The Rebel's Niece - Paperback

by Shimon Avish (Author)

It is 70 CE, and the Roman commander, Titus Flavius Vespasianus, and his legions have arrived at the walls of ancient Jerusalem. Three Jewish factions opposing them are each led by a charismatic leader more interested in being recognized as the Messiah than protecting their people from the consequences of standing up to Roman power.

The Rebel's Niece is the story of Sarah, whose uncle, Yochanan, is one of the messianic leaders, and she cannot help but wonder whether God actually commanded Yochanan to free the Jewish people from the Romans, as he claims.

Orphaned as a child, Sarah was saved by her uncle when marauders invaded their village and killed her parents. Now that she is a wife and mother with two daughters, she wants her children to grow up without the horrors she experienced as a young girl. But is it possible, given the turbulent times she lives in? With a Roman legion chasing them from their village in Galilee, Sarah's fellow townsfolk, led by her uncle, escape to Jerusalem, where her uncle intends to become the leader of the rebel forces and free Jerusalem and Israel from Roman occupation.

Once there, Yochanan wends his way into a position of leadership based on claims that God commanded him to expel the Romans from Israel, but Sarah begins to doubt his honesty as he leads his followers from disaster to disaster. Will Sarah challenge the veracity of her uncle? Will it be in time?

From the author of the series, Significant Events in Jewish History comes a heart-pounding retelling of the siege of Jerusalem during Roman times.