Amnon

c. 12th century BCE–c. 11th century BCE

Amnon was the eldest son of King David in the biblical account. His assault on his half-sister Tamar and subsequent murder by Absalom deepen the violence within David’s household and help set the conditions for later rebellion.

Geraldine Brooks’s The Secret Chord places Amnon within a narrative shaped by political ambition and government, crime, espionage and covert power, and court politics and dynastic power.