by Kathi Macias and Susan Wales
A very powerful book - and after reading it - I realize how grateful I am that I live in the times I do and not back in Roman times. Women were not always treated very well and had little recourse. Christians were not treated well at all and many were tortured or killed for their beliefs. This book takes place during the reign of Diocletian - one of the greatest persecutors of Christians. His daughter was Valeria and both she and her mother were Christians. Valeria's first love is killed by her father - for being a Christian. Valeria is then ordered / forced to marry for political reasons. The man chosen for her is a great military leader and a pagan. This book focuses on Valeria's choice to try to honor God through her marriage, to pray for her husband's salvation and to forgive him for the horrors he commits against Christians. A tall order! I admire Valeria for her ability to live for God and question whether I would be able to be as kind and forgiving of the man who killed many of my friends just because of their faith. How do you forgive that kind of evil? And while I could get to the point of forgiveness - going on to reconcile and have a happy marriage when the evil continues - that would be really hard.
This was a wonderful book. Very hard to put down. Very well written. The book does take some liberties as thoughts or feelings of women of this time period were not written down or documented. It does truthfully portray how Christians were martyred during this time period. Shocking to read and really 'feel' what they went through. Glad I didn't live in Roman times.
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