In the 9th century BC, King Ittobaal of Tyre is building a vast maritime empire. His daughter Jezebel believes the gods intend for her to rule after him. Tamar, daughter of a poor fisherman, longs to be a scribe. Elijah, an Israelite farm boy, swears bitter ven¬geance against the king who caused his father¿s death. Driven by their passions ¿ sexual, political, and religious ¿ they tangle and fly apart, again and again. Shelley¿s astonishingly well-researched novel takes you deep into their world, a world as real as your own. This is what was, and what might have been.