Hercules Knot is a forthcoming historical novel by Marjorie A. May which is set in the early sixth century during the reign of Justinian, the last great Roman emperor. The heroine is Xia (pronounced like “Gia”) who is born noble but reared without that knowledge. When it finally comes to light, her death is sought by someone with lofty ambitions and a secret to conceal.

After her mother’s untimely death, Xia’s innocent, protected world in an ancient monastery on Mount Ida on the Aegean Sea is upended. Xia is sent to Constantinople, the bustling and powerful Queen of Cities. Soon, Xia is reacquainted with Remus, a pagan soldier. The young woman is torn between taking religious orders or becoming Remus’s concubine.

In the spring of 542, the heart-wrenching decision is entirely forgotten when she and the half-million residents of Constantinople–and then the entire Mediterranean region–are horrified and perplexed when their prosperous lives are engulfed by the bubonic plague. On all sides, chaos, death, and horror encroach. Will the powerful Bishop of Nicaea help? Will he aid Xia’s return to the peaceful world of Pantokrator monastery so that she can take orders? Or will her rejected lover return to save her?

Hercules Knot is novel of love, survival, 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 will be published in early 2026.

Keep an eye out for an excerpt to be published in the coming months!