The foundation of an influential trade in a Roman world dominated by men. And along the way, she changes the world.But before she was.

One woman rises up to take the reins of success in an incredible journey of courage, grit, and friendship. Tessa is a devoted wife, mediocre gardener, and chocolate enthusiast. She worked in women and prayer ministries for nearly twenty years before becoming a full-time writer.

Tessa holds a master of divinity from Yale University, where she served for one year as co-chair of the Evangelical Fellowship at the Divinity School. Her conversion to Christianity in her twenties changed the course of her life forever. She then moved to England, where she survived boarding school for girls, before moving to the United States permanently.

Tessa was born in the Middle East and lived there for the first fourteen years of her life. Tessa’s Bible study, The Way Home: God’s Invitation to New Beginnings, based on the book of Ruth, won ECPA’s Christian Book Award in the Bible Study category, 2021. Harvest of Gold won the prestigious Christy Award in the Historical Romance category, Harvest of Rubies was a finalist for the ECPA Christian Book Award in the fiction category, and Thief of Corinth was an INSPY Award finalist. Land of Silence won an INSPY Award and was voted by Library Journal as one of the top five Christian fiction titles of 2016. Her novel Daughter of Rome is a Carol Award Finalist. Her books have been on the Publishers Weekly, ECPA, and other bestseller lists, and translated into eleven languages. TESSA AFSHAR is a Christy and Christian Book Award winning author of historical and biblical fiction, and non-fiction. Still, Lydia can't outrun her secrets forever, and when past and present collide, she must either stand firm and trust in her fledgling faith or succumb to the fear that has ruled her life. But fear lingers in every shadow, until Lydia meets the apostle Paul and hears his message of hope, becoming his first European convert.

Determination and serendipitous acquaintances-along with her father's precious dye-help her become one of the city's preeminent merchants. With only her father's secret formulas left, Lydia flees to Philippi and struggles to establish her business on her own. Then unbearable betrayal robs her of nearly everything. And along the way, she changes the world.īut before she was Lydia, the seller of purple, she was simply a merchant's daughter who loved three things: her father, her ancestral home, and making dye.

Bread of Angels by Tessa Afshar