Abigail is a young girl growing up in Judea during the last turbulent years of the reign of Herod the Great. Orphaned at age ten, she is taken in by her uncle, a sophisticated man who contrasts sharply with her father's dogmatic piety. Under his care, Abigail develops into a cultured young woman free from the shackles of religion.Meanwhile, the land becomes bathed in the tyranny of Herod's successor. In reaction, Rome removes him and asserts direct rule over Judea. Extremists rise to throw off the Roman yoke, and the country teeters on the verge of another civil war. Caught in the storm of religious fanaticism, Abigail soon faces an expanding malevolence that engulfs not just her but all whom she loves.No matter where she goes, the tumultuous turns of history are always close. Yet her struggles in defeating her enemies must continue until she can uncover the source of the malice that seeks to grind her fate into nothing but dust.
