Review of Rightfully Mine: God’s Equal Rights Amendment
January 27, 2010 by Lillie
Rightfully Mine: God’s Equal Rights Amendment
Aggie Villanueva
Lulu.com
July 27, 2009
Paperback, 176 pages, $12.97
Smashwords
November 16, 2009
Available in 10 electronic formats, $6.97
Biblical Fiction
People sometimes think Judaism and Christianity are anti-women rights. Aggie Villanueva has written a compelling novel that shows this is not the case.
I enjoyed this story based on a few Old Testament verses in which sisters who had no male relatives were allowed to inherit the land due their father. We know that the Israelites had a male-oriented society, but this event shows that God cares about His female children as well as His male children and has from the beginning.
From the short account in Numbers describing the daughters of Zelophehad standing up for their rights, Aggie has created well-defined, believable characters and an entertaining story that makes the reader feel they are experiencing early Biblical times.
Readers who like Biblical fiction, those who are interested in women’s rights, and lovers of romance will all enjoy Rightfully Mine.
The book is available in paperback and electronic formats at the following Web sites:
- Rightfully Mine blog and purchase pages
- Rightfully Mineavailable in 10 eBook formats at Smashwords
- Rightfully Mine (God’s Equal Rights Amendment) available in paperback from Amazon.com
Aggie has graciously offered an e-copy of her book to a lucky commenters. Just leave a relevant comment below and you’ll be entered in the drawing, which will be open until Friday, February 5th.
Be sure to return here on Friday, January 29th for an interview with Aggie. She talks about both her writing and her photographic art with passion, and I know you’ll enjoy the interview as much as I did.
Added 2/5/10: Congratulations to Ron, the winner of the drawing for an e-book of Rightfully Mine.
Disclosure: I received an electronic copy of the book from the author. I have not accepted any compensation for this review and made no commitment to give a favorable review. The links to Amazon.com and Smashwords are affiliate links.
It’s unfortunate how many people think that the Bible is anti-woman.
.-= Bluestocking´s last blog ..The Things That “Seem”: Appearance in S & S =-.
It certainly is, Bluestocking.
Good morning. Thank you Lillie, for a thorough review. I’m honored to give away an ebook copy to your winner. I’ll be around to answer any questions. See you Friday for the interview! Have the best day ever everyone!
I enjoyed reading and reviewing your book, Aggie, as well as the interview.
I think that it is often all too easy to judge a culture off of the actions of a portion of them, even if it is/seems to be the dominant majority. Also, along the sames lines, it can be really hard as an outsider to objectively look at a different culture and correctly interpret it, which it sounds like this book addresses.
I tend to find these types of glimpses very interesting and am looking forward to the interview
.-= Steve@Lift Chairs´s last blog ..Making it Easier for Seniors to Live on Their Own =-.
Steve,
if anything in my review made it sound like Aggie was judgmental, it was unintentional. Or maybe you’re talking about my comment that many people judge Judaism and Christianity as being anti-women’s-rights. People do judge … but Aggie wasn’t judgmental in the book.
Sorry for the confusion, but I was more getting at how important books like Aggie’s are and did not for a moment think that she was being judgmental. I think they help expose the subtleties that can easily go unnoticed by people that aren’t familiar with the culture.
All too often, at least here in the US, it seems like people base their whole views of a culture off of what they hear on TV, coupled with their own biases. This is really easy to do when you project your own cultural feelings onto something that seems foreign, but I don’t think it is fair to do this.
This might not be as big of an issue with Judaism and Christianity, but, and of course this is said without actually reading the book, it seems like Aggie helps to explain some of these sorts of subtleties that might not be picked up by someone not in the know or those that could easily be misinterpreted.
Now granted, I could be interpreting it wrong, but it kind of seemed like the book addressed some of these sorts of issues, despite technically being fiction…
.-= Steve@Lift Chairs´s last blog ..What is the Difference Between Arthritis and Rheumatism? =-.
Steve,
I wasn’t sure what you were getting at in your first comment but now I understand. Aggie presents the culture of the time as it was—she did extensive research. Consequently, she shows that God and His people were not hostile to women as many people believe.
It is not good to judge the culture of others… even though it is minority or majority but we should respect others point of view that they basis is their culture…
Michael,
See my reply to Steve’s comment. I’m not sure what you are referring to, but my observation was that often people do judge … and they judge wrongly in this case.
Thankx for coming by, Steve and Michael. I hope you’re not disappointed, but I steered clear of trying to represent the ancient Israeli culture, for exactly the reason that I am an outsider.
I stuck to historical facts, and archeologically discovered customs of the day, to present it all in novel form.
All this really happened, so I wrote about in fictional format, of course, taking literary license for the romantic triangle and subplots.
Due to the naming of people having so much to do with their personalities, I didn’t really take much literary license in creating the characters, as I evolved each personality off the meanings of their names.
But I took great care not to make commentary on the culture, as that isn’t the purpose of my story. I just want to tell about these historical events and people in a fictional format for greatest reading enjoyment.
