Publisher's Synopsis
I am Secunda: or I was at the start. Just 'number two'.She is Aemilia: Rome's most beloved princess-priestess of the elite Aemilii, the city's angel, my goddess, a priestess of fire... Tried for a crime they will write about for the next 2000 years. What would you have done?
Fire and Sacrifice is an historical novel based on the untold true story of ancient Rome's most scandalous trial of Vestal Virgins, in 114BC. Rome would sacrifice anything to protect the empire, but this slave will do anything to save her priestess - and these are women of fire.
Readers' praise for Fire and Sacrifice: - 'A quite extraordinary book that held me fascinated and amazed.' Oliver Baudert- 'A page turner! Was not bored for one second. Loved it.' Olive Allen- 'This is a fascinating story, intricately structured and beautifully written.' Simone F- 'Overall, Fire and Sacrifice is amazing. I believe it's Collins's debut novel. More, more!' Sherry, Goodreads reviewer- 'An intriguing story based on a very real and forgotten past.' Helen, Goodreads reviewerReaders are transported to the time with quotes from actual writings around the events, and notes from real-life excavations and historians, leaving a sense of being an archaeologist on a dig, unravelling the truth of the 2000-year-old scandal, during one of ancient Rome's most precarious periods. Readers who enjoy Robert Harris, Michelle Moran, Madeline Miller, Philippa Gregory and Colleen McCullough, will enjoy Fire and Sacrifice.
