The Gilded Chamber (Rebecca Kohn)

The Gilded Chamber is a re-telling of the biblical story of Esther, a young Jewish girl who is brought into the harem of King Xerxes, eventually marries him, and is able to prevent him making an order for the execution of the Jewish people. It's full of lush descriptions of life in the harem - beauty treatments, endless banquets of food and wine, and gorgeous costumes. However, it's not really the sort of book you read for strong characters - while Kohn paints some gorgeous visual scenery, Esther and Xerxes move through it rather blankly. Fun, but fairly forgettable.