The Heart of a King: The Loves of Solomon

"Everything is meaningless, like chasing the wind"—familiar words from the Bible and appropriate words from the prelude of this novel about the tumultuous love life of King Solomon from Smith ("The Wives of King David" series). Initially, the soon-to-be-crowned son of King David is interested only in achieving power, though his mother Bathsheba brings marriageable young ladies to tempt Solomon. His father was a man of war, and Solomon determines to be a king of peace, a decision that results in numerous arranged marriages with foreign alliances. Four of his numerous love interests are profiled in this novel with multiple narrators. Naamah, daughter of the ambassador of Ammon, favored by Bathsheba, becomes the first of many wives, followed by Abishag, believed to be the Shulemmite woman profiled in Song of Solomon, and several other wives. Solomon, driven by his own lust for love and power, is known as the wisest man in the world but leaves devastation in his wake as he searches for personal fulfillment.