Julia Episcopa: A Woman's Struggle in the Church

In an effort to prove there were no female leaders in the earliest Christian communities, Cardinal Antonio Ricci charges two women scholars, Valentina Vella and Erika Simone, to pore over manuscripts in the Vatican to produce materials confirming the primacy of male leaders from the beginnings of Christian history. In the novel's opening scenes, the women stumble upon a scroll written by Julia Episcopa (formerly Julia Achilles), who performed the duties of bishop in late first-century Rome. To investigate further, they enlist the help of a seasoned archeologist and Mossad agent, Yigael Dorian%E2%80%94who previously discovered other documents relating to Julia. The women must deceive the Vatican as they gather evidence in an intrigue-filled journey that takes them from Paris to Jerusalem and Ostia. Lacking suspense, believable conflicts, convincing characters, and replete with stilted dialogue, Rigoli's preachy novel tells an oft-told tale (scholars have long known that women served in these offices) that is little more than a veiled attempt to assert his views of the Roman Catholic Church's teachings.