It is a shame that this book is no longer in print. It is such a fascinating story of the Essene community prior to and during the time of Jeshua (Jesus). The book is faithfully based on past-life readings given to numerous people by the American psychic Edgar Cayce during the early 20th century. Rather than contradict anything in the Bible, the Cayce material provides rich detail and depth not found in the Bible. LaCroix has done a masterful job of weaving Cayce's readings into a cohesive story, bringing the Biblical characters to life. The Biblical characters, including Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist and the disciples, are now very real people to me. Focusing primarily on Judith, an early Essene leader, and Ruth, a sister of Jeshua, the reader sees through their eyes all of the events of the life and times of the man we now know of as Jesus. The reader will also learn about the education of Jeshua, including the "missing years" of his life, and experience the turbulent political times which led to the crucifixion. This book pulls everything together, making complete sense of the entire story of the Christ.

When I first read this novel, I JUST COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!!! As I was reading it, the presentation of the story made me realise that the Nativity did "NOT JUST HAPPEN". Until this book, I thought that the Bible was just a FANTASTICAL story -- PURE FICTION -- as it were. But something in this book made me realise that the Bible IS TRUTH... THAT IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. Not that I did NOT believe: I did! I just doubted... GREATLY!!! I think that EVERYBODY should read this book, even if they do not agree with its premise... But I think that they will come out of reading this book RICHER IN SPIRIT, though. I think that the lady who wrote this book has the ABSOLUTE BEST NAME, also MOST APPROPRIATE, "Mary LaCroix", which translates as "Mary of (the) Cross"... This book also has a sequel, called "SONS OF DARKNESS, SONS OF LIGHT", which continues the saga from where "THE REMNANT" LEFT...

I read her first book The Remnant, so I bought this one and thought it would be just as good. It was to some degree, but as captivating as the first one. However she is a gifted author and I would still highly reccomend this hsitorically based background to anyone that might ask about it. It made me feel like i was right there with the characters.