Brothers

“Prolific novelist Hunt knows how to hold a reader’s interest, and her latest yarn is no exception…Hunt packs the maximum amount of drama into her story, and the pages turn quickly. The present tense narration lends urgency as the perspective switches among various characters. Readers may decide to take the stairs after finishing this thriller.”

— Publishers Weekly on The Elevator

“Christy Award and Holt Medallion winner Hunt skillfully builds tension and keeps the plot well paced and not overly melodramatic.”

— Library Journal on The Elevator

“Angela Hunt has over three million copies of her award-winning novels in print today, and this poignant tale about breast cancer will only help to make the number rise. Jonah and Jacquelyn are both strong characters, and the medical terminology is well-written without confusing the reader. Both must learn to trust in a God they weren’t sure really cared about them anymore, and ultimately find that God’s grace will see them through.”

— Romance Junkies on A Time to Mend

“Only a skillful novelist could create such a multilayered, captivating portrait of Mary Magdalene…Hunt’s attention to detail in her historical research, combined with her bright imagination, fills in the sketchy biographical facts and creates a fascinating and convincing Magdalene. First-rate biblical fiction.”

— Library Journal on Magdalene

Refreshed Version, Newly Revised By Author

MANDISA

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

SHIM’ON

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

TIZARA

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

YAAKOV

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

IDOGBE

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Four

Epilogue

Questions for Discussion

Bibliography

Which of us has known his brother?

Which of us has looked into his father’s heart?

Which of us has not remained forever prison-pent?

Which of us is not forever a stranger and alone?

—Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward, Angel!

And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,

And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over

Egypt and all his house.

Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.

But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.

— Acts 7:9–12

Thebes, Egypt

Z aphenath-paneah, Father to Pharaoh and acting ruler of all Egypt, caught his breath as Queen Tuya lifted his hand and pressed it to her cheek. The hot, dry wind of the famine’s second year blew over the palace garden as the lovely woman struggled to frame an answer to his proposal of marriage.

“Asenath is a lovely woman, and you have two fine sons,” she finally whispered, her eyes glinting with warmth. “You will not be happy loving one wife and offering kindness to the other.”

A wave of relief flooded his soul. She was wise, his Tuya, but she had always been perceptive beyond her years. More than once in Potiphar’s house she had guided him away from foolish mistakes, helping him remember that he was no longer Yosef, the pampered son of Yaakov, but Paneah, a slave to an Egyptian. And even though he now ruled all Egypt at the young Pharaoh’s side, Tuya’s insight and love still sought the best for all.

Curving his hand around her cheek, he pressed his lips together, not allowing himself to protest. The queen lowered her thick black lashes and from the corner of his eye, Yosef saw a servant enter the garden. He dropped his hand and turned, composing his face into dignified lines as the dark-haired slave hurried past the reflecting pools where lotus blossoms bloomed in abundance.

The attendant fell at Yosef’s feet. “Life, health and prosperity to you, most noble and excellent vizier!”

“Yes?”

The man lifted his head a few inches from the pathway. “The steward of your house begs your indulgence and your pardon for this interruption. He waits outside Pharaoh’s gate to give you a message.”