In a new novel titled From Orphan to Queen: Esther, Titi Horsfall retells the story of the Biblical heroine, writes AKEEM LASISI
Being a 'family woman' and someone in full time employment, Titi Horsefall concedes that it can be challenging to be a respectable writer – one who can come up with an engaging story. Moving from poetry to fiction writing, she has, however, proved that talent is like a rose, which can flower even in the midst of thorns.
The author of Reflections, a collection of inspirational poems, was the centre of attraction in Lagos on Tuesday when the novel was presented. With the publication, the Bayelsa State-born graduate of Marketing from Rivers State University of Science of Technology has proved that the Bible is an inexhaustible ocean of renewable stories.
Incidentally ushered onto the shelf close to the time the world celebrated Easter, the novel is the story of Esther the Jewish beauty, an orphan who rose to become the Queen of the empire. Soldiers had brutally murdered her parents and made her and other Jews captives.
But even in captivity, she held on faithfully, "trusting God as her guiding light and protector, unswervingly." This eventually paid off in the events and circumstances which singled her out of captivity to become the empress in spite of being captured alongside other Jews and treated as a prisoner of war.
The work, Horsefall, who also holds a Masters in Banking and Finance from the Lagos State University, Ojo and an MBA in oil and gas management from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, USA, notes is a product of 15 years of imagination, research and perspiration. According to her, while her initial engagement with poetry has prepared her for the art of story telling, she likes to ask history as many questions as possible.
"I may not be an animated person in the physical sense, but the fact is that I am a very imaginative person. I am always turning ideas in my mind. As a result, my head is full of plots. If you also have a poetry background, you are in a position to write in a way that will make word to jump out of the book, so that people will get to see exactly what you want to tell them.
"I like history, but I tend to ask myself a lot of questions. It can be the secular history of that of a particular people in the Bible. I always have the feeling that somebody should be able to explain to me why some things are the way they are."
Among the other three Biblical characters that Horsefall particularly wants to explore, she got struck by the story of Esther.
On why it took her 15 years to write, she notes that she was not in a hurry because she needed to reflect on life in general, as it relates to the experience of the protagonist. She needed to explore the dynamics of relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants, among others. She adds that she was also desirous of injecting a new life into the same story: she wanted to make it real, true to history and true to form. She is happy that the feedback she has been getting indicates that she is accordingly connecting to readers.
"I was amazed when a man called me and said that he got to a point in the book and started crying," the author adds. "That is at the point where Hagai tells Modecai that she is the selected one. I have got other similar views from people who have read the book."
Horsefall is, however, quick to add that she was conscious of the need to be truthful to the tenets of the Bible by not saying what it does not say about the key characters, for instance. While she played around quotes of fictional characters, she kept sacred Biblical quotes, saying, "I did not tamper with what happened in the Bible."
Among other accolades, legendary writer, Gabriel Okara, has hailed Horsefall for her efforts at producing the novel. With From an Orphan to a Queen: Esther, the great poet of The Call of the River Nun fame says, she has gained a firm position among some of the good and up-and-coming creative writers emerging in Nigeria.
Okara adds, "With her fictive narrative skill, she has brought to life and relevance centuries old biblical story to lovers of good literature."
Also in her review of the novel, whose presentation attracted many book lovers to Southern Sun Hotel, Ikoyi, Onochie Uche commends Horsefall for what he describes as palpable obsession with the beauties of nature and romantic drama.
She notes, "With well researched facts and a great analytical skill, Horsfall gives the biblical Book of Esther a feature and a face that readers will not soon forget. This novel features, in grand style, the fame of Jehovah, whose name and person were totally, yet deliberately, omitted from the Bible's narrative, until now."
The reviewer further observes that Horsfall has presented to readers the Esther they never knew – a dreamer, lover, wife, mother, great planner, loyal friend and leader.
"This novel tells in its own distinctive voice the story of a captive orphan girl and how she became great," she explains.
Other dignitaries at the event included the Group Executive, Director, Refinery and Petrochemicals, Mr. Tony Ogbuigwe; and ace broadcaster, Adesuwa Onyenekwe.
