Daughters of the Desert: Stories of Remarkable Women from Christian, Jewish and Muslim Traditions - Hardcover

Women—though seldom educated—played key roles in the development of these three great faiths, but their lives and contributions are rarely honored. The men who recorded and copied the sacred Scriptures and other important texts included very little about how women passed on their experiences of God through storytelling, song, and ritual.

With the help of imagination and careful research, Daughters of the Desert introduces us to the lives and loves, personalities and dreams of women who are only hinted at in the Scriptures, but whose faith and strength were vital to the growth of their beliefs. Taking as starting points passages from the Hebrew and Christian Bibles and the Qur’an, this diverse collection of short stories allows us to hear the voices of our common female ancestors loud and clear.

Ideal for anyone who has ever wondered what life was like for our spiritual foremothers, these stories bring life and breath to the past. What the Scriptures have often only outlined in passing is here fully imagined—from thrilling events that decided the fate of thousands to everyday moments of friendship and love.

Claire Rudolf Murphy is the award-winning author of several books for children and young adults, including Children of the Gold Rush (winner of the 2000 Willa Cather Award), Gold Rush Women and Free Radical. She is coauthored of Daughters of the Desert: Stories of Remarkable Women
from Christian, Jewish and Muslim Traditions (SkyLight Paths).