Description: Historical Fiction; Ancient Rome; Italian Interest-The discovery of an ancient parchment imperils a hierarchy that has stood unchallenged since the beginning.
catholic (2820) historical fiction (386) vatican (81) church history (58) papacy (19) first century (5)
Beneath the gilded halls of ecclesiastical power, the discovery of an ancient parchment imperils a hierarchy that has stood unchallenged for since the beginning. They won’t go down without a fight.
In ancient Rome, a woman flees for her life. Her enemies are those she once called ‘brother’. Hidden beneath her blue cloak are secrets men will kill for – forgeries that prove the newly self-appointed bishops are not followers of the way, but pretenders who have seized power and will stop at nothing to shape this new religion to their own ends. Now, Julia – a woman who had once walked with Mary Magdalene and taught alongside Paul must preserve the legacy of the apostles in the face of terrifying danger.
Two thousand years later, classical archaeologists Valentina Vella and Erika Simone are tasked with advising the newly-elected Pope on the historical legacy of women in the early Christian period. The women stumble across an ancient parchment buried deep in the Vatican archives, a document that has clearly been altered. They find themselves on the trail of a woman who may have been the first woman Bishop in the Catholic faith. To reveal Julia’s legacy will put them in the cross-hairs of a venomous Vatican