Yochi Brandes is one of Israel's bestselling novelists, and much of her best-known work retells the Bible from the side that lost. Born in Haifa in 1959 into a family of Hasidic rabbis and trained in Bible and Jewish studies, she writes what critics have called modern midrash — fiction that takes the biblical text seriously enough to argue with it. Kings III, published in English as The Secret Book of Kings, retells the rise of David from the perspective of the House of Saul. Seven Mothers, a book of essays, tells the stories of seven rebellious women of the Bible to whom, she argues, the Jewish people owe their existence. When God Was Young, also a book of essays, traces a God who is himself changed by the people who stand up to him — Eve, Cain, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Jonah. A Platinum Book bestselling author and a sought-after lecturer on the Bible, Brandes is read by secular and religious Israelis alike. These editions are in Hebrew.
