Pilate's Wife by Antoinette May

She was married to one of the 1st Century AD's most well-known men, a man whose name continues to be uttered in churches throughout the world. Yet nothing is known of her. No biography exists. And her entire existence is based upon a sole verse in the New Testament.

While Pilate was sitting in the judgment hall, his wife sent him a message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, because in a dream last night, I suffered much on account of him."
Matthew 27:19

Antoinette May, author and journalist, takes hold of the quietly mentioned wife of Pilate and runs with the idea. "Pilate's Wife" is the story of a young Roman woman's life---her hopes and dreams, her heartbreaks and losses, her romances, her ambitions, her struggles with religion, and her astounding resilience.

A daughter of privilege in the most powerful empire the world has ever known, Claudia has a unique and disturbing "gift": her dreams have an uncanny way of coming true. As a rebellious child seated beside the tyrannical Roman Emperor Tiberius, she first spies the powerful gladiator who will ultimately be her one true passion. Yet it is the ambitious magistrate Pontius Pilate who intrigues the impressionable young woman she becomes, and Claudia finds her way into his arms by means of a mysterious ancient magic. Pilate is her grand destiny, leading her to Judaea and plunging her into a seething cauldron of open rebellion. But following her friend Miriam of Magdala's confession of her ecstatic love for a charismatic religious radical, Claudia begins to experience terrifying visions—horrific premonitions of war, injustice, untold devastation and damnation . . . and the crucifixion of a divine martyr whom she must do everything in her power to save.
(Synopsis from the front inside jacket cover.)

I finished this book two nights ago and still cannot stop thinking of it. I'm a fanatic for the 1st Century AD Roman empire, so the historical richness of this book was utterly enthralling. Antoinette May does a brilliant job of whisking the reader away into that vast, powerful empire. The best kind of historical fiction allows the reader to time travel to another place and era. This book does just that. I got lost in it, feeling as though I were a Roman, too. I could hear the melodies of the lyres, smell the delectable banquet meals, and feel the light ripples of a silken tunica against my body. May's descriptions are captivating.

Claudia is now one of my favorite novel heroines. The story begins with her as a young, naive, and rebellious child. She has visions that come true and views such visions as more of a curse than a blessing. As she grows up, Claudia becomes a worshipper of Isis and falls in love with and marries Pontius Pilate. But the life of an elite Roman woman is not all luxury and happiness, for Claudia experiences a world of pain and heartbreak as a cruel emperor and his mother wreak havoc on many of Claudia's loved ones---her uncle, her parents, her sister. Though Claudia's rebellious nature remains a part of her throughout her life, her wisdom and strength grows with each trying experience Rome throws at her.

What really impressed me about novel besides the history and the heroine is how the story spans the entire empire and so many religions. The reader gets to travel with Claudia to Gaul, barbarian lands, Alexandria, Rome, Antioch, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Jerusalem, and other prime locales of the time period. Claudia's father is a follower of Mithras. Her mother and aunt devote themselves to the traditional Roman deities, including Juno. Her sister becomes a servant of Vesta. Claudia, herself, secretly joins the cult of the Egyptian goddess Isis. And prominent Christian figures such as Miriam of Magdala (Mary Magdalene), Jesus of Nazareth, and Jesus' mother Mary all come alive as characters in the story.

From Sunday school lessons and textbooks, the name Pontius Pilate calls to mind a cold, heartless governor who sentenced Christ to the cross and then carelessly washed his hands of the ordeal. I love the point of view of this novel, though the eyes of the woman who stood by Pilate even when he had hurt her, even when he had been unfaithful to her, and even when he had every right to divorce her. She dreamt of the crucifixion before it played out. She heard the words, "Suffered under Pontius Pilate" repeated over and over again. She knew that despite any good her husband had done in his political career, his name would be forever marred by the upcoming execution. And still, Claudia knew that what was about to happen was bigger than she and Pilate. They were about to part of something that would affect history and religion for centuries and centuries to follow.

This novel really has everything that makes for a beautiful, exciting, and emotional coming-of-age tale: history, adventure, romance, magic, religion, mythology, suspense, horror, and a strong female hero. I laughed. I winced. I swooned. And a few times, I cried.

I absolutely loved this book!

Amore.