Matt

Better than Hild!

Revisado: 10-23-23

This was everything that Hild was, and so much more. Like Hild, it’s slow fiction. And by that I don’t mean there isn’t tonnes of thrilling action, just that Griffith takes her beautiful, lyrical time with her characters, their inner world and especially the beautiful, plant and animal and water filled world their lives play out in.

More than Hild, there is a delightful sense of building something great, of deep planning and reaping its rewards. There is a rags to riches element that was deeply satisfying.

If you loved Hild, you’re in for a wonderful treat. I can’t wait for more.

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Impossible to be more disappointed

Revisado: 04-27-23

I really wanted to love this book. Waited for years for it to be available in Canada on audiobook. I’ve never left a book review - this book was so bad, I feel so ripped off, that I wanted to spare others from the lost time spent reading it.

Don’t get me wrong, everything about this book seemed excellent to me. Ancient Roman resort town, the stories of marginalized women, a rags to riches tale. I’m a lover of historical fiction and read it almost exclusively.

It was all for naught. The story itself was dull beyond imagining. Virtually nothing happened. I don’t actually need much drama if characterization and setting are compelling. They were not. No drama, no character development, dull, inconsequential, unbelievable dialogue, a complete absence of descriptive detail. When two major characters were killed off, I felt absolutely no emotional response.

The research into the time and place was virtually nonexistent existent. This was set in pre-eruption Pompeii, but could just as easily have been in a small town in Idaho or on a colony on the other side of the galaxy. There were too many anachronisms to list them all, but perhaps the most disappointing was the presence of two Spanish speaking Spanish dancers. Spanish speakers from Spain in 79 CE? Seriously Elodie Harper?

The lack of research underscores the author’s disdain for her readers. Simple facts are repeated constantly, as if us dim readers couldn’t possibly remember anything we’d read previously.

The narration was flat and uninspired, filled with mispronunciation, and did nothing to elevate the middling prose.

This book is simple, factual inaccurate, a n offence to anyone who loves literary historical fiction or accuracy in historical fiction. I can’t for the life of me understand how it garnered so much buzz in its prerelease. I’m going to return it was relish as soon as I submit this review. I suggest you save yourself the anguish and just skip it.

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Beautiful, lyrical, absolutely perfect.

Revisado: 04-23-22

Like all Griffith’s books, this was absolutely stellar. The lilt of the language was transporting, and the characterization brilliant.

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Love the narration.

Revisado: 11-02-20

Wonderful story, beautiful narration. To the Americans complaining about pronunciation of Aquitaine, you’re wrong. Scarfe’s pronunciation is way closer to the correct French than is your own.

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Great info, irritating narrator.

Revisado: 12-16-19

I’ll admit, I’m partial to a British accented narrator. I found the narrator rather obnoxious, but ultimately got over it. The book itself is splendid and worth slogging through the casual tone and strange voice acting.

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As good as the rest of Elizabeth Fremantle’s work

Revisado: 08-13-18

I love all of this intelligent author’s work and while this one is less court drama and more thriller, it’s as immersive and filled with historical detail as the others. If you’re looking for Elizabethan/Stuart era literary fiction, look no further. Thrilling, complex, readable. 5 stars without a doubt.

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