Rating: 
Summary: Living Water leaves you thirsty NO MORE....
Review: I had the great pleasure of interviewing Dr. Hendricks for Booking Matters Magazine in February 2003, however at the time, I had not finished his novel (Living Water). I am very happy to share that I recently finished the novel and was left almost speechless by it's contents. Dr. Hendricks' dug really dip to pen such a powerful account of the well known bible story of the woman at the well. Growing up in church, I've heard the story (like many of you) preached, taught probably 1,000 different ways...however, I have never pondered who this woman really was. I never thought that maybe she (Maryam) had a story. In my quest to read novels that are historically based, I could NOT have chosen a better book to begin with. Living Water gives any reader a front row seat into the life of the "Woman at the Well" beginning with her childhood. By the end of the book, you feel as if you know her personally and you understand her reputation as having had five husbands. (you meet the husbands in the story) Reading this novel opened up a plethora of new words for me, as Dr. Hendricks is a master storyteller, gifted writer and scholar. While challenging in some parts, the more I read, the harder it became for me to put the book down. Throughout the story, original biblical names are used, which makes the story even more interesting. The character development is super and the story flows very well. Some might view this as a challenging read but one, which will leave you thirsty no more. I highly recommend this to any avid reader, male and female, clergy, book clubs...it's a GREAT read. Hats off to Dr. Hendrick's for giving us insight into the lives of these bible story characters, especially Maryam. Thanks for reminding us that even the people in the bible had/have significant stories.... I await your next novel....with great anticipation.
Rating:
Summary: AView of God From a Woman's Perspective
Review: In this glorious tale of redemptive love BEFORE we know what it is, Maryam flowers despite the heartships and trials of her life. Hendricks is a master storyteller who gives us the depth of anguish from both the men and women, while not excusing the pain that the men are causing the women in this Novel. Given to me by a Pastor who shares the stories of women in the Bible with his congregation, I read it from front to end without stopping, finding the message that God loves us even when we don't see it. Worth reading, but more, worth its use as a Bible study tool. Wonderful story with a dynamic ending!
Rating:
Summary: Redemption of the beyond-broken!
Review: Living Waters gave a very familiar Bible story an unexpected twist, especially since it was written by a male. That is not male bashing, indeed, I am well pleased with the attention he gave both sexes. He adroitly addresses the impact of violence on a people and their culture and how that trickles down into individual relationships. He explores the impact of male dominance on the female spirit, and the impact of the a loving merciful, healing God on the spirit of a woman who is seemingly beyond feeling or redemption. Her trials became the strength behind her ministry. I was transported by this novel; I was in her hut and in her heart. I am recommending this book to friends and to my book club. Thank you, Mr. Hendricks.
Rating:
Summary: The touch of a stranger
Review: Obery Hendricks has taken a scene from the Bible and transformed it into a poetic novel about the conditions of Samaritan women during the times of Jesus. No one knows the name of the woman Jesus talked with at the well in the book of John, chapter 4, but this novel gives her a name. It also takes us through her five tragic marriages and gives her the strength to speak out in a country where women were considered worthless. While the novel takes place 2000 years ago, it is easy to slip into the mood of the book as attitudes and conditions of life for Samaritans under the harsh rule of the Romans and the disdain of the Jews unfolds. Unfortunately, it calls to mind some modern injustices that still exist. Hendricks perhaps takes some liberties with Jesus toward the end of the book that I am sure will ruffle the feathers of some. The novel is an eye opener that explains some of the present day beliefs that we continue to maintain regarding the place of women, what spirituality is all about and above all, what constitutes love.
Reviewed by Alice Holman
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Rating:
Summary: Deeply moving and empowering - Nourishment for the Soul!
Review: Obery Hendricks' first novel celebrates womanhood, the resilience of the human spirit, and the healing power of love and forgiveness.
