Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Review: Lady of the Eternal City by Kate Quinn



 Elegant, secretive Sabina may be Empress of Rome, but she still stands poised on a knife’s edge. She must keep the peace between two deadly enemies: her husband Hadrian, Rome’s brilliant and sinister Emperor; and battered warrior Vix, who is her first love. But Sabina is guardian of a deadly secret: Vix’s beautiful son Antinous has become the Emperor’s latest obsession.

Empress and Emperor, father and son will spin in a deadly dance of passion, betrayal, conspiracy, and war. As tragedy sends Hadrian spiraling into madness, Vix and Sabina form a last desperate pact to save the Empire. But ultimately, the fate of Rome lies with an untried girl, a spirited redhead who may just be the next Lady of the Eternal City…





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REVIEW

You certainly had to think fast and move even faster if you wanted to keep your head in Hadrian's Rome.  If you were a woman, an extra piece was added to the puzzle - as women were not considered to have the 'constitution' necessary to perform great military feats nor anything that required a lot of thought and reason.  Even Sabina, Hadrian's Empress could be put do death on a whim from her moody husband.

And then there's Vercingetorix.  Aren't you glad he has a nickname of Vix?  That would be a mouthful to say more than once or twice.  And this is totally not related to anything, but can you imagine having to sign that name on a check?

Lady of the Eternal City is spiced with enough empirical bits of history to make this the kind of fiction that is fast becoming a favorite of mine.  We may never know completely about the everyday lives of everyday people from times past, but it is easy to get caught up in the action on and off the battlefield in Lady due to Ms. Quinn's wonderful storytelling.  I could 'see, hear and smell' the action; it's like I was part of the story.

This is one series where I truly regret coming in at the end, as it were.  Lady reads wonderfully as a standalone, but I confess to liking being able to put words and actions into historical context.  But all that means is that I get to go back and read the previous three installments of the Empress of Rome Series.

Sister and brother historical fiction fans, your library is incomplete without at least one of Ms. Quinn's books on your shelves.

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AUTHOR INFORMATION




Kate Quinn is a native of southern California. She attended Boston University, where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance detailing the early years of the infamous Borgia clan. All have been translated into multiple languages.

Kate has succumbed to the blogging bug, and keeps a blog filled with trivia, pet peeves, and interesting facts about historical fiction. She and her husband now live in Maryland with a small black dog named Caesar, and her interests include opera, action movies, cooking, and the Boston Red Sox.

For more information visit Kate Quinn’s website and blog. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

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(Disclosure:  I received an e-copy of this book from the author and publisher, via NetGalley and HFVBT in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.)

6 comments:

  1. You made me giggle - because it did, more than once, cross my mind that "Vercingetorix" would be a pain in the butt to write on all your homework assignments. Thanks for a lovely review!

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    1. Oh thank goodness, Kate, I'm so glad I'm not the only one. I thought people would think I was silly. :p

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  2. I started this one earlier this week and yeah was thinking ahhh bummer coming in just now. I'm enjoy it though even with the cringey moments. I would NOT have done well back then I'm sure. lol

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    1. Ah, that's what the "finish the series reading challenges" are for, eh? :O)

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  3. Oh wow, it seems like this must've been a very difficult time to be a woman, and that you would need to have your wits about you to make sure everything got done in the time set for you. I couldn't imagine having to go through this myself!

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    1. I know how you feel, Olivia, the more historical fiction I read, the more I'm grateful to be living in the present. Some of the things our ancestors went through just because they were female? I'd mouth off to the wrong person for sure! *lol*

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