At first, I thought this was a non-fiction book, so the fact that it’s a novel was a pleasant surprise. The story follows Anthia, the young wife of an Ephesian fisherman for exactly one week.

Anthia has a young son, and the story starts with her losing her best friend to a difficult childbirth. As Anthia, her husband, and son walk back and forth to the market each day, they pass a public place where the Apostle Paul holds discussions with the citizens of Ephesus.

The book has many sidebars and photos filled with historical facts about the city, its citizens, the social classes, and way of life. The author also incorporates many of these into the story, as well. I read many of them with horrid fascination, and the book helped give me the historical context for many of the writings of Paul that I take umbrage with as a woman living in the 20th Century—for a man of his time, he actually espoused a very liberal, forward-thinking view of women.

This book is part of a series by different authors, and I don’t know if it follows a certain format common to all of them (fiction mixed with facts, and a rather abrupt, unresolved ending), or if it is the only one in this format.

The book leaves the reader with more questions than answers (regarding the plot), and more answers than questions (regarding life in Ephesus during that time period).

A fascinating book, well researched and well written. It's engrossing and informative and full of information.
I loved the style of writing and how the book is organized.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I enjoyed the historical aspects of this book even though it angers me how women have been treated through history. The errors I this book I hope will be fixed before publication.

The book is well organized by the 7 days of the week so I could see from the start that the Greco-Roman woman was actually going to live a week in my presence. I love history and more information always helps me to visualize the setting. The book begins with a prologue where the Ephesian woman Anthia is assisting her friend who is giving birth. Not what I wanted to read in the morning just after breakfast! But this leads to Wednesday where we follow her activities in the agora, at home, and elsewhere. It reads almost like a novel. Life is difficult with too little food but abundant water that freely flows from Roman sources, but there’s no punching a time card and much time for conversation. Wives, however were treated like slaves. They were punished for infractions and expected to be obedient to their husbands and possibly also male members of their household. Many women were far younger than their husbands and the average life expectancy was less than half of what we expect in our society, 40’s for men, thirties for women. The book contains helpful boxed descriptions of cultural practices as well as photos of items and buildings of that time.

The author presents her material in a more entertaining way than reading a textbook, but most importantly she expends some effort on not imposing her American culture or views on her subject. As a result, I was able to do the same, but not without profound sadness for the way Greco-Roman women were treated. However, I also experienced gratitude for my own 21st century American culture that almost gives Caucasian women equal status with men. Anthia is a real Ephesian 1st century woman who lives in a culture that is vastly different from ours, but which bears similarities to our immigrant culture: families living together in a small area, sharing food, all members looking for work to keep rent paid and food on the table, performing manual labor, and living hand to mouth with no other support.

The book follows Anthia’s daily tasks as well as problems she experiences with her pregnancy, sometimes abruptly skipping from one scene to another. There’s a lot about pregnancy and it appears to be the predominant thought and function of women. In Anthia’s ventures into the Agora (rarely without being accompanied by her husband in the first half of the book, often alone in the 2nd half) she catches snatches of Paul’s (the Apostle) debates and wonders about what she hears. She also hears about him through bits of conversation on the streets, in the baths, and witnesses Paul’s handkerchief healing a neighbor boy. Halfway through the book there is less about pregnancy and we’re given a glimpse into the state of Roman society and the difference Jesus made in societal relations.

The book reads like a novel with historical notes, although sometimes the information is given in the text through thought or dialogue. However, the writing was poor and contained wrong words, anachronistic words, and problems with sentence construction. The anachronisms include the name “Andrew” (should be Andreas) which stood out as not being like the other Greek or Roman names. Paul (should be Paulus) has a “mantra” (an 18th century Sanskrit word.) Other words also don’t fit the time period, such as “kin.” The author has braziers “sitting next to each other” as though they were people, “emitting both light and the delicious smel [sic] of cooking meat.” Brazier is an English word, so why not use one of the Latin words arulam or caminum? Other Latin/Greek words are used and explained. Later, we find “gawkers were sitting on animals.”

