Here is a dramatic novel about the society in which our Lord lived an in which the prophecy that foretold His coming was fulfilled. In the vivid descriptions of the daily life of the Jews, both rich and poor, we catch glimpses of the problems which beset that proud race, now deprived of its independence and living under Roman rule.

Patricia Young has built her story around the activities of a vividly drawn cast of characters: Zebulun, the greedy publican whose ambition goads him to imitate the ways of the pagan Romans; his mistress, the beautiful Canaanite slave Reumah; the pious maiden Keturah; Mehahem, member of the Zealots, who hides with them in the hills conspiring to overthrow the hated conqueror; Celsus, half-Jew and half-Roman, who cannot decide with which group his loyalties lie; Varus, the Roman legate; and Barak, the greathearted slave.

The story reaches its climax during the Passion and Death of our Lord. In the sorrow-filled hours following the Crucifixion, people who will become part of the infant Church are drawn together around the silent figure of Mary, the mother of Christ.

This suspenseful novel skillfully paints the background against which the Gospels were written, and gives us a greater understanding of that long-past century and of the people among whom our Lord lived, died, and rose again.

Taken from the back cover.