Happy Friday! Today I am featuring the debut Biblical novel Anna Of Arimathea by Susanne Blumer. Some of you may know Susanne from her bookstore, Sassafras on Sutton. I am so looking forward to reading this book!
Here’s the first line:
Anna pressed her small hands against the rough stone wall of their courtyard, watching her mother clean the gash along the young lamb’s flank with steady hands.
Some wounds are carried in silence. Some healings require more than medicine.
Eighteen-year-old Anna bears the marks of a childhood tragedy that left her motherless, scarred, and lame. Hidden within the household of her father, Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy councilman of the Sanhedrin, her days are measured in herb gardens and healing tinctures, in the steady work of hands trained to help others, and in the quiet safety of a world made small.
Then Andrew of Bethsaida arrives at her father’s gate with urgent business for Joseph and talk of a teacher who calls ordinary people to extraordinary purpose. A fisherman turned disciple, Andrew follows the rabbi Jesus with a conviction that unsettles every long-held expectation—including Anna’s own.
When Andrew’s kindness cracks open the door to a larger world, Anna faces an impossible choice: remain in the safety of her father’s estate or risk everything for the possibility of healing, love, and a life she never dared imagine.
Set against the dusty roads and fishing villages of first-century Judea, where miracles unfold and mercy walks among the broken, Anna of Arimathea opens The Arimathea Chronicles—a richly imagined tale of faith, first love, and redemption in the footsteps of the Messiah.
Susanne Blumer is an award-winning author, bookstore owner (x3), and CEO & Founder of Sassafras on Sutton LLC. She co-authors the Bell Tower Bible Adventures middle grade series with her husband Cole and the Piper Periwinkle picture book series. Her new series, The Arimathea Chronicles, follows the life of Anna, the daughter of Joseph of Arimathea. A long-time lover of Biblical Fiction, she is so excited to be bringing the story of Anna to life. The first book, Anna of Arimathea, published in December 2025. Book two, Anna of Bethsaida, will release in March 2026. Susanne splits her time between the magical mountains of North Carolina and the enchanting lowcounty coast of South Carolina where she drinks far too much coffee, spoils her chickens, daydreams a lot, and loves hanging out at her stores chatting with customers. If you’re ever up in the NC mountains or down in Beaufort, SC, stop by and say “Hey!”
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