Daughter of Cana By Angela Hunt

 

Back Cover: Thomas and Tasmin, twin siblings hired to oversee a wedding feast in Cana, worry when the host runs out of wine . . . until a guest tells Tasmin to have the servants fill the pitchers by the gate with water from the cistern. Reluctantly, she obeys and is amazed when rainwater turns into the finest wine ever tasted in Cana.

When Thomas impulsively decides to follow the teacher from Nazareth, he and Tasmin argue--since the twins have been together since the womb, Tasmin can't accept losing her brother to some magician-prophet. Aided by Jude, younger brother to Jesus of Nazareth, she decides to follow the Nazarene's group and do whatever she must to mend the fractured relationship and bring her brother home.

Review: I'll never read the story of Jesus' first miracle the same way. As a child, I grew up learning about Jesus feeding the 5000 or raising Lazarath from the dead.... his first miracle of turning water into wine was neat, but nothing that made me pause much. If he could raise people from the dead, or heal a child from 20 miles away....what was a beverage miracle compared to that?

However, if you really stop and think (and this is exactly what this novel made me do), what would it have been like to be at that wedding and to be one of the servants who filled those barrels full of wine? What would it have been like to then watch the master drink from it and declare it to be the best of wines? Think on that for a moment. The confusion....the awe....and struggle to reconcile normal reality to what you just witnessed.... the questions....and the ultimate question, 'Who is this man'? 

I really enjoyed this detailed retelling of Jesus' first miracle and the internal struggle that Tasmin faced (and I think most of use would have). This story was well written and thoughtfully told and does this Bible story great service. I would certainly give this book a high recommendation to anyone who enjoys Biblical Fiction. 

Thank-you to Net Galley and Baker Publishing House for a complimentary copy of this book.