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by Victoria Alvear (Author)
Based on a true story, this is not the enlightened Rome of myth. This is a city choking on fear, where blood flows on both the battlefield and altar, and where generals and politicians alike are desperate to appease rageful gods.
When 50,000 Romans fall in a single day at the Battle of Cannae, priests claim there can be only one reason the gods abandoned Rome: a Vestal Virgin has broken her vow of chastity. And they accuse Opimia (Mia), the strongest, most defiant of the six sacred Vestal priestesses.
Forced as a child into serving Vesta, the goddess of fire, Mia has always chafed against Rome's control of her every move-especially after being separated from her childhood love, Attius. Now, accused of a crime she did not commit, she must defend herself in a hostile court to avoid being buried alive for her "crime."
Betrayed by the high priestess, hunted by Rome's political and religious elite, Mia must either accept her fate - or join with the Sybil of Cumae to expose the truth behind a world built on superstition, fear, and lies.
A story of personal awakening amid public catastrophe, The Cleansing is a haunting journey through a city at war with itself - and a woman who risks everything to survive it.
