Power. Passion. Betrayal.

Claudia has a privileged life. Niece of Rome's favoured warrior, she lives in luxury, surrounded by her family and tended by slaves. Gifted with second sight, her dreams tell her many things, from which gladiator will win the battle in the Coliseum to the secret enemies who plot against the Emperor.

When Claudia falls deeply in love with a charismatic soldier known as Pilate, she determines to win his heart, whatever the cost. But Rome is built on powerful, treacherous alliances, and while Pilate's star continues to rise, shame and tragedy stalk Claudia's family.

As a circle of betrayal and despair threatens to encompass her, Claudia realises her fate and future happiness is inextricably bound with a man who appears in her dreams, a man who wears a crown of thorns, a man she knows her husband must not condemn to death...

'[Claudia] makes the female experience of past millennia exotic yet universal' USA TODAY

'Breathes fresh air into the historical genre . . . A story of opulence, greed, lust and the power of women' South Wales Argus