King Solomon's Troubles

Sex, love, and adultery are themes that unite humanity across time. King Solomon, of biblical fame, built the first temple in Jerusalem. Historical accounts say that he was extraordinarily wealthy and wise, that he had the ability to seduce any woman he wanted, and that he had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. He had it all—so why did he always yearn for more?

Rachel is a twenty-first-century enigma. A sex therapist with her own dark secrets, she spends her life helping others with their relationships. But her professional expertise hasn’t magically healed her of her own pain and obsessions. The pursuit of happiness is just as challenging for her as it is for her clients. What’s missing?

Sarah is an American transplant to Israel whose confusion about men gets in the way of her desire to marry one; Fatima, a feminist Muslim who feels trapped in Jerusalem, knows she can have more; and Galit, a free-spirited Israeli woman, enjoys the company of men—a little too much.

These women are determined to live their lives as they wish to, by reaching for new ways to live in spite of tradition and the protests of their families. In an act of literary time travel, author Zoe Senesh spins tales of the human condition, attesting that as far as the heart is concerned, little has fundamentally changed since Biblical times.