“As usual, Levitin’s characterizations are superb; here she draws particularly complex, believable portraits…Levitin’s exploration of questions of conscience and faith is startling and searching. Nobody in her novel mouths pieties; religious convictions are the fruits of hard and dramatic struggle. Her rigorous approach…will spur her audience to fresh appraisals of sacred history.”

“Conlin conveys the tension of the days in the desert and the adjustment to the new ways of freedom and belief through her ever-changing reading voice and the pacing of the story. Together, Levitin and Conlin bring this timeless tale to life.”

“Levitin is certainly courageous. At a time when authors are steered away from writing controversial books and when stories are presifted to make them palatable to the lowest common denominator, she has written a book that is troubling, moving, and sensualand that forces its readers to think.”

“Narrator Conlin has a sharp, brisk tone which varies in pitch and accent to delineate male and female, young and old, Hebrew and Egyptian roles…Her delivery has a good clarity and pace and inspires fresh interest in the familiar story.”

“Ambitious…A deeply felt novel, underlying the philosophical complexity of the Jews’ great covenant and their first return to their homeland.”