Valeria's Cross

Title: VALERIA’S CROSS
Authors: Kathi Macias and Susan Wales
Publisher: Abingdon Press
September 2010
ISBN: 978-1-5167-0215-0
Genre: Inspirational/historical

Valeria is the pampered daughter of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. When she was fourteen, the Emperor in danger, Valeria and her mother are forced to flee to Egypt where they will live in safety. While there, Valeria is introduced to Christianity through a variety of means even though her family’s beliefs are quite different.

Eventually, Valeria grows up and falls in love with Mauritius, the captain of the Theban Legion. Unfortunately, Mauritius is forced to go off to battle where he is killed by Galerius for his Christian faith. When Valeria is forced to marry Galerius, she struggles against the man she knows him to be versus the man she sees.

VALERIA’S CROSS is loosely based on a true story that the author’s discovered in the Foxes Book of Martyrs. In the 3rd Century, Christians were often killed for their faith and had to exercise it in secret.

There really isn’t a happy ending for this story (in my opinion) but the tale is well-crafted, the characters are well…real, since they were based on real-life characters, but they were brought to renewed life on the pages of the book. If you are looking for a historical that is based on a true-life story (though not happy), then VALERIA’S CROSS is the one you’re looking for. $14.99. 384 pages.