Publisher's Synopsis
Touching Fire: A Vestal Virgin's Tale chronicles an ancient priestess's tragic quest for freedom and meaning in the stunning, colorful, and oppressive setting of imperial Rome. One of six Vestal Virgins sworn to celibacy and duty on pain of death, Cornelia, who received a classical education normally reserved for aristocratic boys, yearns to travel the world and enjoy the privileges of a man. After mindlessly letting the eternal temple fire go out, Cornelia runs away from the Vestals to find her own way which leads to slavery, emancipation, and forbidden relationships with two men, a plebian Christian and a patrician senator, one deeply platonic and the other passionately romantic. In her efforts to survive and to save the people she loves, she runs up against Caesar Domitian, a capricious, dictatorial ruler who is determined to keep Cornelia, the Vestal Virgins, and the rest of the Roman empire under his control.
