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Fortune’s ChildAuthor: James Conroyd MartinGenre: Historical Fiction Free via Kindle Unlimited: Yes Regular Price: Click Here for Your Free Copy! |
Book Description:
Theodora: actress, prostitute, mistress, feminist. And Byzantine Empress of the Roman world. Stephen: handsome Syrian boy, wizard’s apprentice, palace eunuch. And Secretary to the Empress. How does this unlikely pair become such allies that one day Empress Theodora asks Stephen to write her biography?
From a very young age, Theodora, daughter of a circus bearkeeper in Constantinople, sets her sights well above her station in life. Her exquisite beauty sets her apart on stages and in the eyes of men.
Stephen, a Syrian lad of striking good looks, is sold by his parents to a Persian wizard, who teaches him a skill in languages that will serve him well.
By the time Destiny brings them together in Antioch, Theodora has undergone heart-rending trials and a transformation, while Stephen has been sold again . . . and castrated.
Discover the enduring bond that, however imperfect, prompts Theodora—as Empress—to request palace eunuch Stephen to write her biography.
Click here to pick up your free copy of Fortune’s Child in the Amazon Kindle store.
About the Author:I started “Fortune’s Child” when I lived in Hollywood a couple of decades ago. An agent who was trying to sell an incomplete Push Not the River told me to start working on something else. As it happened, I was taking an Art Appreciation course at a community college. One day we were studying the exquisite mosaics of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora from the Basilica di San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy, and the professor pointed to Theodora and said, “I’m not a writer, but if I were, that is the woman I would write about.” Little did he know what he had unloosed. I went down to the Hollywood Public Library and took out at least a dozen books on the period and the reign of Justinian and Theodora. The empress seemed to me like the Eva Peron of the sixth century, and I was hooked. I made a good start on her story, but life threw some curves. I went back to finishing Push Not the River, but when it didn’t sell, other agents came and went. One publisher held on to it for two years. I returned to teaching and the years passed. When St. Martin’s Press picked up Push Not the River in 2003, I figured my Theodora book would follow. Ah~but St. Martin’s wanted a sequel, so that led to other books and more years. Fate goes ever as it must. So~now Theodora is getting her just due. Please give Fortune’s Child a chance. You can visit James’ Amazon author page if you click here. |
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