Annotation
Hoffman departs from offbeat fantasy to retell the story of the Romans' siege of Masada in 70 CE, during which all but a handful of the 900 Jewish defenders were slaughtered. The story unfolds through the voices of four women: Yael, daughter of an assassin; Revka, determined to protect her grandsons; the warrior Aziza; and her mother, a woman of mysterious powers. Hoffman spent five years researching the book, and the publisher is pushing it as her Beloved.
Characters
| Name | Yael |
| Gender | Female |
| Traits | Jewish |
| Israeli | |
| Name | Revka |
| Gender | Female |
| Traits | Jewish |
| Married | |
| Mother | |
| Grandmother | |
| Israeli | |
| Name | Shira |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Sorceress |
| Traits | Jewish |
| Mother | |
| Israeli | |
| Name | Aziza |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Warrior |
| Traits | Jewish |
| Israeli | |
| Genre | Fiction Historical |
| Topics | Jews Jewish life Women's lives Birds Roman Empire Journeys War Female friendship Tragedy Secrets Lost loves Survival Love Israeli history Mothers and daughters |
| Setting | Israel |