Also, folks might find this interesting:
There is a lot more than the few verses in the book of numbers about this story. It is commented on during the next few books of the Bible, which tells in detail of the battles I describe, plagues, etc.: even about the descendants of Zelophehad’s family, whose stories are described in detail too. Check it out some time.
I’ll be hanging around off and on, so please leave Lillie and I any comments/questions you want. I’m enjoying meeting you all. Have the best day ever.
.-= Aggie Villanueva´s last blog ..Photographic Equipment on a Shoestring =-.
Aggie,
Thanks for coming by and telling more about your research on writing the book.
Well, I have always thought that women were really insignificant like the children in the biblical narratives. That is why I appreciate the New Testament more with Jesus coming into the picture inviting women, children, tax collectors, sinners to dine with him and be with him. It was such a radical move for me.
It is good to hear that a story like this one was written. It will definitely have an impact to the way women are viewed both in the old and new testament of the bible. Not to mention, in real life.
Ron,
I think the Old Testament is filled with so much genealogy and ritual laws and names of countries and people that it’s easy to overlook things like this. I must have read those passages a dozen times or more but they never made an impression on me until I read Aggie’s book.
Sounds like a great book. I am always happy to see self published authors
Matthew,
It is a great book. Aggie self-published it after it went out of print with Thomas Nelson, so it’s been both traditionally published and self-published.
Howdy again everyone. How great to see you all. Sorry for the delay. I was posting yesterday until 4 pm, but it wouldn’t accept my posts. Thankx, Lillie for fixing that.
It’s good to see such a rousing discussion. Something about Zelophehad’s daughters prompts good things. I wish I could have known them. Maybe someday…
.-= Aggie Villanueva´s last blog ..Photographic Equipment on a Shoestring =-.
Aggie,
Sorry for the problems in getting your comments posted. Thanks for your patience.
Hi Matthew. Just wanted to say that Thomas Nelson frist published my book in 1986. I decided to bring it back. I’m glad I did. After self-pubbing I don’t want to go back to traditional publishing where I have no control. Have the best day ever, everyone.
.-= Aggie Villanueva´s last blog ..Photographic Equipment on a Shoestring =-.
Aggie,
I’m a big fan of self-publishing, and I encourage my clients to produce the kind of quality that Aggie produced. Having control is great if you use it right. I’ve encountered a few people who thought having self-control meant they shouldn’t take anyone else’s advice, including not letting anyone edit the book. A self-publisher needs to go through the same steps and produce the same quality as a traditional publisher, and Aggie did that.
So true, Lillie. I pay to have my self-published books professionally edited. I also hire professional book cover creation. We have to assume the same responsibilities that traditional publishers assumed. We can’t short change the reader. They deserve the best. In my opinion, readers can’t be fooled. They spot a dud pretty quickly.
.-= Aggie Villanueva´s last blog ..Today’s Guest: Frank Fiore =-.
Absolutely, Aggie. Most of my editing clients are self-publishing authors. I recommend a cover artist (in fact, I interviewed her recently as she has self-published her own book). We lay out the book in InDesign, not Word, and there’s no difference between the quality of the books compared to traditionally published books—just as readers can’t tell Rightfully Mine from a book from a major publisher.
[...] today is Aggie Villanueva, author of Rightfully Mine (God’s Equal Rights Amendment), which I reviewed in my last post. I didn’t know Aggie when she contacted me to offer her book for review. Since that initial [...]
well…
this book can change point of view of some people about women equal rights
and I think, we all need to read this as good compare.
nice review
dilog,
It’s definitely a book worth reading.
Thankx dilog, I appreciate your comments.
.-= Aggie Villanueva´s last blog ..Apple iPad: The Machine of my Dreams =-.
I love the way fiction brings a narrative into the stories of the Bible. It helps us to feel what they were exposed to, and to explore the meaning behind their culture!
Sally,
I enjoy Biblical fiction, too, and respect the amount of research it takes to write.
Research can be dull at times, but making a find is exciting.
For RM I read this thick tome that was written as boring as possible. I only learned one useful thing from it, but it was an answer I’d been looking for.
How in the world did tens of thousands of people sanitarily handle their waste? I was so happy to learn how that I created a whole scene where Rizpah was doing just that! Sounds gross, but no one has complained about the scene.
.-= Aggie Villanueva´s last blog ..Apple iPad: The Machine of my Dreams =-.
Women’s rights and equal rights for everyone has been an issue and fight since time began. I ordered this book.
sam,
Glad to hear you ordered the book. I think you will enjoy it.
Aggie presents the culture of the time. Women were never really insignificant in the BIBLE.Some say so but this just reflects our culture now. To be giving is an honor in my book. with out women our world would be very dark. God gave both men & women traits which were designed by God in his image. If people would just read the BIBLE they would know this stuff. This is why women are held up high in my world.
thank you
paul
Paul,
It’s amazing how the Bible gets distorted by people who don’t read it or who read isolated passages and don’t take the whole Bible into consideration.
[...] year about this time, I reviewed Aggie’s novel Rightfully Mine and also conducted an interview with her. We got to know each other better throughout the year, so [...]
[...] about a year ago, I reviewed Rightfully Mine and interviewed the author, Aggie Villanueva. Since I first discovered what a talented and active [...]