In The Secret Chord (2015), Geraldine Brooks, a former journalist and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of historical fiction, turns to the story of the biblical King David. She uses this figure from religion and history to study human nature. Her David is far from a saint. He is a complex character: “a man who dwelt in the searing glance of the divine, but who sweated and stank, rutted without restraint, butchered the innocent, betrayed those most loyal to him” (2). Her book skims over many of the details of his warfare and rulership to ask instead what kind of person could be capable of such beautiful poetry and piety and yet be so ruthless toward others.

The title of the book comes from the Leonard Cohen song “Hallelujah,” which uses the story of David’s adultery with Batsheva to reflect on transcendence and brokenness in love affairs. Brooks similarly explores David’s contradictory character through his relationships. She tells these events through the first-person perspective of the prophet Natan, a man who moves from passively accepting David’s actions to actively facing the good and evil of the world around him.

Brooks uses transliterations of Hebrew names that may sound unfamiliar to English readers. Natan, for example, is better known as Nathan, Shlomo as Solomon, and Yonatan as Jonathan.

This guide uses the 2015 Viking hardcover edition of the book.

Content Warning: The book depicts multiple instances of rape, including graphic accounts of nonconsensual sex and humiliation. The following section includes analysis of one or more of those instances.

Plot Summary

In ancient Israel around 1000 BCE, during the reign of King Shlomo, the old prophet Natan finishes writing his chronicle of David’s reign. It is a chronicle designed to capture the complexity of the man and his choices rather than to offer simple praise.

The first half of this “chronicle” forms a narrative frame that alternates between the present, as King David commissions Natan to begin his writing, and the past, as David’s character and his kingdom are taking shape. In the narrator’s present, David has entered a dark period in which he doubts his own virility. Natan suggests writing the story of David’s life as a way of distracting the king; instead, it is Natan who is distracted. As Natan learns too late, the sexually frustrated king has committed adultery with Batsheva, the wife of his loyal soldier Uriah, a beautiful young woman he saw bathing on the roof of her nearby house.

Meanwhile, the preoccupied Natan pieces together his king’s past. Besides relying on his own recollections, he interviews three different figures. From David’s mother, he learns that David’s father and brothers mistakenly think him the fruit of adultery and humiliate him regularly. From David’s brother, Natan hears how David seized the opportunity to confront the enemy champion Goliath and so earned himself a place in the royal court, where he began a romantic relationship with the king’s son Yonatan. From David’s first wife, Mikhal, Natan learns how David fell out of favor with the mentally ill King Shaul, forcing him to flee into the wilderness with a band of loyal followers, including his top general Yoav, while Mikhal was forcibly given to another husband, who raped her.

The narrative remains with David’s outlaw band in the wilderness. Initially, they survive by demanding supplies from villages and butchering those who refuse. One of those killed is Natan’s own father. Yet God’s spirit possesses the young Natan, and he prophesizes to David that he will be king. David accepts Natan as a prophet and companion. David leaves Israel in exile with his men to serve the enemy Plishtim until he receives news that Shaul and Yonatan have fallen in battle. David sorrowfully returns and claims the throne. After conquering Jerusalem, he creates a prosperous kingdom. This brings Natan’s past recollections up to the events surrounding David and Batsheva.

Batsheva is pregnant, and soon everyone will know of their adultery. To keep it secret, David has Uriah murdered and marries the widow. This moment is Natan’s turning point, where his loyalty to the king is shaken. After weeks in the desert, Natan returns to confront David in God’s name. Through an allegorical story, he prompts David to judge himself before revealing that David is the guilty party. David repents. Natan promises that God will grant David comforts in the future and finish the work of creating the kingdom; however, the judgment and punishment will also have to be fulfilled.

The second half of the book describes the chaos and punishment David and those around him endure. The child David and Batsheva have together dies in infancy. Amnon, David’s eldest son, rapes Tamar, David’s daughter and Amnon’s half-sister. David’s next oldest son, Avshalom, avenges Tamar’s rape by murdering Amnon. Avshalom leads a rebellion against David. Avshalom fails and is killed, but his death only hurts David more. During these events, David’s loyal supporter Yoav is also estranged.

Interwoven through these tragedies is the hope-filled rise of Shlomo. Natan has a vision of a future king who will build God’s temple and fulfill people’s hope for peace and justice. He learns that this future king is Batsheva and David’s new son Shlomo. Natan commits to raising the precocious child along with Batsheva. He had earlier dismissed her as an immoral seductress; now he sees her as a survivor of David’s abuse and a valuable, intelligent person in her own right. Together, they guide events to the book’s triumphant conclusion, when Shlomo is crowned as David’s successor.