Even the healing prayer Anthia experiences is not like the contemporaneous encounters in the Gospels and Acts where a person is healed when Jesus, Paul, Peter, or others listen to the Spirit and obey. e.g. “Rise, take up your mat, and walk”. Rather, the women in this book pray by “imploring Jesus to heal her. . . and agreed to continue to pray for her.” The 1st century Ephesian church was not so far removed from the time of Acts and the Gospels that it would have done things differently. In fact, this imploring appears to be what people of the time did to idols, imploring those gods, such as Artemis, to change their situation.

All in all, the book presents an uneven and somewhat tedious experience (I was so bored by the halfway point that I stopped reading it for a week). Biblical scenes are presented with color and insight, but there are awkward sentences, overused words, wrong words, and anachronistic words. These are all things that could be fixed and since I have read a pre-publication copy, I hope they are remedied. The book would be better as non-fiction.

Another great book in the series of “A Week in the Life of…” These books are a brilliant way to bring information about Biblical context in an easy to consume narrative. I particularly enjoyed reading a book from a woman’s perspective, which didn’t hold back the punches of the harsh reality of being a woman in this society. It is not often that we here the voices of woman in Greco-Roman times. Holly Beers uses a fictional story to inform us about families, culture, religion, money and health in the period the New Testament was written. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the background of the writings of the New Testament, particularly Paul’s letters.

This book is partly fiction and partly nonfiction and covered events from the point of view of a poor, married, pregnant woman in Ephesus who witnesses the events of Acts 18-20 and decides if she will follow Jesus (and no other gods). The story read like a documentary show that's primarily made up of fictional reenactments to illustrate the points. The purpose was to educate readers (in an entertaining way) about the cultural background of the first-century Greco-Roman church so that we can better understand the New Testament.

The book contained some nice black-and-white pictures of ruins and archaeological artifacts that illustrated information in the non-fiction sidebars or events in the story. A lot of educational material was worked into the story and additional information was provided in "sidebars" (which could take up whole pages) that were placed within the story.

In the fictional part, we basically followed the main character through her daily life, but with some significant encounters during that week and ending with a critical decision. I thought that the author did a good job with the educational points that she brought out. Overall, I'd recommend this book to people who aren't very familiar with the cultural background to the New Testament and who aren't interested in pure nonfiction books on the topic.

A Week in the Life of a Greco-Roman Woman by Holly Beers brings the ancient city of Ephesus to life for modern readers. As a preacher, it is my job to attempt to bring the scripture to life every Sunday. It is always my goal to make the first century world that Jesus walked come to life for my congregation; however, this takes a great deal of time and study. That is why I am so grateful for books like this one.

Beers, an associate professor of religious studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, does a fabulous job of helping the reader to imagine what life was really liked during the time that St. Paul was preaching and teaching.  The majority of the book is a fictional account of the daily life of a woman named Anthia who lived in Ephesus. Although Anthia and her story are imaginary, the challenges she faces were are all too real for the majority of women in the ancient world. She deals with an abusive husband, the dangers of childbirth, unsanitary living conditions, and the gnawing hunger of a subsistence diet. Anthia's life seems truly bleak until one day she encounters a man named Paul. Soon, she meets other followers of The Way and is exposed to ideas that make her question everything she has ever known. 

My favorite part of this book were the realistic and gritty details. Beers does not shy away from exploring the many real dangers and tragedies that people faced in ancient Greco-Roman society. I also appreciated the side bars interspersed throughout the text. These sidebars included diverse information about everything from cosmetics, superstitions surrounding childbirth, and slavery.  

The only gentle criticism I have about this book is that Anthia's story felt rather incomplete. I would have preferred a more solid ending.  Nevertheless, I'm certain that I will reference this book in the future when I am preparing sermons, especially sermons based on Paul's epistles.

Holly Beers gives us an insightful peek into the daily lives of women during the Greco-Roman era. Set in Ephesus, this boom explores what it would have been like for a woman of this period to hear the radical teachings of the apostle Paul. The book features side segments throughout with historical information on the society, the norms, and daily life that enrich the text.

As a former history teacher and a women’s ministry leader, I loved this book. I found it insightful and it really helped put some of the teachings of Paul into context. The story, while fictional, was written so well the main character felt real! The only negative I found with the book was that I desired a little bit more closure for her. Overall, an amazing read and I highly recommend it for those looking for a better understanding of why Christianity proves radical.