About the book: 2005 / Starting with the books "The Memory of Abraham" (1983, Livre Inter Prize) and "The Khazar Wind" (2001), Marek Alter continues his work as a conductor of memory. The novel “Leila” ends the trilogy “Biblical Heroines”. In 397 BC in Susa, the magnificent capital of the Persian Empire, where the Jewish people lived in exile, young Leila awaits the promised happiness: she must marry Antinous, a brilliant Persian warrior close to the throne. But Ezra, her beloved brother, resists marriage with a non-Christian. If Leila does not give in, she will have to forget about her brother forever. She cannot decide on this, especially since her premonition tells her: Ezra was chosen by God, his destiny is to lead the Jews to Jerusalem and carry through centuries and spaces the living laws of Moses. Those laws that protect the beautiful idea of ​​justice and give meaning to human destinies. In comparison, what is her love for Antinous worth? Turning away from the cloudless future prepared for her, Leila convinces her brother to set foot on the road to Jerusalem and realizes the unimaginable hope of returning to the Promised Land. The novel “Leila” ends the trilogy “Biblical Heroines”. Sarah, the barren wife of Abraham, cried out to the Lord with her entire personal destiny. Zipporah, Moses' wife, fought against racism and ostracism. Revolting against religious extremism, the first victims of which were women, Leila defended the great principle of human dignity.