Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin, Paperback, 9780753827840 | Buy online at The Nile
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Lavinia

A compulsive, heart-breaking historical romance

Author: Ursula K. Le Guin  

An exceptional combination of history and mythology - 'an intriguing, luxuriously realised novel' FINANCIAL TIMES

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Summary

An exceptional combination of history and mythology - 'an intriguing, luxuriously realised novel' FINANCIAL TIMES

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Description

'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...

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Awards

Short-listed for British Science Fiction Association Award 2010

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Critic Reviews

“'The focus on the women's side of the house...serves to give them rightful prominence within the fabric of a society where men are second in command only to fate...Le Guin [makes] mythology tangible, exciting and a surprising joy to read.' - Scotland on Sunday.'Subtly moving, playful...a novel that brought me to tears more than once. Lavinia is a delightful heroine.' - Guardian.'Beautiful and moving...Highly recommended.' - Library Journal.'Elegant and eloquent.' - Entertainment Weekly.'Compulsively readable...a winning combination of history and mythology featuring an unlikely heroine imaginatively plucked from literary obscurity.' - Booklist.”

'The focus on the women's side of the house...serves to give them rightful prominence within the fabric of a society where men are second in command only to fate...Le Guin [makes] mythology tangible, exciting and a surprising joy to read.' - Scotland on Sunday.

'Subtly moving, playful...a novel that brought me to tears more than once. Lavinia is a delightful heroine.' - Guardian.

'Beautiful and moving...Highly recommended.' - Library Journal.

'Elegant and eloquent.' - Entertainment Weekly.

'Compulsively readable...a winning combination of history and mythology featuring an unlikely heroine imaginatively plucked from literary obscurity.' - Booklist.

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About the Author

Ursula Le Guin has won many awards, including a National Book Award, a Pushcart Prize, the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Newbery Honor and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

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More on this Book

'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...

Read more

Product Details

Publisher
Orion Publishing Co | Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Published
13th May 2010
Pages
320
ISBN
9780753827840

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