{"product_id":"lilah-isbn-9781400052820","title":"Lilah","description":"Set in the magnificent culture of the Middle East more than four thousand years ago,\u003ci\u003e Lilah\u003c\/i\u003e is a rich and emotionally resonant story of faith, love, and courage.Living in exile, Lilah is in love with Antinoes, a Persian warrior. They have known each other since they were children, and Antinoes dearly wants to make Lilah his wife. Yet Lilah does not feel she can marry without the blessing of her brother, Ezra. She and Ezra are close, and Lilah knows her brother well—he does not want his sister to have a husband outside their faith. Ezra is a scholar of the laws of Moses, and Lilah believes it is her brother’s destiny to lead the Jewish people back to the Promised Land. While Antinoes pressures her to accept his proposal, Lilah realizes that before she can consider her own happiness, it is her duty to help her brother accomplish the seemingly impossible task that is before him.Putting herself in grave danger, and with the help of Antinoes, Lilah wins Ezra an audience with Artaxerxes II, the King of Kings, who grants permission to lead the exiles on their journey back to the Promised Land. After a hazardous trip across the desert, Lilah, Ezra, and the thousands who join them arrive in Jerusalem. But the hardship of rebuilding the Temple takes its toll, and the religious enthusiasm of some turns to extremism. Ezra, listening to the zealots, orders all non-Jewish wives and their children banished from Jerusalem. Lilah, whose love for Antinoes has never wavered, is horrified by this command. She knows she must now choose between her brother and her conscience, which tells her that the time has come to defy him.\u003ci\u003eLilah\u003c\/i\u003e is a timeless story of one woman’s stand against intolerance; it will linger in the reader’s mind long after the last page has been turned.Praise for\u003ci\u003e Sarah\u003c\/i\u003e, the first book in Marek Halter’s Canaan Trilogy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A worthy heiress to Anita Diamant’s bestseller \u003ci\u003eThe Red Tent\u003c\/i\u003e, and an entertaining read, with a heroine who uses both her brains and her femininity to astonishing effect.” —\u003ci\u003eAtlantic Journal-Constitution\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eZipporah\u003c\/i\u003e, the second book in the Canaan Trilogy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In this portrait of an astonishingly sensual and independent woman, there is little doubt that Marek Halter will succeed once again in seducing his readers, male and female alike.” —\u003ci\u003eMarie Claire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Enjoyable . . . includes many rich cultural details and plenty of steamy sex.” —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003eMarek Halter was born in Poland in 1936. During World War II, his family escaped the Warsaw ghetto and eventually settled in France. He is the author of several critically acclaimed, bestselling novels.\u003ci\u003e Lilah\u003c\/i\u003e is the final installment in the sweeping, bestselling Canaan trilogy, which also includes \u003ci\u003eSarah\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eZipporah, Wife of Moses\u003c\/i\u003e.The Roofs of Susa\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    In his message, Antinoes had not specified the place where they would   meet. There was no need.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    As she approached the summit of the tower, Lilah's heart began   beating louder and louder. She stopped, closed her eyes, put her hand   on her stomach, and tried to regain her breath.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    It was not because of the dark, narrow staircase. She had found her   way again easily enough. She had climbed these brick steps so often   that it was no problem to find her footing. No, what made her   breathless was the knowledge that Antinoes might be up there, on the   terrace, waiting for her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    In a moment, she would see his face again, hear his voice, rediscover   his gentle eyes and soft skin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Had he changed? A little? A lot?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    She had often heard women complain that when their husbands returned   from the wars, they were like strangers. Even when their bodies were   intact, they themselves had become colder, more aloof.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    But she had nothing to fear. Antinoes's message was eloquent enough:   The man who had written those words had not changed in any way.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    She moved the gold and silver fibula that held her veil to her   beautiful tunic, and adjusted her belt incrusted with   mother-of-pearl. Her bracelets jangled, and the sound echoed like   bells against the blind wall of the tower.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Lighthearted and smiling, Lilah climbed the last flight of stairs.   The door to the terrace was open. The setting sun was blinding, and   she shaded her eyes with her hand.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Nobody here.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    She turned, looking all around the little terrace.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    No voice uttered her name.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    No cry of impatience greeted her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Disappointment pierced her heart.