by Edward P. Hahnenberg

There has always been in Christianity an interest in the unknown details of Christ's life and the people who were close to him. This novel provides a realistic view into the lives of those close to the Twelve who surely lived, but of whom we know next to nothing. Jewish practice of the time of Christ holds that most of the Twelve were probably married and had families. John, son of Zebedee, tradition holds, was not. Scripture points out that the wives of the Twelve most likely accompanied and lived with them throughout their lives. Paul, in1 Corinthians 9:5 writes: 'Do we not have the right to take along a Christian wife, as do the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?' In this work of fiction, the author has tried to imagine a timeline that flows unobtrusively throughout. The focus in the first portion of the book is on the apostles, their children, spouses, and relatives, while keeping the main character, Jesus of Nazareth, at the center of the collection of stories. The latter parts of the book concern the interaction of the families with the events unfolding in the lives of the followers of the Christ.