Title: Valley of Decision (The Carthage Chronicles #3)
Author: Lynne Gentry
Pages: 367
Year: 2015
Publisher: Howard
Wow! What a great trilogy of books that Lynne Gentry has written! I would advise reading the books in order, beginning with The Healer of Carthage, then Return to Exile and finally ending with Valley of Decision. The story continues throughout each book, so if readers don’t begin with book one they will be lost as to the history of the cast of characters.
Book three begins with only a day passing in Carthage, but thirteen years have passed in the present time. Maggie feels extreme guilt and shame for forcing her mother to leave her father when she got so sick with typhoid in book two. She misses her father and wants to reunite her father and mother. She takes off for the past without telling anyone with the intention of bringing her father back to the present. However, once she arrives in third century Carthage, she discovers life in this time has not changed as quickly as she has. She reunites with her father, Barek, and some other characters from book two while telling her father her plans for them. Her father disagrees, but Maggie is very stubborn.
Soon Lisbeth and her father arrive in Carthage. Lisbeth plans to take everyone back to modern times, but knows Cyprian will refuse to go. She tried to rewrite history the last time she came to Carthage without success. Lisbeth and her mother once again use their healing skills to help the residents of Carthage battle measles and typhoid; both diseases are killing off the population of Carthage. Lisbeth’s mother, Magdalena, has been arrested for the murder of the proconsul and Cyprian has agreed to represent her. What follows is an emotional trial, leading to a riveting ending of the series.
Lynne Gentry writes with great skill, making me care about the characters in her stories as well as making me feel a part of the stories. I loved traveling to ancient Carthage and seeing how people lived then. What an adventure! I also greatly admired the transformation of Cyprian from the greatest solicitor in Carthage to one of the leaders of the early Christian church. His strength and faith in God against persecution was amazing. I can’t wait to read what Lynne Gentry writes next!
My rating is 5 stars.
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