Living Water expands on the biblical story (John 4:7-29) of the life of the "woman at the well," an unnamed Samaritan woman with a questionable background (five ex-husbands and a sixth common-law husband) who encounters Jesus at the local well. Hendricks effectively weaves this biblical story and context with African American mores and experience into an examination of the effects of oppression and self-hatred on relationships and community. The reader is immediately confronted with questions of her innocence or guilt in the first pages of the book that describe a dying man's last moments. Hendricks uses this woman's sometimes painful and troubling story to explore how a male-dominated society sanctioned its oppression of women. When her loving grandmother, Ma Tee, dies, she loses her primary source of love, wisdom, and refuge. She must learn how to navigate and survive the customs and rules designed to control her with little assistance except from a few doting community elders. Local custom forces her marriage to the highest bidder and places her at the mercy of the first of five very difficult husbands. Circumstances and cultural dictates force her to move from husband to husband, with each man taking away a bit of her humanity, leaving her emotionally broken and nearly destroyed with little recourse except to fight back. She ultimately finds the strength that enables her to heal, forgive, and embrace a man and community with true love and spirit.
Rating: 
Summary: Living Water Quenched My Thirst!
Review: Obery Hendricks' Living Water is an inspirational work of historical fiction. It explores the popular biblical parable of Jesus and the woman at the well but expounds upon the unnamed woman's life in ancient times under the rule of the Romans and laws of Moses. In the novel, the author gives her a name, Maryam, and delivers a well-developed character who struggles with self-identity, conformity, and the newly discovered Christian values of forgiveness, universal love, and equality. Maryam was born with "gibora" - a strong, outgoing, free spirit; something that women are not to possess or openly demonstrate in a male-dominated society; thus she is taught to suppress it in order to avoid shaming her father/family and to make her more desirable as a potential wife. With no protection from an abused and broken mother, the young Maryam is wed to a lecherous, spoiled husband and is subjected to his perverse sexual demands. Although she tries her best to appease her husband, he exercises his right to "erwat dabar" and is publicly divorced. Consequentially, she is cast aside by society's communal laws, disowned by her father, and falls victim to public scorn resulting in her name becoming synonymous with impropriety. She is clearly a victim of poor circumstances and hard luck and even the most discerning reader is compelled to empathize with her trials and tribulations. Her next four marital relationships are wonderfully conceived and creatively written by the author. They provide much food-for-thought regarding the woman's role within marriages and in ancient Hebrew society. Hendricks cleverly intermingles modern day African American vernacular and misguided values regarding skin hues, racial superiority, etc. which add practicability to an otherwise archaic story. Maryam struggles with oppression (to the point of nearly losing herself) and concepts of conformity throughout her life and receives the answers to her lifelong questions during her encounter with Jesus. Through Him, she finds renewed strength and courage to share the message of forgiveness, gender/race equality, and universal love among the very villagers who disparaged her. This is a powerful story of strength, redemption, and liberation with a message that will transcend time. It is highly recommended to those who enjoy inspirational and moralistic works. Phyllis
APOOO BookClub
Nubian Circle Book Club
Rating:
Summary: Affirmation
Review: This book is amazing. It is a must read for those who felt a connection to Toni Morrison's Beloved or Sula. It would also resonate with a reader of Alice Walker's Temple of My Familiar. Obery merges the spiritual, historical and imaginative world for a raw account of what happens when a woman, with her own mind and her own heart, discovers her true beauty-her Strength. When she is free to experience herself-A woman living under the oppression, of not only a broader society but of men who sleep by her side, is chosen to be a mouthpiece for the chief liberator, God. For women who have a free spirit and the men who are not afraid to love them, "Living Water" serves as affirmation of the power and holiness of their union.
