As King Amel-Marduk reigns over Babylonia during the Israelites' exile there from 586-516 BC, three women choose their own paths along a history marked with tragedy, betrayal and injustice. Ziona hides from her past and fears that the God of her countrymen has abandoned her to a future as repugnant to her as it is coveted by her enemies. Gatha looks for the courage to speak the truth, and to choose either a foreign faith that promises an impossible hope, or a consuming despair over circumstances she can't change. Parva discovers the reality of her helplessness against the dark forces of a spirit world she gravely underestimated.

Maria Keffler lives in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband and three kids who all wish they were only children. She blogs about things like tarantula-milking lawyers and the savagery of familial relationships at www.wastingmyeducation.blogspot.com, and is presently learning how to cook without the smoke detector finding out about it.