A Prequel to a Favorite Series
Connilyn Cossette’s Cities of Refuge series was one of my favorite reads of 2023. I wasn’t sure if her trilogy Out of Egypt would live up to that for me, but it absolutely did. I read the series in a week and loved every bit of it. It had all the things I loved from the last books, but the story was equally unique and compelling.
Book-by-Book Breakdown
- Counted with the Stars (#1)
- Shadow of the Storm (#2)
- Wings of the Wind (#3)
As you may imagine from the title, the setting is ancient Egypt and explores the familiar Bible stories of Moses, the ten plagues, and the Hebrews’ subsequent escape from slavery. We start there in Book 1 and experience that famous story through the eyes of Kiya, a young Egyptian socialite sold into slavery to atone for her father’s debt.
From the household of her cruel mistress, Kiya watches in horror as plague after plague decimates her country. She is equally perplexed by the kindness and selflessness of her fellow slave, a Hebrew girl named Shira. Through her friendship with Shira, Kiya learns more about the Hebrews and their God Yahweh. As the tenth plague looms, Kiya throws her lot in with the Hebrews to save her brother, beginning a long journey of trusting Yahweh out of Egypt and into the wilderness.
Shadow of the Storm begins months after their exit from Egypt, as the Israelites wait at the foot of Mt. Sinai (where Moses received the 10 Commandments from God). With their encampment as our setting, we watch Shira fall in love with midwifery, as well as the handsome Ayal. She is soon devastated by the death of a mother in childbirth and crushed to learn it was Ayal’s wife and he’d been married all along. What follows is her story – and Ayal’s – of healing from wounds and accepting the grace and forgiveness of the Lord and others.
In Wings of the Wind, we fast forward about forty years to meet orphaned Canaanite Alanah, masquerading as a man to go into battle against the despised Hebrews. Although her people are slaughtered in the battle, warrior Tobiah has compassion on her and takes her back to their camp so she can heal from her injuries. Under the Torah, he is mortified to learn he must marry this captive woman for her protection. Alanah, out of options, acquiesces. Before long, she begins to see the Hebrews as something other than “the enemy” and marriage as something other than slavery.
These summaries don’t do the plots justice. There is so much complexity to each of these books, I couldn’t hit everything. Each one is well-thought out and expertly mapped out, with good pacing and no loose threads. Cossette is skilled at weaving together complicated stories of trauma, hate, brokenness, love, hope, reconciliation, and redemption.
Captivating Characters
Her characters experience so much growth and development throughout each novel. I really enjoyed each protagonist introduced (Kiya + Eben, Shira + Ayal, and Alanah + Tobiah).
Even the antagonists had sufficient, if not complicated, backstories for them to make sense to the plots. The romances between the couples are reasonable, full of chemistry and connection as well as friendship, devotion, sacrifice, and selflessness.
Ancient Cultures Brought to Life
I love the way Cossette portrays the ancient world, bringing Egyptian, Hebrew, and even Canaanite/Moabite/Midianite cultures to life. She is adept at explaining and showing the Hebrew customs, rules, and lifestyle that we are given in the Biblical books of Exodus and Leviticus. She gives context to those chapters of instruction that we tend to skip over.
Traditional Values Elevated & Esteemed
I appreciated the way marriage and family are portrayed in these books. There is high esteem for both, including the sanctity of life and children.
Cossette also does a superb job of portraying the beautiful redemption God gives those who follow him. She shows how broken characters with painful pasts can become whole from faith in the Lord and how they can heal their relationships with others. Reconciliation. Redemption. Hope. Love.
If You Like…
There is plenty of drama, action, and romance. Some of the plot curveballs were predictable, but it didn’t detract from my reading.
The third book – Wings of the Wind – actually set things up for the first book of Cities of Refuge, which was kind of cool (I clearly read things out of order).
If you want to spend time in biblical, faith-based historical fiction, I’d recommend starting with Out of Egypt and then reading Cities of Refuge for the most cohesive reading experience.
The only thing I don’t love is Cossette uses specific words or phrases a lot, which just got a little repetitive for me by book 3 (such as “his mouth quirked”). Don’t let that dissuade you from picking her books up though. It doesn’t diminish the quality of her storytelling.
Final Rating
I can’t say enough good things about Out of Egypt. It hit me right in the heart, and I loved it. 5 stars from me!
Content Rating: Mild
Some references to violence, including rape (emphasized mostly for book 2)
Copyright Connilyn Cossette and Bethany House Publishers. Image from Amazon.
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