Miranda Going Home

by Eleanor Spence

Miranda lives in Palestine at the time of the Roman occupation. Her mother is Jewish and her father is a Roman centurion. Her problems - who she really is and where she belongs in a world of upheaval, racism and war - are problems of many young teenagers in the world today.

Genres: Historical Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Christina Baehr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely historical novel about a 13 year old girl of mixed Jewish and Roman parentage who must go to live with her grandparents in Galilee at the time of Christ. Spence writes intelligently and literately, and there’s a light-handedness to the religious discussions that I admired. There’s a very artistic recurring use of Virgil’s eclogue (the messianic one), and the way this is woven into the story had me unexpectedly tearing up at the end. Spence really should be better known. I will be eagerly collecting more of her books. This worked admirably as a family read aloud.
Note: one of the characters in the novel is a boyhood portrayal of Jesus (Jeshua). The character is very respectfully written, but of course artistic license is unavoidable and some readers may not be comfortable with this.