimagining ... gracefully and intelligently told.' - KIRKUS REVIEWS

1000 BC. The Second Iron Age. The time of King David.

Anointed as the chosen one when just a young shepherd boy, David will rise to be king, grasping the throne and establishing his empire. But his journey is a tumultuous one and the consequences of his choices will resound for generations. In a life that arcs from obscurity to fame, he is by turns hero and traitor, glamorous young tyrant and beloved king, murderous despot and remorseful, diminished patriarch. His wives love and fear him, his sons will betray him. It falls to Natan, the courtier and prophet who both counsels and castigates David, to tell the truth about the path he must take.

With stunning originality, acclaimed author Geraldine Brooks offers us a compelling portrait of a morally complex hero from this strange age - part legend, part history. Full of drama and richly drawn detail, THE SECRET CHORD is a vivid story of faith, family, desire and power that brings David magnificently alive.

'Brooks evokes time and place with keenly drawn detail ... with the verve of an adroit storyteller ... Ambitious and psychologically astute.' - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

'In her gorgeously written novel of ambition, courage, retribution and triumph, Brooks imagines the life and character of King David ... the novel feels simultaneously ancient, accessible and timeless.' - BOOKLIST

Longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2016

Shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2016

Shortlisted for the ABIA Awards 2016

Selected as an AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY Great Read

“Geraldine Brooks is a master at bringing the past alive. - The Washington PostBrooks evokes time and place with keenly drawn detail ... with the verve of an adroit storyteller ... Ambitious and psychologically astute. - Publishers Weeklya thundering, gritty, emotionally devastating reconsideration of the story of King David - New York Times Book ReviewMesmerising - The Australian Women's WeeklyGeorge R.R. Martin's got nothing on the biblical chroniclers of David, King of Israel ... This is the original GAME OF THRONES. - Miami HeraldTHE SECRET CHORD is powerful storytelling, its landscape and time evoked in lyrical prose ... Brooks has crafted from THE SECRET CHORD a compelling read, contemporary in its relevance. - The Guardian AustraliaA skillful reimagining ... gracefully and intelligently told. - Kirkus ReviewsRich and imaginative ... David is as compelling as he is contradictory. We feel his desires and understand his mistakes. - Minneapolis Star Tribune”

Geraldine Brooks is a master at bringing the past alive. - The Washington Post

Brooks evokes time and place with keenly drawn detail ... with the verve of an adroit storyteller ... Ambitious and psychologically astute. - Publishers Weekly

a thundering, gritty, emotionally devastating reconsideration of the story of King David - New York Times Book Review

Mesmerising - The Australian Women's Weekly

George R.R. Martin's got nothing on the biblical chroniclers of David, King of Israel ... This is the original GAME OF THRONES. - Miami Herald

THE SECRET CHORD is powerful storytelling, its landscape and time evoked in lyrical prose ... Brooks has crafted from THE SECRET CHORD a compelling read, contemporary in its relevance. - The Guardian Australia

A skillful reimagining ... gracefully and intelligently told. - Kirkus Reviews

Rich and imaginative ... David is as compelling as he is contradictory. We feel his desires and understand his mistakes. - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Australian-born Geraldine Brooks is an author and journalist who grew up in Sydney's western suburbs. She worked for the Sydney Morning Herald and in 1982 she won the Greg Shackleton scholarship to the journalism master's program at Columbia University. Later she worked for the Wall Street Journal, where she covered crises in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. In 2006 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for her novel March. Her novels Caleb's Crossing, People of the Book and The Secret Chord were New York Times bestsellers, and Year of Wonders is an international bestseller, translated into more than 25 languages. She is also the author of the acclaimed non-fiction works Nine Parts of Desire and Foreign Correspondence. Her novel Horse is the winner of the Fiction Indie Book Award for 2023, one of the recipients of the 88th Annual Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for 2023 and was shortlisted for the ARA Historical Novel Prize 2022 and the BookPeople Adult Fiction Book of the Year 2023. In 2011 she presented Australia's prestigious Boyer Lectures, later published as The Idea of Home. In 2016 she was appointed Officer in the Order of Australia for her services to literature. Geraldine Brooks divides her time between Sydney and Massachusetts and has two sons.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of PEOPLE OF THE BOOK, YEAR OF WONDERS and MARCH comes a unique and vivid novel that retells the story of King David's extraordinary rise to power and fall from grace.'A skilful reimagining ... gracefully and intelligently told.' - KIRKUS REVIEWS1000 BC. The Second Iron Age. The time of King David.Anointed as the chosen one when just a young shepherd boy, David will rise to be king, grasping the throne and establishing his empire. But his journey is a tumultuous one and the consequences of his choices will resound for generations. In a life that arcs from obscurity to fame, he is by turns hero and traitor, glamorous young tyrant and beloved king, murderous despot and remorseful, diminished patriarch. His wives love and fear him, his sons will betray him. It falls to Natan, the courtier and prophet who both counsels and castigates David, to tell the truth about the path he must take.With stunning originality, acclaimed author Geraldine Brooks offers us a compelling portrait of a morally complex hero from this strange age - part legend, part history. Full of drama and richly drawn detail, THE SECRET CHORD is a vivid story of faith, family, desire and power that brings David magnificently alive.'Brooks evokes time and place with keenly drawn detail ... with the verve of an adroit storyteller ... Ambitious and psychologically astute.' - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY'In her gorgeously written novel of ambition, courage, retribution and triumph, Brooks imagines the life and character of King David ... the novel feels simultaneously ancient, accessible and timeless.' - BOOKLISTLonglisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2016Shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2016Shortlisted for the ABIA Awards 2016Selected as an AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY Great Read

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