The Beacon at Alexandria is placed in the 293a.d. Roman Empire, and tells the story of Charis, an amazing young woman who dresses as a eunuch and travels to Alexandria to study her medicine; something she couldn't do if she was not dressed up as a man. Charis, who changes her name to Chariton, apprentices to a Jewish doctor in Alexandria, and learns the art well. After several years of studying, she is forced to leave Alexandria because of religious/political troubles that involve her. She is offered a job working in a military hospital in Thrace, and it is there that her life takes a surprising turn as she comes up against other troubles, and in the end, finds herself at last.
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In the declining years of the Roman Empire, Charis, the independent and intelligent daughter of a rich official, yearns to become a doctor, but is prevented from doing so by her gender. Masquerading as a eunuch, she flees her home in Ephesus for Alexandria, the world's center of learning, where she apprentices to a Jewish doctor and learns to love her art. Eventually, however, she is drawn into the dangerous politics of the early Christian church; intrigue sweeps her to a Roman outpost in the wilderness of Thrace, where she finds her true destiny.
The review of this Book prepared by Christine Hung
