Yonkers, NY Author Publishes New Book

Ever the Same: (Semper Eadem), a new book by Ursula Strauss, Ph.D., has been released by RoseDog Books.

A National Geographic photo of a victim of Mount Vesuvius's 79 A.D. eruption emerges. Her blond hair intact and the remains of a fetus within her skeletonized body suggest the woman's northern origin and probable slave status. Emperor Augustus had closed the Empire's borders a century before, inadvertently creating a shortage of free labor. Foreign females of childbearing age were thus being kidnapped to brood slave babies for the booming economy. Ever the Same explores the history of that period, the immutable foibles of human nature and the exploitation of females-freeborn or slave-whose roles were systematically restricted to pleasuring men and producing offspring.

Antonius, a young cavalry officer, escorts Ursa, a fair-haired warrior-princess whose Teutonic tribe has been enslaved, to Rome. They fall in love en route, but she is forced to wed a lecherous, middle-aged senator from Pompeii who requires a male heir. Now living in the shadow of treacherous Mount Vesuvius, the contrast between denigrating Roman attitudes toward females and those of her respectful Teutonic tribe drives her to desperation. When she finds herself pregnant with Antonius's child, she and her maidservant hatch a daring plan to shield it from the vengeance of her still unsuspecting husband.

About the Author

Ursula Strauss is a practicing psychotherapist and motivational speaker. She has taught psychology at several higher institutions and lectured as far away as Kyoto, Japan, and Taipei, Taiwan. Her innovative Mobile Psychological Services won international acclaim and was featured on The Today Show. An actress by avocation, she has played in and directed many productions in New York's community theater. Dr. Strauss's psychological expertise and considerable thespian experience have combined to create the realistically-flawed characters and animated dialogue of Ever the Same, with an intriguing plot that is set in the author's favorite historical period, Imperial Rome of the First Century AD.

Ever the Same: (Semper Eadem) is a 140-page paperback with a retail price of $16.00. The ISBN is 978-1-4349-7334-4. It was published by RoseDog Books of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more information or to request a review copy, please visit our virtual pressroom at www.rosedog.com/pressroom or our online bookstore at www.rosedogbookstore.com.