A Voice in the Wind

"The city was rotting like the thousands of bodies that lay where they had fallen in street battles, silently bloating in the hot sun." This first line of A Voice in the Wind takes readers back to Jerusalem during the first Jewish-Roman War, which took place around 70 years after Christ's death. The story follows the emotions and prides of a group of Jews, Romans, and Barbarians throughout the siege. At its core is the tragic relationship between Hadassah, a devoted slave girl, and Marcus, a gorgeous patrician and the brother of her owner. Hadassah is kidnapped and sold to a wealthy merchant's family after escaping the Roman devastation of Jerusalem and the slaughter of her family. After being transported to Rome, she is forced to serve the hedonistic Julia Valerian as her personal slave. Hadassah strives to follow in Jesus' footsteps and treat her masters according to His teachings, but in order to live, she must conceal her Christian identity. Bewildered and alone, all she has to cling to is her faith as she attempts to quietly introduce God into the lives of her captors. Julia is a cunning, impetuous, and wicked person who attempts to discredit Hadassah at every opportunity. Marcus, Julia's brother, is a completely different person. Can a romantic relationship between Hadassah and Marcus survive given their different living circumstances and the disparity between Hadassah's unshakable faith and Marcus's nonexistent confidence in anything? Atretes, a captive soldier from Germania, is forced to train as a gladiator at the same time. Rome is in decay at this period, and the decadence of a society on the brink of collapse provides a dramatic setting for the Barbarians' fight for survival in the arena.