Published August 12, 2022
Bitter for Sweet
This is the story of Herod the Great’s mother and how she brought the Arabic world of Nabataea and the Latin world of Rome to the Land of Israel.
The Middle East, 76 BCE. Internal power struggles consume Jerusalem’s attention while surrounding nations manipulate events for their own purposes. Two young women from opposite worlds—Pninah, a poor Jewish girl subject to seizures, and Cypros, a Nabataean princess—are thrust by violent events into a collision course with each other and history.
Bitter for Sweet carries on the tradition of intense, lyrical, and deeply moving historical fiction started in the award‑winning Keziah’s Song and Blind Man’s Labyrinth. By capturing the era and its people with his characteristic raw intimacy and plainsong prose style, Daryl Potter brings this story of these women—and a fateful Roman invitation—vividly to life.
This is a tale about hope and consequences that you will remember for the rest of your life.
What the Critics are Saying
“Bronze medal winner in 2022 Book of the Year contest.”
“a book that will haunt you, move you and fascinate you. ”
“A haunting novel that deserves to be savored and pondered…Potter fuses relevant themes of courage, survival, honor, race, class, and gender disparity into this tale of riveting tensions. Impossible to put down.”
“Startlingly beautiful....terrifying and suspenseful, but at the same time... heart-tugging, entrancing....”
“...a fine example of the storyteller’s art...”
“Bitter for Sweet is an example of historical fiction at its best, firmly resting on facts, but powered by the dilemmas and strengths of characters faced with transformative encounters that change their life trajectories and their relationships.
Libraries looking for historical fiction able to attract beyond its genre readership will find Bitter for Sweet a strong pick recommended not just for historical novel readers, but followers of women’s fiction, history, and experience.”
“5 Stars and winner of Highly Recommended award”
“I’ve never read such an engrossing book...[T]he story of a Nabatean princess, and a poor Jewish girl afflicted with seizures shows the personal impact of the politics of the time. Cypros and Pninah illustrate the enduring resilience of women, the terrors and triumphs of their positions in the roiling hotbed of intrigue and violence, and the indomitable spirit that allows both to rise from the wreckage of old dreams to build new and better realities for themselves and those closest to their hearts. Remarkably well researched, this story blends history and characters into a lively world that kept me reading well past bedtime! ”