Artaxerxes, King of Persia, needs a wife. He picks the one girl who would have given anything to be passed over: a Jewish scholar, Esther, from the back streets of his capital, Shushan. To a King bored by the chattering of women wreathed in musky scents, this changeling is a breath of fresh air. But the new Queen of Persia is lost in a world of protocol, and soon loses her husband's favour. Worse, she has to hide her faith and deny her origins - for Haman, the King's favourite, is an Amelekite, an ancient enemy of the Jews, and determined to have revenge. Esther's only hope to avert a holocaust is to risk her own life and go, uninvited, before a King who has already disposed of one unpopular wife...