The entirety of The Centurion's Wife takes place within an 8 week period during 33AD. It starts just after Passover when Leah is told that a Centurion has asked to marry her. Leah is kept as a servant in Pilate's house, whilst also being his niece. As Pontius Pilate is concerned that Jesus' followers will start rioting and a revolution after His death, Pilate's wife asks Leah to find out what she can about these rabble-rousers and determine whether they pose any threat to the peace that Pilate seeks to maintain.
The blurb says:Janette Oke has dreamed for years of retelling a story in a biblical time frame from a female protagonist's perspective, and Davis Bunn is elated to be working with her again on this sweeping saga of the dramatic events surrounding the birth of Christianity. . .and the very personal story of Leah, a young Jewess of mixed heritage trapped in a vortex of competing political agendas and private trauma. Caught up in the maelstrom following the death of an obscure rabbi in the Roman backwater of first century Palestine, Leah finds herself also engulfed in her own turmoil facing the prospect of an arranged marriage to a Roman soldier, Alban, who seems to care for nothing but his own ambitions. Head of the garrison near Galilee, he has been assigned by Palestine's governor to ferret out the truth behind rumors of a political execution gone awry. Leah's mistress, the governor's wife, secretly commissions Leah also to discover what really has become of this man whose death and missing body is causing such furor. This epic drama is threaded with the tale of an unlikely romance and framed with dangers and betrayals from unexpected sources. At its core, The Centurion's Wife unfolds the testing of loyalties between two young people whose inner searchings they cannot express, between their irreconcilable heritages, and ultimately between their humanity and the Divine they yearn to encounter.
This book is a romance that would also be enjoyed by those who like historical or political fiction too. The Centurion's Wife was recommended to me by a friend from church, but in all honesty, I was not expecting it to be as good as it was.
Leah's family met hard times, and though she was living as the personal servant to Pilate's wife, she was an intelligent and independent woman who made the most of her situation, and did not want to lose the little freedom she has by being married off to a soldier. Having a good knowledge of the Bible and the events after Jesus's crucifixion, it was interesting to see that as the backdrop of this unexpected romance. I liked how these fictional characters were interwoven with the historical characters of Pilate, Herod, Mary Magdalene, Mary, Martha, Lazarus etc. and though it is fiction all the events are entirely plausible. I also liked that the story focuses on strong women in a historical setting where that would have been difficult.
Leah's family met hard times, and though she was living as the personal servant to Pilate's wife, she was an intelligent and independent woman who made the most of her situation, and did not want to lose the little freedom she has by being married off to a soldier. Having a good knowledge of the Bible and the events after Jesus's crucifixion, it was interesting to see that as the backdrop of this unexpected romance. I liked how these fictional characters were interwoven with the historical characters of Pilate, Herod, Mary Magdalene, Mary, Martha, Lazarus etc. and though it is fiction all the events are entirely plausible. I also liked that the story focuses on strong women in a historical setting where that would have been difficult.
I really enjoyed this book. I read it in a day, and even though I knew the story of the context, I wanted to find out what happened between Leah and the Centurion. My only slight niggle is with the title - Leah and Alban only get betrothed at the halfway mark in the book, and the actual wedding celebration isn't until the end of the book, but that's only a minor thing.
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