Hercules Knot is a forthcoming historical novel by Marjorie A. May. Set in the sixth century during the reign of Justinian, the last great Roman emperor. The heroine, Eupraxia, known as “Gia,” is born noble but reared far from Constantinople, entirely ignorant to her true identity. If it comes to light one day, her demise will be sought by multiple powerful people.

After her mother’s untimely death, Gia becomes an orphan. Immediately, her innocent world of intellectual study and worship in a wealthy nunnery within Pantokrator monastery on legendary Mount Ida is upended. From roaming freely in the forested foothills, she is sent to Constantinople, the Roman empire’s capital, the world’s greatest city. Gia is welcomed into the upper class but has her own plans. She is forced into agreeing to an arranged marriage, but, secretly, she is torn between taking religious orders and her great love for Remus, a pagan soldier.

Everything changes in the spring of 542, when the city is entirely overrun with the bubonic plague. On all sides, chaos, death, and horror encroach. Priests believe it is the end of times, and normal life is upended. Gia seeks the help of her mother’s powerful friends in the imperial palace but learns that betrayal can happen in a heartbeat.

Will the powerful Bishop of Nicaea help? Will he aid Gia’s return to the peaceful world of Pantokrator monastery? Or will her pagan lover return to save Gia?

Hercules Knot is an historical novel of love, survival at all costs, bubonic plague altering society, betrayal, ambition, and the cultural and spiritual tension between Christian and pagan faiths that marked the long transition from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages. It explores Roman women’s lives–the pressures, problems, joys, and challenges–in the last gasp of the mighty Roman empire. It will be published in late 2026.

Keep an eye out for a chapter excerpt to be published by September!