Written By: Julia Collins (’26)
Last month, we left off reading A Voice in the Wind, Francine Rivers’ first book of the Mark of the Lion series. This week, we will be looking at the second book in the trilogy, An Echo in the Darkness!
Hadassah, a young Christian girl from Jerusalem sold into slavery in Rome, has survived a brutal attack after being betrayed by her master, Julia Valerian. Hadassah was rescued by a doctor, Alexander, who she begins to assist in his medical jobs. Personality wise, Hadassah is the same, but since the attack, she has scarring on her face that makes her almost unrecognizable (I say “almost” because she IS recognized- more on that later). Julia, meanwhile, is sick- actually, more than sick, terminally ill from an STD. She is in a relationship with a man who doesn’t love her, and she is neglected by her friends. No one likes her, and she keeps getting sicker. But then she meets a servant who loves her and cares for her. What Julia doesn’t realize is that this servant is Hadassah! Although Hadassah was recognized by Julia’s now-Christian mother, Phoebe, Julia does not know that her new servant was the girl she had sent off to be killed!
Meanwhile, Hadassah’s almost-boyfriend/crush, Marcus Valerian, thinks she’s dead, and he is heartbroken. To get closer to the memory of Hadassah, he goes to Jerusalem, and is eventually converted to Christianity. He eventually goes back to Rome after sensing that God wants him to go see Julia and forgive her for sending Hadassah to be killed. However, Marcus struggles with how to forgive. With his mother being sick, he blames Julia for not being with her. When he and Julia finally see each other again, things are bad. Can the two of them get along again?
The ending of this book, which I will not reveal myself, is a good wrap-up on the lives of Hadassah and the Valerians. The journey that the four main characters go through shows early Christianity, and how it impacted people’s lives in unexpected ways and through interesting people. ★
