Author: Lynne Gentry
Publisher: Howard Books
ISBN: 978-1-4767-4633-3

“She’d make the mistake of thinking a heat-filled kiss and a couple of tears in his eyes meant she could trust him with the truth. Cyprian was a third-century Roman. She was a twenty-first-century woman. She would not make the mistake of forgetting the vast difference between their worlds again,” Lynne Gentry writes in her novel, Healer of Carthage.

First in the Carthage Chronicles, this four hundred and sixteen page paperback targets readers who enjoy a blend of time-travel involving modern medicine in early Christianity during the Roman Empire. With some slang and physical abuse regarding slavery, the romantic tale of mercy in an unjust world may interest mature teenagers to adults. The ending includes the author’s notes, acknowledgements, a reading group guide with the author’s conversation, and an excerpt from the next book in the series.

In this debut tome written by a pastor’s wife, the twenty-eight year old Doctor Lisabeth Hastings is worn out and at her melting point doing rounds at the Dallas hospital. When she misdiagnoses her patient, a two-week probation enables her to visit her eccentric father, an archeologist, still fixated on the Cave of the Swimmers located in the Sahara Desert where her mother disappeared when the Texan physician was merely five years old. 

Always carrying her long-lost mother’s stethoscope, Lisabeth searches the old African cave to seek out her father, accidentally falling into a mysteriously deep abyss and ending up in Roman Carthage during the third century. Mistaken as a slave girl, the smart, attractive protagonist is bought by Roman Thascius for six thousand sesterces.

Cyprian Thascius, a newly converted Christian who tries his best to keep believers safe from the growing persecutions of Rome, is captivated by the unique woman whose strange behavior and medical knowledge intrigues him. With concerns of his own to become chief solicitor, he agrees to an unusual arrangement with the odd, exotic female. 

While Carthage deals with a pandemic that is blamed on religious zealots, Lisabeth seeks for the portal back to her current life of self-doubt, guilt, and anger dealing with a self-absorbed fiancé. Wondering the what and why of her life, tests and trials cross her path whenever Cyprian is involved.

Written to show God’s love throughout the ages, Lisabeth, Cyprian, and others learn mercy and forgiveness, as they try to accept life’s challenges. Looking toward the next time-traveling adventure, Gentry continues her Christian-themed romance about trusting God for the answers.

Thanks to Howard Books for furnishing this book in exchange for a review based on the reader’s opinions.

Follow Here To Purchase Healer of Carthage: A Novel (The Carthage Chronicles)