Acclaimed novelist Barbara Wood combines her superb storytelling gifts with medical and historical fact to create the epic adventure of an unusual and gifted young woman seeking her destiny in the ancient healing arts.
Born into the tumultuous world of ancient Antioch, Selene is orphaned at birth. But before her father dies, he leaves a puzzling clue to her heritage: she has come from the gods and has a special destiny to fulfill. In the coming years, Selene studies the primitive healing arts with Mera, the healer-woman who adopts her. She learns how to lower fevers by brewing Hecate's Cure from the willow tree, how to apply green mold to an open wound to prevent infection, and most important, how to calm a patient by summoning the inner power of the "soul flame." But on her sixteenth birthday, Selene falls in love with Andreas, a passionate and troubled surgeon. When fate cruelly separates them, Selene's search for Andreas takes her to the great centers of civilization in the ancient world—Egypt, Babylon, and Rome. Desperate to find Andreas, Selene is torn between love and her dreams of healing when a revolutionary vision brings her to the fulfillment of her destiny—and the dawn of modern medicine.
“Wood creates genuine, engaging characters whose stories are fascinating." —Library Journal
“Wood makes her fiction come alive with authentic detailing and highly memorable characters.” —Booklist
“Dramatic, intriguing, engrossing.” —Publishers Weekly
“Wood shows herself a wizard at juggling action and romance, maintaining the momentum and sparkle of both.” —Kirkus Reviews
New York Times bestselling author Barbara Wood has written twenty-five books to date, which have been translated into over thirty languages. Barbara transports her readers to exotic countries that she has meticulously researched to provide them with a true sense of the culture and history relevant to each story. She has visited every country she has written about and in fact does not feel comfortable writing about a country that she has not walked on or breathed its air. In addition, she feels that the country of origin is by far the best source for research information. But research for a book does not end there. Barbara immerses herself completely into the subject at hand. This includes extensive reading of books, newspapers, and magazines, internet research, as well as first hand interviews and contacting experts in the various subjects relevant to her current project.
At the heart of every book is a strong, independent woman. Barbara is busy working on her next story that will, no doubt, showcase an extraordinary heroine in an exciting and intriguing adventure. Her many characters are fictional, but some are based on people she knows and people who are in the news and in history. Interwoven throughout her books are elements of herself in the main characters. While the majority of events that take place are fiction, some of the characters' experiences are her own.
When not writing, Barbara often takes time to enjoy the work of other authors, and play golf with her husband, Walt
Maureen Jones knew she loved reading stories aloud ever since grade school. With two degrees in German literature and language, she immersed herself in novels and plays throughout university. As an actor and voice talent she's brought hundreds of characters to life and had a blast doing it. Audiobooks provide Jones with the opportunity to read books and act every single day. After all, her dad said that if she could get a job where she was paid to talk, she'd be golden.
Find Maureen behind the mic in other outstanding Cherry Hill Publishing audio productions including Barbara Wood's The Divining.