Not by Sight: A Novel of the Patriarchs by Elizabeth Jacobson

Not by Sight: A Novel of the Patriarchs by Elizabeth Jacobson
Series: Standalone
Publisher: WordCrafts Press (March 16, 2022)

REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS

Elizabeth Jacobson released this Not by Sight in 2022, and this debut novel was a double Carol Award Finalist in 2023. But just as the novel was released, Jacobson was struck with a long-term illness. She is just now getting back up on her promotion- and writing-feet. After reading the book, I am thrilled to help on the promotion side with this review.

Not by Sight is the fictionalized story of Joseph from the Bible. It starts when Joseph is fourteen and continues into his adulthood. Fictionalized, yes, but it sticks to Scripture whenever a Biblical event arises like when Joseph dreams of the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him or when his father gives him a fancy coat.

Jacobson is really good at highlighting family drama, both in Joseph’s family of origin and when he’s observing other families in Egypt. (And you thought families in reality TV shows had problems!) The emotion Jacobson conveys on the page arrested my breath and kept me reading late into the night.

I feel like I’ve met Joseph because his character is so well developed in this novel, and the supporting characters are well developed, too. There’s a scene with Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh’s guard, that made me weak in the knees. I wanted to hug Joseph’s little brother, Benjamin. And a scribe named Djaty made me throw back my head and laugh. But my favorite supporting character was Dinah, Joseph’s sister. I probably liked her so much because Joseph did. In fact, when they were separated, he prayed for her daily, and as every year passed when he was in Egypt, he remembered his father, his youngest brother, and Dinah:

I am thirty years old.
Benjamin is sixteen.
Dinah is thirty-two.
My father is 121.

-Elizabeth Jacobson, Not by Sight

Jacobson did her research! I learned so much about Middle Kingdom Egypt, the period during which Joseph lived there. I learned how an Egyptian slave was identified, how a slave could walk unescorted in the city, why the Egyptians didn’t slap any old color on the walls of their homes (the colors had spiritual meanings), how the Egyptians designed their prisons, how bricks were made, the difference between hieroglyphics and cuneiform, the foolish-crazy-downright-idiotic way the Egyptians celebrated Osiris, and more. Jacobson drops these historic details now and then throughout the book, so you don’t even realize you’re getting an education until the story is over and your brain is all lit up with Egyptian facts.

I can’t believe this is a debut novel. It feels like the product of an author with multiple novels under her belt. The prose is polished. The storylines are expertly woven. The descriptions are interesting and memorable.

If I had anything to fuss about, it’d be that I already knew the story of Joseph. I knew what would happen next and what would happen after that. However, it’s so well written, that I still enjoyed the read, as would anyone else interested in ancient Egypt or historical figures in the Bible. Or those who struggle to forgive past wrongs (because Joseph had certainly been wronged).

About that forgiveness, Joseph’s brothers are terribly cruel. Joseph is only human, and his human nature wants to hold on to bitterness. He also struggles with faith. His prayers become rote. He can’t understand why God allows terrible things to happen. But that just makes Joseph all the more relatable and his faith journey all the more remarkable.

Overall, Not by Sight is a beautifully rendered portrait of the patriarch Joseph, and I don’t hesitate to recommend it. Four well-earned fish!

I read Not by Sight through Kindle Unlimited.