Daughter of Cana by Angela Hunt

Daughter of Cana by Angela Hunt ISBN-13: 9780764233845 Paperback: 384 pages Publisher: Bethany House Released: March 31, 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Thomas and Tasmin, twin siblings hired to oversee a wedding feast in Cana, worry when the host runs out of wine . . . until a guest tells Tasmin to have the servants fill the pitchers by the gate with water from the cistern. Reluctantly, she obeys and is amazed when rainwater turns into the finest wine ever tasted in Cana.

When Thomas impulsively decides to follow the teacher from Nazareth, he and Tasmin argue--since the twins have been together since the womb, Tasmin can't accept losing her brother to some false messiah. Aided by Jude, younger brother to Jesus of Nazareth, she decides to find the Nazarene's group and bring her brother home.


My Review:
Daughter of Cana is biblical fiction set in 27-30 AD in Israel. It covered the time from Jesus's miracle at the wedding feast in Cana to after his resurrection. The author had Jesus' ministry start right before the Passover and his death on the fourth Passover from that one. The first half of the book was Tasmin witnessing the miracle at Cana, her doubting it but her brother following Jesus, and then Tasmin and Jude trying to catch up to Jesus as he went to Jerusalem for Passover, going back to Nazareth, etc. They only heard reports about what Jesus had done and said, pretty much quoted from the Bible. They personally witnessed a few more gospel scenes then came home where they continued to hear others tell about what Jesus was doing and saying. I felt like my time would've been better spent just reading the Gospels. Tasmin and Jude were more of a way to show what a common woman and a brother of Jesus might have felt about Jesus and his claims. They didn't have much of a story of their own (maybe 50 pages of the story?), but they bonded due to traveling together on multiple occasions.

I also wasn't impressed by the level of historical accuracy. For example, the author had Jude and others loading their donkey with water jars when going on long journeys. Water jars are heavy and fragile, so it's more likely they would've used water skins. Little things, but it added up for me. Also, the author was determined to have Jesus die as the Passover lambs were actually being slaughtered, so she had the sun darkened at the exact time that the Passover lambs were being slaughtered. Okay, if that's what she believes, it's her book. But Tasmin and Jude walked around observing things like it was broad daylight out during the darkness, and she made a point that the lambs were being slaughtered during the darkness. The torn temple curtain wasn't even mentioned though they passed the temple shortly after it should have occurred (after the earthquake). The people inside Jerusalem acted like everything was completely normal even though it's dark and an earthquake just happened. It just didn't work for me. (Please note that I read an advanced copy, so the text may change in the final copy.) There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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