thou shalt present me as an eunuch to him
a review of The Beacon at Alexandria
http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=26676
It's funny--this book is one of my beloveds, but I almost never remember to include it when I list them for other people. And it's definitely my favorite of Gillian Bradshaw's novels (though Island of Ghosts, set in Roman Britain, is a very close second). I found this book--or it found me--in my high-school library, and I read it breathlessly over two days, returned it--and then checked it out again later that week and read it all over again.
If you've been reading this journal for any time at all, it won't feel like a surprise that the heroine of this novel (Charis, who wants to be a doctor) disguises herself as a eunuch and runs away to Alexandria to study medicine (though I swear I read this before I read Twelfth Night!). But it's far too late for me to say anything coherent about this book, so you should read the review. What I will say is that one of the things I love about Gillian Bradshaw is that she frequently writes about those places where the various bits and cultures of the empire jostle and rub elbows, and about the late empire as well--in this novel, about the crumbling of the empire, all Rome's efficiency being overrun. (I sympathize with the Romans even when I think I shouldn't, and if part of that is due to reading all that Latin during my formative high school years--it's much harder to dislike a people once you've read their poetry--a larger part of it is probably from this book.)
It's probably time for another Gillian Bradshaw binge, come to think of it: it must have been years since the last one--and a friend just bought me one of her novels that I hadn't ordered for myself yet... The last novel of hers I read was something of a disappointment, and I haven't been able to get my hands on her *very* latest novel yet. But this one will always have a special place in my heart.
http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=26676
It's funny--this book is one of my beloveds, but I almost never remember to include it when I list them for other people. And it's definitely my favorite of Gillian Bradshaw's novels (though Island of Ghosts, set in Roman Britain, is a very close second). I found this book--or it found me--in my high-school library, and I read it breathlessly over two days, returned it--and then checked it out again later that week and read it all over again.
If you've been reading this journal for any time at all, it won't feel like a surprise that the heroine of this novel (Charis, who wants to be a doctor) disguises herself as a eunuch and runs away to Alexandria to study medicine (though I swear I read this before I read Twelfth Night!). But it's far too late for me to say anything coherent about this book, so you should read the review. What I will say is that one of the things I love about Gillian Bradshaw is that she frequently writes about those places where the various bits and cultures of the empire jostle and rub elbows, and about the late empire as well--in this novel, about the crumbling of the empire, all Rome's efficiency being overrun. (I sympathize with the Romans even when I think I shouldn't, and if part of that is due to reading all that Latin during my formative high school years--it's much harder to dislike a people once you've read their poetry--a larger part of it is probably from this book.)
It's probably time for another Gillian Bradshaw binge, come to think of it: it must have been years since the last one--and a friend just bought me one of her novels that I hadn't ordered for myself yet... The last novel of hers I read was something of a disappointment, and I haven't been able to get my hands on her *very* latest novel yet. But this one will always have a special place in my heart.