Charles Redden Butler Neto

Matrona of Crete Charles Redden Butler Neto

Princess Salomé, now the betrothed of Philip, the Tetrarch of Syria, is taken under the wing of her grandmother, Queen Berenice, the widow of Archelaus, the Ethnarch of Samaria. She is taken to an estate in Crete to be trained as a matrona, a female head of household, as she is to be the heir of her grandmother, a wealthy woman with holdings throughout the Roman Empire, and whose fortune will be part of her ketuba, the dowry she brings to her marriage, returnable to her should she become a widow. She meets actors, courtesans, cooks, and horse whisperers, learning healing arts and facing being poisoned by those who do not wish to see her succeed.