Based on the real life and death of a Roman noblewoman

The historical novel, Perpetua: A Bride, A Martyr, A Passion, tells the story of a young woman who was martyred in the amphitheater of Carthage in 203 AD. While many martyrs were poor or illiterate, Perpetua was neither, and kept a diary of her arrest and time in prison. A new mother, a noblewoman, wealthy, highly educated . . . she had much to lose, and she chose to give it all away for the privilege of dying for Jesus.

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Richly imagined and exquisitely researched, the novel incorporates all of the events, conversations, people, and relationships described in her original diary. It is set in the Roman Empire, a society in many ways more akin to modern western culture than any other society has ever been—affluent and technologically advanced, molded by a recent feminist movement, drawn to spirituality, tolerant of all gods except the God of Christianity and Judaism, morally corrupt, and rent by insurmountable economic gulfs between the “haves” and the “have-nots”. Perpetua demonstrates the nature of true martyrdom, which is motivated by love and does no harm to others.

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The novel expands her original diary to include the less than three years between her conversion and her execution. As she experiences love, life, persecution and self-discovery, we are taken along on her heart journey. All the while danger is building … the shadow of death encroaches … betrayal and jealousy threaten to expose her faith to the Roman authorities. And by the time she is willing, even eager, to give her life, we are rejoicing with her at the chance to die.