A love divine Book

I read this many years ago. Remembered that I loved it--probably four stars, maybe 3.5, hard to remember now. This was the first ever historical/biblical fiction book I ever read. It put Christ into his very revolutionary time period and put into context some of the words he said--giving them a deeper meaning. But mostly it was about Joseph of Arimithea and his relationship with and love for his handicapped daughter. It combines biblical history with legend. I was absolutely entranced by this story. Lots of history. Kind of long, but wonderful if that is your thing. --Alexandra Ripley was also the person who won the writing contest that gave the opportunity to publish "Scarlett," the sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind.