Fry does not offer prescriptive advice on how to read the biblical book of Esther. She provides something more intimate and compelling: namely, a thoughtful demonstration of how personal experience, history and unfolding events can shape and shift the process of reading, interpretation and identity formation. Every reader brings their own assumptions to reading biblical texts this trauma-informed book shows how this operates and why it matters. -- Johanna Stiebert Fry provides something more intimate and compelling than prescriptive advice on reading Esther... Every reader brings their own assumptions to reading biblical texts this trauma-informed book shows how this operates and why it matters. -- Johanna Stiebert Powerful, readable, and necessary, Fry's monograph offers insights grounded in fine scholarship and nuanced empathy. Her trauma-informed lens illuminates the text and galvanizes readers to rethink our assumptions about the book of Esther. This monograph is a must-read for scholars of trauma or the book of Esther, and it models how biblical scholarship can synthesize traditional close reading, critical theory, and real-world application as fluent conversation partners. -- Esther Brownsmith Powerful, readable, and necessary, Fry's monograph offers insights grounded in fine scholarship and nuanced empathy. A must-read for scholars of trauma or the book of Esther, it models how biblical scholarship can synthesize traditional close reading, critical theory and real-world application as fluent conversation partners. -- Esther Brownsmith Describing this book in the preface, as a love letter to Esther, Alexiana Fry offers a reading that is anything but sentimental. Through a rigorous and robust trauma hermeneutic, she exposes the brutal textures beneath the narratives reversals and, in doing so, unsettles the very claim of love. The book is unsparing and unflinching about the wounds it cannot conceal. This is not an easy love, but a battered, questioning and self-reflexive one. I commend this work to scholars and students who grapple with how sacred texts carry, conceal and transmit violence. -- Sarojini Nadar Describing this book in the preface, as a love letter to Esther, Alexiana Fry offers a reading that is anything but sentimental. Through a rigorous and robust trauma hermeneutic, she exposes the brutal textures beneath the narratives reversals. I commend this work to scholars and students who grapple with how sacred texts carry, conceal and transmit violence. -- Sarojini Nadar Rarely does a book provide unique insight into both a biblical hermeneutic and application of it. In Alexiana Frys Esther Keeps the Score, readers not only gain insight into the ever-elusive category that is trauma, but also a new understanding of Esther as trauma literature. Without restraint, Fry provides a model for how to do interdisciplinary work in the field of biblical studies. -- Sarah Emanuel
