"Magnificent and should be read by everyone with a pulse." I, Claudia by @linwilder #histo
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  • N. N. Light
    • Jan 31, 2019
    • 4 min read

"Magnificent and should be read by everyone with a pulse." I, Claudia by @linwilder #histo


Title: I, Claudia: A Novel of the Ancient World

Author: Lin Wilder

Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance

Book Blurb:

"They were the faces of my dreams..."

Claudia Procula--wife of one of the most controversial figures in ancient history--comes alive to twenty-first-century readers in a groundbreaking new novel by the award-winning author of the Lindsey McCall medical mystery series.

For decades, the daughter of the last Oracle at Delphi has suppressed the secrets of her birth, extensive education, and marriage to the notorious Fifth Prelate of Judea--Pontius PIlate. Now, at age seventy-nine, she feels compelled to leave behind her story for the world and set the record straight about the beginnings of modern history.

He has had his arms raised for how many hours now? Shouldn't there be a Joshua to help this Moses? I suppressed a smile at my wittiness, knowing better than to voice the thought aloud. My ladies would be shocked by my allusion to the great Jewish prophet. Well aware of my reputation as an empty-headed nitwit among those who served my husband, such low expectations had served me well. Best to maintain the fiction.

In a surprising change of genre and style, Wilder brings her extensive research and wide-ranging imagination to bear on the seminal story of our time: the passion of the Christ. The result is a compelling and harrowing love story replete with historical figures such as Seneca, Socrates, and Pilate himself. It is sure to captivate both believers and skeptics alike, and remain in readers' minds long after the last page is turned.

My Review:

I considered it the definition of ironic to be asked about whether a book is too controversial while reading a book that tries to put Pontius Pilate in a good light. That this book has been published should buck up every author that no subject is too 'out there'. Lin Wilder has stepped into historical fiction for the first time, but you couldn't tell from reading this instant classic.

Working up a creation of a life for Claudia was brilliant. The character is instantly adorable and one the reader can connect with and have empathy for. Lucius Pontius Pilate is given, what I believe is, the first fair treatment in the written history of man. As a numismatist who has studied ancient coins, I can state the biographical info surrounding this 'controversial' figure is perfunctory at best.

This is an amazing tale. The historical content gleaned from years of dedicated research is superb. You can literally feel the breeze against a tunic as you read about the characters walking in Judea. The focal point of the book, the arrest, persecution and prosecution of Jesus, brought tears to my eyes.

This is a book that discusses key aspects of world religion in the context of its larger story but this isn't a religious book. The author never preaches. The author engenders a deeper understanding of this time period then I think has ever been written before.

A sublime and glorious book I would give it 1,000,000 stars but I am held to 5+. Magnificent and should be read by everyone with a pulse.

Disclaimer: I received a copy from the author in the hopes I'd review it.

My Rating: 5+ stars

Buy it now:

Direct from Author https://www.linwilder.com/

Author Biography:

Lin Wilder holds a Doctorate in Public Health and has published extensively in fields like cardiac physiology, institutional ethics, and hospital management. In 2007, she switched from non-fiction to fiction. Her series of medical thrillers include many references to the Texas Medical Center where Lin worked for over twenty-three years.

Wilder’s first novel, The Fragrance Shed By A Violet: Murder in the Medical Center, was a winner in the 2017 IAN 2017 Book of the Year Awards, a finalist in the category of mystery. The Fragrance Shed By A Violet was a finalist in the NN Light 2017 Best Book of the Year Award in the category of mystery. Malthus Revisited: The Cup of Wrath, the fourth in the Dr.Lindsey McCall medical mystery series, won Silver/2nd Place award in the 2018 Feathered Quill Book Awards Program for the Women's Fiction category. Malthus Revisited was selected for the NABE Pinnacle Book Achievement Award Winners for Winter 2018 in the category of thrillers, was selected as a finalist in the IAN Best Books of 2018 in the category of action/adventure and won best suspense novel in 2018 in the NN Light Best Books of 2018.

I, Claudia A Novel of the Ancient World was released in December 2018.

Finding the Narrow Path is the true story of why she walked away from -then back to God. Finding was a finalist in the 2018 IAN Best Books of 2018 in the category of Non-Fiction, Religion/Christian.

All her books are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and at her website, linwilder.com where she writes weekly articles

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Reviewed by: Mr. N

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