Osnath is a young girl with an unusual ability and an unyielding curiosity. Her unusual ability is being able to read and write in a time where few women could due to the fact that her mother and grandmother are temple scribes and have passed their knowledge down to her. When Osnath travels to Bethlehem with her grandmother and her uncle Samuel the prophet, she is delighted to be invited to visit the scroll room of her relative's neighbors. Her intense curiosity to read everything in the scroll room leads to the discovery of a few odd words on a torn scroll.

The words on the torn scroll are a love poem to Ruth the Moabite, the great-grandmother of Eliab and David. The love poem comes from someone other than her intended. Osnath wants to figure out the identity of the person that wrote the poem. When she tries to find out the person's name, she is met with dead ends and warnings. Every time she comes to a dead end, she starts looking elsewhere. She has no care for her safety, but the truth behind the poem. Who was Ruth's lover before her intended? Is it possible that the family's inheritance is based on a lie?

Eva Etzioni-Halevy has written an intriguing novel about Ruth. The story is told in two parts. The first part focuses on Osnath and her love for the brothers Eliab and David. Will she be able to love David once he becomes king of Israel or will she be able to love Eliab as he is? The second part of the story is told about Ruth and her journey to Bethlehem. We learn of Ruth's exploits through a scroll that she has written. The story in itself is interesting. It takes a look at a well-known book in the Bible, and expounds on the story behind the story. THE GARDEN OF RUTH creates an interesting background story for the Book of Ruth.