Keziah's Song

A sister and brother are orphaned and separated when war arrives at their Judean village in this novel of the ancient world. In 135 B.C.E., Keziah, who's not yet a teenager, lives in precarious circumstances: Her mother has leprosy, a disease that the family hides from their fellow villagers, and nearby Jerusalem is under siege by Greeks from the Seleucid Empire. One day, Keziah returns home to find her house on fire, and she witnesses the savage murders of both her parents and her younger brother, Moshe; her neighbors had discovered her family's dark secret. A kind Iturean trader and a shopkeeper help her escape death, and she makes her way to Galilee, where she has family. Meanwhile, her older brother, Joazar, is taken captive by the Greek invaders and is made the servant of Jugurtha, who was once enslaved but is now the head of the treasury. Jugurtha attempts to school Joazar in what he sees as the ways of the world--a bottomless cynicism that profoundly challenges Joazar's faith, as Potter eloquently depicts: "The ease with which he discarded childhood superstitions was proof of something he chose not to name." The author's research is impeccable over the course of the novel, although there's an occasional tendency to bombard the reader with minute details of the day's political conflicts. However, his prose can also turn leaden and grave, almost as if it's meant to be carved in marble: "Humankind's role was simple: skirt the attention of the gods, seek their clemency or succour only as much as needed, and revel in as much godlike madness as circumstance allowed. The only difference between slave and king was means." Nonetheless, this is a magisterial work of ancient worldbuilding, and a dramatically affecting one, as well, as both siblings struggle to repair their broken lives--Keziah takes solace in a new family and her musical talent while Joazar desperately looks for her--and their desire for peace is repeatedly frustrated. An often deft blend of emotional drama and historical reconstruction.

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