“The city was silently bloating in the hot sun, rotting like the thousands of
bodies that lay where they had fallen in street battles.” With this opening sentence, A Voice in the Wind transports readers back to Jerusalem during the first Jewish-Roman War, some seventy years after the death of Christ. Following the prides and passions of a group of Jews, Romans and Barbarians living at the time of the siege, the narrative is centered on an ill-fated romance between a steadfast slave girl, Hadassah, and Marcus, the brother of her owner and a handsome aristocrat. After surviving the massacre of her family and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, Hadassah is captured and sold to a well-to-do merchant’s family. Brought to Rome, she is pressed into service as a personal slave to hedonistic Julia Valerian. Hadassah struggles to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and to treat her masters in a manner in keeping with His teachings, but she is forced to keep her religious identity a secret in order to survive. Confused and alone, she has only her faith to cling to as she tries to subtly bring God into the lives of her captors. Reckless, impulsive, and villainous, Julia tries to undermine Hadassah at every turn. But Julia’s brother, Marcus, is a different sort altogether. Is it possible for a love between Hadassah and Marcus to flourish considering not only their differing stations in life, but also the gap between Hadassah’s unrelenting faith and Marcus’ lack of belief in anything? Simultaneously, Atretes, a captured soldier from Germania, is forced to become a gladiator. This is the time of Rome's decline and the decadence of a civilization on the verge of self-destruction serves as a powerful backdrop to the Barbarian’s struggle for survival in the arena. (end quote)I'm really excited as I have heard many great reviews on this book and it's series.An e-mail will be sent with ordering information but I do know that copies are available in the Public Library. The book suggestions have been slow going.... To make this year's book club work I need YOU to e-mail me your favorite books that you think our group will enjoy. Please Please Please, e-mail me your ideas, whether you are a regular attendee or you just read along with us and don't attend the meetings, it doesn't matter!!! I need you to keep this year going. I barely have time to read other than a textbook so I can't do near the research as usual right now. Please call or e-mail me with any questions, suggestions or comments.
February Meeting will be on 2/25!
Happy Reading!
Posts