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Then she smiled with relief.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Beneath the canopy that covered most of the terrace was a low table   heavily laden with goblets of fruit and cakes and pitchers of cold   water and beer, and surrounded by thick cushions. A large red ceramic   vase held an enormous bunch of pale roses and lilacs from the East,   her favorite flowers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Her disappointment faded away. No, Antinoes had not forgotten   anything. Wars and battles had not changed him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    For their first night of love, he had covered their bed with rose   petals from his father's garden.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    SLOWLY eating grapes, which were transparent in the twilight, Lilah   rested her elbows on the parapet surrounding the top of the tower. At   this hour, when night was approaching like a caress, there was   nothing more splendid than the view from this terrace.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Some hundred cubits above the River Shaour rose the immense cliff   walls of the Citadel. The royal courtyard known as the Apadana was   lined with marble columns, carved in Egypt and transported by   thousands of men and mules; these columns gleamed like bronze flames   in the sun, and themselves were surrounded by marble terraces even   more vast than the palace. Giant sculptures of bulls, lions, and   winged monsters guarded the Apadana, which was reached by flights of   steps so broad and so high they could have held the entire population   of the city. Few, though, were entitled to climb them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    At the foot of the walls, enclosing the Citadel like a casket, were   the palaces of the royal city, with their many gardens. In a last   flash of brilliance, the rays of the setting sun, reflected in the   lazy meandering of the Shaour, came to rest in the gardens, fading   amid the dense cedars and eucalyptus trees.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    The royal city was encircled by a brick wall, pierced with small   square windows and flanked by tall crenellated towers, colored red,   orange, and blue in places, which separated it from the busy streets   of the upper town. These streets, squeezed between flat whitewashed   roofs, ran as straight as if they had been cut with a double-edged   sword. They stretched far to the east, the north, and the   south--dark, crowded trenches that Lilah could barely make out from   here. The hum of activity could still be heard: She imagined a mass   of people in the streets, the awnings of the booths being lowered.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Antinoes' garden and house occupied a rectangular strip in the   patricians' quarter, close to the royal palace. The garden was old   and luxuriant. The elegant palms and cypresses lining the main alley   leading from the outer wall to the house were as high as the tower   itself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    A sudden sound made Lilah freeze.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    The shadows were already lengthening in the twilight. She looked at   the door leading to the staircase.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    All she had heard was a slight rustling. But she knew he was there.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"Antinoes?\" she called.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    A face emerged from the shadows, a face she had so often evoked in   her daydreams: the rather broad, hooked nose, the finely drawn   nostrils, the tender, well-defined mouth, the arched eyebrows, the   narrowed lids, the look in the eyes that made her tremble.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He uttered her name, very softly. \"Lilah!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He wore the dress of a Persian warrior: a short, close-fitting,   long-sleeved tunic, purple with large fawn-colored circles, and   equally close-fitting ankle-length trousers. The straps of his   sandals were tied high up his calves. His belt was as wide as a hand,   its gold buckle adorned with a lion's head. Three chains, of silver,   gold, and bronze, linked it to a brooch in the shape of a bull's head   pinned to his right shoulder. A felt ribbon embroidered with gold   thread held his oiled and scented hair in place. A dazzling smile   gleamed within his finely plaited beard.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He repeated her name, laughing now, almost shouting. \"Lilah! Lilah!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Lilah began to laugh, too. He held out his hands to her, palms   upraised. She moved forward slowly and placed her palms on his.   Antinoes' hands were hot. They closed over hers, and the mere touch   was like an embrace. Antinoes' eyes gleamed in the setting sun.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"You're here!\" she murmured, hardly aware that she had spoken.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He raised their entwined hands to his lips. He was still laughing,   silently, as if he were out of breath. A caressing laugh, a laugh of   pure joy, which enveloped them and carried them away.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    They let go of each other's hands, the better to embrace. The   laughter was swept away by their kisses. The kisses were swept away   by their impatience.