HOPEWELL, N.J., Dec. 13, 2006 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Not by force but by good will, reads the proverb over the gate of a market farm in Puteoli, Roman Campania. Quintus the master lives by these words. Lucan his slave defies them. Both are nearly destroyed by them. Author Hannah Bonsey Suthers explores slavery and the struggle of the human spirit in the Fourth Century Roman Empire in her historical novel Not By Force But By Good Will.
In dramatic contrast to the current international standards of human rights, slavery in the fourth century was scarcely considered wrong. Early Christianity exhorted slaves to 'obey your master as you would your Lord.' "How could slaves, two-thirds of the population, do that, even when there was not so much as a whisper of hope for freedom?" asks Suthers as she resurrects the grass roots at the time of the first Christian Emperor Constantine the Great, in her book Not By Force But By Good Will.
This luminous historical novel offers emotional depth and layers of meaning that provoke thought, challenge, resonate with the reader. Character-driven plot and subplots are intricately interwoven. The characters grow as they forge, shatter and restore relationships, resolve an agonizing love triangle, survive tax edicts, and obey the dictum of the Council of Nicea. Suthers says, "Though it may seem hopeless, a person can change through patience and perseverance. The timeless message of the novel is the value of human life, even of the least of us."
About the Author
Hannah Bonsey Suthers started writing while growing up with her two older brothers on their schoolteacher parents' subsistence farm on Maui, Hawaii. She wrote, illustrated and home produced five children's books for her three children and six grandchildren. She started the novel while in high school and working both indoors and outdoors on the farm. With a BA in religion and masters equivalencies in religion and biology, she has many journal publications. 'Religion and the Feminine Mystique', Christian Century, 21 July 1965, is still used in some classes. She was a missionary wife in Michigan and Brazil, then a research and technical staff in biology at Princeton University, New Jersey. Currently she studies songbird populations.
Not By Force But By Good Will -- by Hannah Bonsey Suthers
The Odyssey of a Runaway Slave At the Time of Constantine the Great
Publication Date: December 8, 2006
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