Jerusalem’s Queen

by Angela Hunt Book 3 in the The Silent Years series.

First published 2018

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4.6(1,038)

After the deaths of her father and sister, Salome is brought with her mother into a relative’s household in Jerusalem. A marriage arranged for dynastic reasons joins her to a younger prince whose ambitions and religious position draw her steadily towards the centre of Hasmonean politics.

The girl who expected little authority eventually becomes Salome Alexandra, queen of Judaea in her own right. Hunt reconstructs the undocumented private years behind that reign while keeping political conflict, marriage and faith inseparable. Salome learns that influence requires alliances and compromise, but the novel asks whether a ruler committed to God can use power without becoming captive to it.