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    For a long moment, the terrace around them seemed to contain the   whole world. Susa had vanished. Time and troubles had evaporated.   Only the deep, translucent sky of the dying twilight was still there.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    They undressed, with all the clumsiness of long-separated lovers.   Time, memory, impatience, and fear faded away in their turn.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Once again, they were Antinoes and Lilah.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    THE silence of the star-studded night lay heavy on the city when,   both out of breath, they untangled their limbs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Here and there, torches glowed in the courtyards of the great houses.   Naphtha flames, held in wide dishes, danced on the walls of the   Citadel, as they did every night, forming a royal diadem hanging in   the darkness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Antinoes freed himself from Lilah's arms and stood up from the   cushions. He groped for a little chest of apple-tree wood containing   a flint and a touchwood wick. A moment later, a torch crackled into   flame.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Lilah now saw clearly the body she had held in the darkness.   Antinoes' waist was slimmer, and his high buttocks made two dimples   in his lower back. During the years in which the war against the   Greeks and the King of Kings' brother had kept him far from her, he   had grown harder.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He turned as he slotted the torch between the bricks on the parapet,   not far from the table still piled high with food, and she discovered   the scar.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"Your thigh!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Antinoes smiled, with a touch of pride. \"A Lydian sword at   Carchemish. It was only the seventh time I'd been in close combat, so   I wasn't very experienced. He was on the ground; I should have been   more careful.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Lilah's fingers followed the twists and turns of the light-colored   furrow in Antinoes' solid thigh.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He leaned down and seized her fingers, entwined them again with his   own. \"It's nothing. It took only a moon for the wound to close. Since   then, I've only fought in a chariot. Where you're in a chariot, the   enemy doesn't aim at the legs, but at the heart or the head. As you   see, I still have both of those.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Lilah fell back, and stared up at the sky. \"How many times,\" she   murmured, \"when the night and the stars arrived, I thought about   that. Even though you were under the same stars, you were far from   me, and I imagined you dying. Or you were seriously wounded, and you   wanted to see me, but I had no way of knowing. A javelin went through   you, and then the wax tablet informing me of your death went through   me, too.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Antinoes laughed again. \"It would never have happened. The Greeks and   Cyrus the Younger's mercenaries learned to fear me.\" He kneeled,   keeping a slight distance between them, and looked at Lilah in   silence, serious now. \"I know every inch of your face,\" he whispered,   closing his eyes. \"That was what I thought about. Your eyes, so black   I can see myself reflected in them even by daylight, your lashes,   your long straight eyebrows, as thin as a plume of smoke. Your high,   stubborn brow, the brow of a young bull, your cheeks that blush both   when you're angry and when I kiss them. I know every line of your   mouth. I've drawn them a hundred times in the sand. The upper lip is   longer and fuller than the other. A mouth so sweet, so alive, I can   always tell what you're thinking.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    His eyes still closed, he reached out his hand, trembling slightly.   With his fingers, he traced the curve of a breast, glided over her   belly, and stroked her hair, which hung loose down to her hips.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He opened his eyes. \"In the last two years, I've seen many women,\" he   went on. \"The beauties of Cilicia or the northern Euphrates, the   wives of the great warriors of Lydia . . . The more beautiful they   were, the more they made me think of you. The more foolish or   provocative, the more I dreamed of you. And whenever I happened to   come across one who could compare with you, I was angry at her for   not being you.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He caressed her gently, as if reinventing her body with his fingers,   imprinting every curve, every inch of skin, on his palm.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"When I fought, you were with me. Arrows and swords could not touch   me. The mere thought of your beauty protected me.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Lilah gave a throaty laugh, leaned forward, and embraced him, ready   to kiss him again. She pressed her hard nipples against Antinoes'   chest as if she wanted to be absorbed by him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"I was never afraid when I fought,\" he murmured. \"But every day, I   was afraid you would forget me. Every day I dreamed you might forget   Antinoes. The men of Susa would be mad not to see your beauty.