Judging Noa

“With creative imagination, as well as her immense knowledge of flora and fauna, Michal Strutin took me on a journey in this multi-layered sensual and sense-laden technicolor story.” — Peninnah Schram, co-author of *Jewish Stories of Love and Marriage: Folktales, Legends & Letters*

“An impeccably researched and richly detailed story of one woman’s struggle against a patriarchal system that threatens not only her freedom but her life.” — Rebecca Kanner author of *Esther: A Novel* and *Sinners and the Sea: the untold story of Noah’s Wife*

“Strutin combines well-researched details of desert life with enchanting story-telling that rivals the tales of the Bible itself. Highly recommended!” — Mary F. Burns, author of *J - The Woman Who Wrote the Bible*

Noa, at sixteen, sets out with the twelve tribes of the Exodus, dreaming of a life of freedom and the Promised Land that her father says will be theirs. When religious fanatics kill her father, Noa and her four sisters are in danger of being sold into bondage. Noa vows to win women’s rights of inheritance to protect her sisters and herself. Pleading her case before ever-higher courts, Noa encounters a malicious judge and the dark side of power.

Gaining strength and complexity as she approaches the highest judge, Noa and her pursuit causes turmoil among the tribes: she is a notorious troublemaker, accused of witchery. And she is heroic. Based on a few biblical verses, the turbulence of Noa’s life is set against the sweeping turbulence of the Exodus. In *Judging Noa*, her quest for justice is a journey that has as much meaning today as it did then.