The Secret Chord

If, as biblical references hint, the prophet Natan chronicled King David's life, Brooks (Caleb's Crossing) imagines the consequent document as both intimate and epic, replete with emotional revelations. Only Natan could have undertaken this unvarnished portrayal; David, cognizant of the sacrifices attending Natan's role as seer, abides his companion's sometimes devastating judgments and grants him complete trust. Thus, the middle-aged king, still "gleaming" with power and physical magnetism, mandates that Natan commence the biography by questioning his first wife, surviving brother, and mother—primary sources for David's humble beginnings but also witnesses to dishonorable deeds. Further disclosures (e.g., David's murder of Nathan's father) trace his ascent and decline: as shepherd, outlaw, warrior, ruler, enfeebled patriarch. Throughout, the mercurial David's vitality, beauty, and sublime talent as harpist and composer of psalms parallel his baser exploits: debauchery, savagery, betrayal. Though enunciation of transliterated Hebrew names hinders the pace at times, Paul Boehmer movingly animates Brooks's vibrant, engrossing account, dramatically conveying the poignancy of personal testimonies and the harsh immediacy of life in Second Iron Age Israel.