Thief of Corinth

I have not read biblical fiction in a while, and what a way to get back into it! This is a beautiful novel of healing and forgiveness and God's outrageous mercy. Set in the time of the early church, it follows Ariadne, a girl who holds a lot of pain and insecurity from her tumultuous upbringing in a split up family, with a very abusive grandfather and negligent mother. We first meet Ariadne as she's running away from mother and grandfather in Athens to find her father in Corinth. Once there, she gets caught up in dangerous family secrets that threaten all her relationships, as well as her safety.

I loved Ariadne. The book is written in first person perspective, so we spend a lot of time in her head, seeing how she processes things that happen. I found her character to be believable and sympathetic, even as she made a ton of mistakes. Watching her journey to faith in Jesus was very rewarding. I also liked her father's character, as well as Justus, the Claudias, Theo, Delia, etc. There were many great side characters.

The author also did a great job with the historical details of the setting in Corinth. I really enjoyed reading about the athletic competitions, the new soap trade, and daily life in Corinth in early-centuries A.D. It made the story and my reading experience come to life.

The overall theme of the story was forgiveness and mercy. The way the characters learned to extend grace to others was beautiful. But even more so was their acceptance of God's love and grace for themselves. My favorite line of the book is, “I now knew what it was to be fully guilty, and then to be fully absolved.” (not an exact quote). I'm coming away from this with my idea of God's love and God's mercy a little more enlarged, and I'm so grateful for that.