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Pilate’s wife is known for warning her husband Pontius Pilate not to “have anything to do with that innocent man” when Jesus was brought before him. Antoinette May creates the character of Claudia as a seer who worships Isis. She obtains a love potion to assure that Pilate will marry her, but he soon involves himself with other women.
I found it difficult to sympathize with Claudia, except during her miscarriage, which is rendered heartbreakingly. Otherwise, she appears selfish and self-centered, focusing only on what she wants. As obsessed as she is with Pilate, she becomes just as obsessed with a lover later.
I enjoyed this book until I realized that the author was promulgating the fallacy that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and that his mother, the Virgin Mary, was a devotee of the Egyptian goddess Isis. However, the descriptions of settings, political intrigue, and well-developed characters kept me reading. May’s lifelike depiction of the gladiator battles at the Roman circus was chilling. The story is well-paced, with just the right amount of conflict and suspense. PILATE’S WIFE is an excellent first novel, and I will be interested in reading more fiction from Antoinette May.
Reviewed by Marie DisBrow
for The Road to Romance
March 24, 2007
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