About a month before our trip to
Europe I purchased a new book for my Kindle - "Isle of Shadows" by
Tracy Higley. This is one in a series of stand alone novels about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The story took place on the Grecian island of Rhodes whose heroine was from Ancient Delos. Part of the description from
Amazon:
Enslaved in a World of Money and Power, Tessa Dares to be Free.
Raised as courtesan to wealthy and powerful men, Tessa of Delos serves
at the whim of her current patron, the politician Glaucus. After ten
years with him, Tessa has abandoned all desire for freedom or love,
choosing instead to lock her heart away.
But when Glaucus meets a
violent death in his own home, Tessa grasps at a fragile hope. Only she
knows of his death. If she can keep it a secret long enough, she can
escape.
Tessa throws herself on the mercy of the Greek god Helios,
but finds instead unlikely allies in Nikos, a Greek slave, and Simeon,
Glaucus's Jewish head servant. As Simeon introduces her to a God unlike
any she has ever known and Nikos begins to stir feelings she had thought
long dead, Tessa fights to keep her heart protected.
I started reading this a couple days after we visited
Ancient Delos and enjoyed the story very much. It was easy to picture the statues, homes, meeting places and markets. This story takes place in 227 B.C. during the
400 silent years of the Jewish nation so there were no Biblical stories to relate it to, although there were Jews trying to live according to the Law.
When I saw that another book in this series was based in Ephesus I knew I had to get it! Part of the description for "So Shines the Night" from
Amazon:
In a city teetering at the brink of anarchy, Daria finds hope among people of The Way.
She escaped a past of danger and found respite in beautiful Ephesus, a
trading center on the Aegean coast, serving as tutor to Lucas, the
wealthy merchant who rescued her.
But the darkness she fled has caught up with her.
The high priests of Artemis once controlled the city, but a group of
sorcerers are gaining power. And a strange group who call themselves
followers of The Way further threaten the equilibrium. As Daria
investigates Lucas's exploits into the darker side of the city, her life
is endangered, and she takes refuge in the strange group of believers.
She's drawn to Paul and his friends, even as she wrestles with their
teachings.
I finished reading "So Shines the Night" last week and it was fascinating! This story was written from events founds in Acts chapter 19. I went to my post about the
Ruins of Ephesus more than once to look at a picture of something we had seen - the Marble Road, the Great Theater, the State Agora, even the brothel. The author stayed very true to the story of Paul,
the seven sons of Sceva, Demetrius the silversmith, and many others. The fictional characters did not take away from the story at all. I enjoyed this story even more than Isle of Shadows because I could picture every place in the book and the characters from the Bible just came to life.
Tracy Higley has written three more stories so far about the ancient wonders -
Pyramid of Secrets about Moses and Pharoah,
Garden of Madness about Nebuchadnezzar, and
Keeper of the Flame about Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt. These are now all on my wish list! There are other books she has written as well that look interesting. In fact, as I was writing this post I found "
Star of Wonder" on Amazon for free today! This is the first in a series about the journey of the wise men. The complete 3 book series "
Incense Road" is available for $4.99. I recommend downloading the free book today to get a taste of Tracy Higley's writing.
Do you enjoy Biblical or historical fiction?
