Living in Athens with her mother and grandfather had been difficult for Ariadne. It never felt like home to her. Corinth was home and her heart longed for her father and home. For eight long years since her mother had left her father and moved to her grandfather’s villa in Athens, Ariadne had endured what felt like a prison from which she could not escape. Her older brother, Dionysius, thrived on the study of philosophy and ancient principles, but she felt she could not live there another day.

 

She carefully planned how she would escape by climbing the trees in the middle of the night and using those trees to help reach and go over the high wall that surrounded her grandfather’s villa. She knew it would need to be quiet enough to somehow avoid the slaves that kept guard in the courtyard.

 

Theo insisted upon coming with her. How she treasured this brother who had never been her brother by blood. Their friendship had helped her through all these difficult years in Athens and now he would not leave her side.

 

This night would be the beginning of choices that would change the course of both of their lives. As Tessa Afshar writes in her newest novel, Thief of Corinth:

 

“But the choices that lead us into broken paths often have their beginnings in more convoluted places.”

 

 This new work of Afshar’s will travel from Athens to Corinth where Ariadne will return to the home she loved and the father she held dear. She will also discover the reason her parents’ marriage ended and unexpectedly learn of her father’s secret that had been the root of that broken marriage.

 

That secret will alter her understanding of both of her parents and as she seeks to help her father, she will be caught up in dangerous episodes that defy the law.

 

It is easy to justify wrong actions when there are so many reasons that make them seem right.

 

Ariadne’s life will change again when her brother, Dionysius, arrives from Athens with a man she had never known named Paul. Her father will be drawn to the wisdom and words this stranger is sharing, but Ariadne will be slow to see any reason to give Paul’s words the weight they deserve.

 

Thief of Corinth, set in the days of Paul, will catch you up in a powerful story of family dynamics not unlike those of many people living today. It will also remind the reader of the giftedness of Paul to share the gospel without the religious trappings that would have turned off his listeners. How he moves into the family of Ariadne, Theo, Dionysius, their father, and their entire household will model how we too can impact those who do not know about the Christian faith and its source.

 

Don’t get lost in the culture of the time or the wording that may seem so formal at the outset or you will miss a great story.

 

In exchange for my review, Tyndale through the Blog Network, provided this book, published by Tyndale House.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”