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: This is a good read. Every now and them, overtones of a Toni Morrison novel appeared (the first wedding night; the other woman; Big Mama (Baby Suggs, etc.). A different take for the story of the woman at the well, it does, however humanize her. Maryam was on her way to normal growth until the menfolk took to telling her father that she was too "gibora" for her own good. Her father literally started the stunting of Maryam's psyche. Her grandmother, fearing that she would be manless, reinforced the exhortation of Maryam's father which confused Maryam. By the time the poor girl met gentleman #5, she had been ground into the ground. The characters were pretty well developed. I still have some confusion about husband #4. I could parallel some of the drama in the book to every day life in this millenium for some women, to some black men, to some areas of the black community. I especially loved the sensitivity and ability of Mr. Hendricks to get into the head of a woman. The women in his own life have to have very positive impact upon him.
Rating:
Summary: A gripping, at times lusty, tale and an engaging read
Review: This is a gripping, at times lusty, tale based on the life story of the Samaritan Woman. LIVING WATER is not a stereotypically lightweight, biblical novel. It's for readers who are ready for a challenge and willing to look for truths presented in nontraditional forms. Author Obery Hendricks, a seminary "professor of biblical interpretation," calls this, his first novel, "an African American retelling of the New Testament story of the woman at the well who was married to five successive husbands at a time when women did not have the right to choose either marriage or divorce." Ethnic overtones are evident in some characters' nicknames (Sonny Boy and Big Mama) and patterns of dialogue ("Oh Lordy, we're in trouble now" and "Don't he talk sweet"). But there are deeper parallels: The ravages of slavery and harsh control influence the heart of the story --- the Samaritan men being humiliated and beaten down by the Romans; the women being powerless property of the husbands who have lost respect for themselves and take out their frustration on their women. The book opens with a short, startling death scene of the Samaritan woman's fifth husband. Then Part 1 is a flashback, from prenuptial childhood up to that pivotal, bloody mess. She --- her name is Maryam, though significantly we aren't told this for 250 pages --- is a spunky, in-your-face kind of kid who sadly learns, from her kindhearted grandmother, Ma Tee, that spunk is not acceptable for girls. "Atop the coarse woolen tunic that is [the girl's] usual attire is now draped a stale, heavy garment of carefulness. Ma Tee has tried her best to craft it to her size, yet it does not fit. Still, she will dutifully struggle to wear it, though its weight will sag her heart to its knees." And this narrative comment comes even before she's married to and beaten down by her first husband and abandoned by numbers two, three, and four. This is a feminist story, but not drastically so; it is egalitarian more than man bashing. The big cast of characters --- five (or is it six?) husbands, three father figures, a brother-in-law, Messiah Jesus, and more --- include bad men and good; similarly with the Samaritan women. In a supplemental reader's guide, Hendricks explains that the Samaritan woman's journey "to be free of male domination and mistreatment was also my own journey to free myself from the roles of dominator and mistreater." Theologically conservative readers may rankle at some feminist theology, but, again, this is not as radical as it might be. Hendricks interprets biblical passages (mostly from Proverbs, once from Luke) that personify Wisdom (a feminine Hebrew word) as being descriptive of "the woman-side of God." For a novel that is replete with social commentary applicable to any age --- including a chapter on an itinerant, fraudulent faith healer --- LIVING WATER is an engaging read. Part 2 --- in which Maryam claims her name, takes up with a man who loves her and treats her well, and becomes a disciple of Jesus --- includes powerful scenes of redemption, even unto the last page, which drew a tear to my eye. --- Reviewed by Evelyn Bence
Rating:
Summary: remarkable
Review: This is a really remarkable novel. The story of the Sammaritan woman is one of the most memorable of the New Testament and Obery M. Hendricks clevery brings the "background" story to life. The life of woman in Asia Minor was and still is, hard. Obery M. Hendricks makes you feel the heat, the sweat, and the daily indignities that a woman of that time faced. The Samaria of this book is very much like Segregation Era Mississippi and that's no accident, I'm sure. The brutality of the Romans, the joking conversations of the men, the bitterness of having to bow and scrape just to stay alive and the private feelings of the women are all very familiar.
The only thing wrong with this book is the marriage of Maryam and Yeshua and the ending which strays just a little too far from the story of the Bible but those are small mistakes and the rest of this magnificent tale more than makes up for them.
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