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Lavinia

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About this listen

Like Spartan Helen, I caused a war. She caused hers by letting men who wanted her take her. I caused mine because I wouldn't be given, wouldn't be taken, but chose my man and my fate. The man was famous, the fate obscure; not a bad balance.

Lavinia is the daughter of the King of Latium, a victorious warrior who loves peace; she is her father's closest companion. Now of an age to wed, Lavinia's mother favours her own kinsman, King Turnus of Rutulia, handsome, heroic, everything a young girl should want. Instead, Lavinia dreams of mighty Aeneas, a man she has heard of only from a ghost of a poet, who comes to her in the gods' holy place and tells her of her future and Aeneas' past....

If she refuses to wed Turnus, Lavinia knows she will start a war - but her fate was set the moment the poet appeared to her in a dream and told her of the adventurer who fled fallen Troy, holding his son's hand and carrying his father on his back....

©2020 Ursula K. Le Guin (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group
Fantasy Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction Fiction Magic Royalty War

Critic reviews

"An exceptional combination of history and mythology - an intriguing, luxuriously realised novel." (Financial Times)

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What an amazing book. I’d heard good things about it, but wasn’t really feeling in the mood for Greek/Roman mythology so I started it feeling like it was a bit of a chore. I was so wrong! It had me gripped within the first minute!

Plot and writing were both subtle and beautiful, and it was unexpectedly refreshing to centre a woman’s perspective within the confines of ancient mythology.

Lavinia was all beautifully and emotionally read in this version. I always find this to be particularly important in ancient myth, as I suppose the stories would have been told in the oral tradition. Listening rather than reading seems appropriate!

Just brilliant!

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A slow start, but once it got going I enjoyed it thoroughly. Definitely recommended.

Great story; excellent narrator.

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