Book Recommendation: Anna of Arimathea
Joseph of Arimathea’s daughter Anna was cruelly wounded by a
Roman soldier’s whip, scarring her face and hand, and a horse’s hoof that
crushed her hip. Hidden away at their Arimathean estate, she practices the
healing arts, isolated and lonely. Then Andrew, a disciple of Jesus, comes with
a message for her father. Seriously wounded by bandits, she tends to his
injuries and they fall in love. But how can someone crippled like she endure
the nomadic life of a follower of Jesus?
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Susanne Blumer has written a
Biblical novel on the daughter of Joseph of Arimathea. It’s a fascinating
look at what might have been. (A sequel, Anna of Bethsaida, is
now available.) I asked author Susanne Blumer a few questions.
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I love your portrayal of Andrew. How did you decide
to pick him to be the main character disciple?
Oh, my sweet Andrew! When I first started working on the book, I knew I
needed a disciple. But which one? Peter was already married. John is said
to never marry. James is killed in Acts. I ideally wanted one of the inner
circle and one that could fall in love with Anna. Andrew made the most
sense. He was the first to be called, is involved in many of the important
stories, but he also felt like a disciple I could make my own. So Andrew it
was, and I'm so happy with my choice. He was perfect for the series!
Have you visited Israel?
No, I have not been, but it is at the top of my bucket list! My husband and
I had an amazing trip planned in 2024: Israel, Egypt, Turkey and Greece. We
had everything booked and ready to go. Then the war broke out in Israel. We
were scheduled to leave a month later. Without knowing what would happen
during those weeks, we cancelled the trip. We still hope to do it! The
world just needs to calm down a bit first. I cannot wait to go and see all
the places I've been writing about!
You own four bookstores in North and South Carolina. How do you decide
what books to stock? Do you have a “My Favorites” display?
Each of my bookstores is different. They have different customers who read
different things. Of course, we have a lot of books the same between them,
but we also have a wide variety that are not. My Beaufort store carries a
ton of coastal books, Pat Conroy and authors local to the area. And beach
reads. Lots of beach reads!
My mountain stores each have their own flavor. Even
though Black Mountain and Waynesville are just 40 minutes apart, the books
we stock vary widely. Our customers simply like different things.
And yes, we have Staff Picks. It's always fun to see
what my staff loves, and our customers like it too! _______________________________________________________________________________
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