About the Book
Book Title: The Daughter of Rome
Author Name: Angela Hunt
Genre: Christian Biblical Fiction
Release Date: March 4, 2025
In Nero’s Rome, Calandra helps her father, a renowned sculptor, complete the most significant commission of his illustrious career. But then a catastrophic fire nearly destroys the imperial city, leaving Calandra reliant on a group of Christians-—unusual individuals unlike any she has encountered before. Intrigued by their worship of the Son of an invisible God, Calandra grapples with her mistrust, only to find herself indebted to these believers as they help her rebuild her shattered world.
When Emperor Nero begins constructing his opulent Golden House, the people of Rome grow resentful, suspecting him of starting the fire in order to clear the land for his immense palace. Needing a scapegoat, Nero points at those who follow the Jewish Messiah, forcing Calandra to make an impossible choice between right and wrong, friends and family, love and death.
Book Excerpt
One
Rome, AD 64
The 10th Year of the Reign of Nero
Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
The 17th Day of Iulius
Ninety years before I was born, for seven consecutive nights a glittering comet swept the northern heavens, gathering nascent souls for eventual delivery to earth. I was one of those souls.
The cosmic transaction was not one-sided, a priest of Jupiter later told me. In return for so many unsullied spirits, the comet ushered an exemplary being into the gathering of the gods: the shining presence of Gaius Julius Caesar, murdered dictator, senator, and aedile, triumphant general, and adoptive father of Augustus, first citizen of the Roman Empire.
The comet returned in the fifth year of Claudius’s reign, ushering my stubborn soul to earth and demanding my mother’s life in return.
My father never let me forget that I was part of a divine exchange. When I could not sleep, he would kneel by my bed and gently grip my hands. “You were born under the light of Caesar’s star,” he would whisper, his eyes luminous and tender. “The divine Caesar watches over you even now.”
Eighteen years after my birth, I could find no particular evidence of Caesar’s guardianship. My father and I lived on the Aventine, a working-class neighborhood of Rome, populated by a fair number of thieves, brawlers, and gamblers. But I had survived the perils of childhood, which many children did not, and I had not been quickly married off to the highest bidder—though I credited my father, not Caesar, for that mercy.
Living with my father, helping him create art for wealthy Romans, was apparently what the divine Caesar had destined me to do. Our lives were simple, but I was content.
Missed Any Excerpts, Go Here
Excerpt One: https://www.
Excerpt Two: https://www.fictionbooklover.
Excerpt Three: https://www.
Excerpt Four: https://www.guildmaster97.com/
Excerpt Five: https://storiesbygina.com/
Excerpt Six: https://www.devotedtohope.com/
Excerpt Seven: https://lakesidelivingsite.
About the Author
Angela Hunt is a New York Times bestselling author of more than 160 books, with nearly 6 million copies sold worldwide. Angela’s novels have won or been nominated for the RWA RITA Award, the Christy Award, the ECPA Christian Book Award, and the HOLT Medallion. Four of her novels have received ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award, and Angela is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from both the Romantic Times Book Club and ACFW. Angela holds doctorates in biblical studies and theology. She and her husband make their home in Florida with mastiffs and chickens. Learn more at AngelaHuntBooks.com.