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"So, we both felt the same terror.\" She bit the back of his neck, and   he shivered. She laughed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"Don't laugh!\" he cried. \"Now we're together forever.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    For a brief moment Lilah froze at his words. But Antinoes' kisses   wiped out the cold. Her belly was soon on fire again, as Antinoes'   member swelled against her thigh. She gripped his shoulders and   pushed him down onto the cushions, her love's warrior and her lover's   enchantress.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    THE moon was rising above the Zagros Mountains when she whispered   that it was time for her to return home.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"Stay the night!\" Antinoes protested.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    She smiled, and shook her head. \"No, not tonight. We're not yet man   and wife, and I don't want Aunt Sarah to find my bedchamber empty in   the morning.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"Oh, come on! Your aunt Sarah knows perfectly well that you're here,   and she's delighted.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Lilah gave a little laugh and stroked her lover's eyelids, tracing   his eyebrows with the tip of her index finger. \"Then I'm the one who   wants to get back to my bedchamber by dawn. Thinking about you,   smelling the scent of you on my skin.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"You'll smell it all the better if you remain here. Lilah, why go?   We've only just been reunited.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"Because I'm your lover,\" Lilah whispered, kissing his brow. \"Your   lover, but not your wife.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    She started to move away, but Antinoes sat up and gripped her wrist.   \"When? When will you be my wife?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    She found it hard to meet his eyes. The darkness and the warm,   flickering light of the torch made the shadows on his face seem   harsher. She thought of how his face must look in battle.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"I'll go to see your uncle first thing tomorrow,\" Antinoes insisted.   \"We'll fix the day. As far as I'm concerned, everything is ready.   I've made offerings to Ahura Mazda, I've left a tablet with your name   on it for the royal eunuchs. You know that's the law for high-ranking   officers. Now, the king and queen may oppose a marriage with . . .   between a Persian officer and a non-Persian.\" He broke off with a   grimace and shook his head. \"Lilah, what is it? Don't you want to be   my wife?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"I want nothing else,\" she said with a smile.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"Then why delay?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Lilah gathered her hair to cover her chest, and searched for her   tunic among the cushions. Antinoes waited for a reply, but none came.   He stood up abruptly and walked nervously to the parapet, barely   illumined by the light of the torch. \"I came back to be your   husband,\" he said in a low voice. \"I shan't leave Susa again until   that house down there is your house.\" He pointed to the diadem of the   Citadel, shining unperturbed in the night. \"There, in a few days, I   shall wear a helmet with red and white plumes and a leather   breastplate with the insignia of the heroes of Artaxerxes. But   without you, without your love and the thought of you, even a Greek   child could vanquish me.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He spoke without looking at her. Lilah covered herself with her   tunic. As she was about to hook the sides together, Antinoes came   back to her and seized her by the arms.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"It's Ezra, isn't it? It's Ezra who's holding you back.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"I have to talk to him.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"Hasn't he changed? Does he still hate me?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Lilah did not reply. She freed herself from his grip and hooked her tunic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"Does he know I've come back?\" Antinoes asked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"No. I'm going tomorrow.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"To the lower town?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Lilah merely nodded.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Antinoes grunted, and moved away from her angrily. \"What a fool!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"No, Antinoes, he's no fool. He does what he thinks is right. He   studies and learns, and that's important.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    An ironic look on his face, Antinoes was about to reply, but Lilah   raised her hand.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"No, don't mock, that would be unfair. Soon after you left, an old   man came to see him in the lower town.A Forbidden Love, A People's Destiny","brand":"Crown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301158310117,"sku":"NP9781400052820","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781400052820.jpg?v=1767731481","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/lilah-isbn-9781400052820","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}