100 Pages A Day...Stephanie's Book Reviews

Miriam bat Issac lives in Alexandria in the first century CE.  She is awaiting the return of her twin brother, Binyamin as he prepares for his last gladiatorial fight.  Miriam currently serves as the head of the household after her father passed, taking care of the family business and overseeing the household.  When Binyamin returns, he is rowdy, unkempt, harsh and demanding.  He wants his share of his father's inheritance in order to open his own ludas or gladiator school in Alexandria.  When Miriam tells him that the inheritance was relinquished when he became a gladiator, Binyamin is furious.  Meanwhile, Miriam's charge, Amram is dying and the family's former scribe is found murdered in an unseemly part of of town.  Miriam knows that the events are connected and somehow her brother is involved, it is up to her to place the pieces together.