Gold in Havilah

Author: Jean Hoefling
Genre: Biblical Fiction

Cain’s wife: the nameless spouse of the world’s legendary first murderer. What if this woman's journey was not so different from your own?

Akliah and the other children of Adam and Eve know well the story of their parents’ fall from innocence and banishment from the Garden of Eden for eating forbidden food. But God's ancient promise to Eve gives them hope; that Cain, the privileged first-born son, will soon crush the Serpent, who turned their parents from the heart of God.

Fiercely in love with Cain, Akliah is determined to be his wife. But her schemes are shattered when Cain murders his brother, Abel, and abducts Akliah to Nod, east of Eden. There, Cain spirals into delusion through his alliance to a beautiful fallen angel and Akliah bears Cain's child and meets a man who offers genuine love and redemption. But she is torn between an honest confession of her family history and her longing to be admired. 

Against the backdrop of a city devoted to dark powers, Akliah must finally try to regain her integrity. But will she lose her life in the attempt? ​​​

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Reviewer: Mary Hosmar

Many of us have wondered about the story of Cain and Abel. We understand, on a basic level, what jealousy or anger can do. But what brought on this jealousy and anger on Cain’s part? And how did Cain survive after he was banished? How did he grow to become a nation? Jean Hoefling has taken some of those questions and woven them into an exciting story which touches all readers at some level.

While much of Hoefling’s novel is believable, there are times when scepticism surfaces in the reader. It is at those times one needs to remember that this is a work of fiction based on speculative research. Hoefling, herself, admits that, although the protagonist, Akliah, and her sister Luluwa’s names are mentioned in extra-biblical texts as having been among Eve’s children, nothing more is known about them. Remembering that man was created to live forever also helps to bridge some of the scepticism.

The scheming of Satan, or Serpens as he is called in this story, is brought out clearly as is the way of atonement. Each character undergoes, in his/ her own way, the temptations first visited upon Adam and Eve. And each character must reach the promised salvation for him/herself.

While this novel does not undertake to answer all our questions about humanity’s beginnings, it does present some interesting possibilities and food for thought. And since there are no records of those days, other than God’s Genesis story, one person’s speculation about this history is just as valid as another’s.  Hoefling has stayed true to the Genesis account and woven those few facts into an entertaining and thought-provoking story well worth the read.

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Reviewer: Kandace Perry

Gold In Havilah vividly portrays a new world that is already steeped in traditions, family bonds and betrayals, the fight between good and evil. Hoefling wrote Gold in Havilah with such conviction and description that the characters come to life…you can smell the lush flowers and feel the morning mist on the long grasses underfoot. Your nostrils will burn at the stench of decaying flesh…you can feel the sudden sting of a biting fly on your weathered arm. You can feel the goodness of God’s chosen ones fighting for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. However, you can also feel the dark evil forces of Lilith and Lucifer’s armies fighting for despair and devastation. Gold In Havilah describes the celebration of new life and the heartache of death; the allure and ultimate destruction of following your passionate desires by putting God’s plan aside to follow your own worldly needs. Interesting how more than two thousand years later we are still experiencing those same joys and sorrows.

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