The Tomb: A Novel of Martha
Stephanie Landsem
Howard Books/Simon and Schuster, Mar 17 2015, $14.99
ISBN: 9781451689129
Everyone respects Martha as the paragon of Jewish
women who looks over the well-being of her family, and is kind and considerate
to neighbors and strangers. However,
Martha conceals the secret of when she sinned.
At her sister Mary’s wedding, she met and fell in love with Isa the musician;
they shared an intimacy with his promise to return to her, but he never did.
Seven years has passed since Martha’s
transgression that only her brother Lazarus knows how she fell from grace. The family patriarch Lazarus knows he is
dying and wants to insure he meets his death bed vow he made to his dad to take
care of Martha. Thus he arranges a
marriage between his sibling and pious Pharisee Simon because he believes the
latter will forgive Martha. She wants to
beg the alleged Messiah her cousin Jesus to save her brother, but fears Simon’s
holy wrath starting with threatening to reveal her wrongdoing, a stoning
sin. At the same time near the Galilee, Jesus
miraculously heals Isa from the demons that have tormented him for years. Isa heads to see Martha praying that he is
not too late.
The third Living Water biblical series
(see The Thief and The Well) is a terrific tale that focuses on the trials and
tribulations of Lazarus’ sister Martha.
Driven by the nurturing yet haunted lead female who risks her life and
soul to save her brother, readers will appreciate this entertaining drama as Stephanie Landsem enables the audience to visit first
century Judea through the eyes of pious Martha and to a lesser degree her
siblings.
Harriet Klausner
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