Historical Fiction

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Hand of Isis

November 10, 2009 in Fantasy, Historical Fiction | Comment

The eldest was born in the season of planting, when the waters of the Nile had receded once more and the land lay rich and fertile, warm and muddy and waiting for the sun to quicken everything to life. She was born in one of the small rooms behind the Court of Birds, and her mother was a serving woman who cooked and cleaned, but who one day had caught Ptolemy Auletes’ eye. Her skin was honey, her eyes dark as the rich floodwaters. Her name was Iras.

The second sister was born under the clear stars of winter, while the land greened and grain ripened in the fields, when fig and peach trees nodded laden in the starry night. She was born in a great bedchamber with wide windows open to the sea, and five Greek physicians in attendance, for she was the daughter of Ptolemy Auletes’ queen, and her name was Cleopatra.

The youngest sister was born as the earth died, as the stubble of the harvest withered in the fields beneath the scorching sun. She was born beside the fountain in the Court of Birds, because her mother was a blond slave girl from Thrace, and that was where her pains took her. Water fell from the sky and misted her upturned face. Her hair was the color of tarnished bronze, and her eyes were blue as the endless Egyptian sky. Her name was Charmian.

Once, in a palace by the sea, there were three sisters. All the stories begin so.

9780316068024_154X233The Hand of Isis is a historical fantasy by Jo Graham, and easily one of the best books I have read this year. The book follows Charmian, Cleopatra’s handmaiden and half sister, as she helps Cleopatra navigate the political turmoil as she becomes the Queen of Egypt.
Being a self professed Classics nerd, I knew that after reading Black Ships I was obligated to read anything else that Ms. Graham decided to write. The Hand of Isis eclipses all other historical fantasies I have read to date.

In The Hand, the veil between mortals and the divine is very thin, and the book begins with Charmian in the Halls of Amenti, telling her story to Serapis and Isis before her heart is weighed against a feather. Thus the book switches between third and first person, always coming back to where Charmian stands in judgment.

Charmian and her half sister Iras were born of different slaves, and Charmian’s mother died in childbirth. Thus Iras’ mother raised them both, and when they begin taking lessons with Cleopatra to keep her company, they become a triumvirate, each a face of Isis: Cleopatra, mother of the World with Horus at her breast, Iras as the Lady of Amenti, and Charmian as Isis Pelagia, the Goddess of Love. Thus with their individual strengths they secure a kingdom for Cleopatra, the embodiment of Isis on earth.

Read More about Charmian!

Lavinia

June 12, 2009 in Historical Fiction | Comment

Lavinia-TP_180h

Lavinia is Ursula K. Le Guin’s take on Vergil’s second half of the Aeneid. In the epic, Lavinia, daughter of King Latinus, is a central character and catalyst for events; however, Vergil gives her no dialogue, only a brief mention as the most minor of characters. While we had met Creusa and the infamous Dido, Lavinia’s betrothal to Aeneas, the subsequent civil war, and their eventual marriage, is never depicted in the Aeneid, because Vergil died before it could be finished.

Le Guin finally gives Lavinia a voice in this beautifully written book about pre-Julian Rome, where people have “a strong sense of duty, order, and justice”. Because the book takes place during the early republic, the places and people have a sense of austerity, very unlike the usual decadence one associates with Rome.

The book begins with Lavinia’s childhood, her closeness with her father King Latinus, and her fear of her half mad mother Queen Amata, who has never forgiven her for surviving a plague that took her other two sons. However, King Latinus dotes on her (“You are the light of my eyes, daughter”) and thus she grows into an intelligent and pious woman, often visiting the sacred grove of Albunea, where she meets the shade of Vergil. Their conversations are so interesting; the naive maiden and the man who mysteriously foretells many events in Lavinia’s life. In fact, he tells her he is a “vates“, or soothsayer, as Lavinia does not know the meaning of  poet. Vergil’s regret, and knowledge of his impending death are always weaved into his conversations with Lavinia, and her wit and personality often come through in these one on one conversations with Vergil.

“I favor none of them.”

“Why is that?

“Why should I? Where can a man take me that is better than my father’s house? What do I want with a lesser king? Why should I serve Lares that re not my family’s Lares, the Penates of some other woman’s storerooms, the fire of a foreign hearth? Why, why is a girl brought up at home to be a woman in exile the rest of her life?”

Eventually Lavinia grows into adulthood and is promised to Turnus, King of the Rutulians. Her mother pushes for this match; whether it is because he reminder of her lost sons or perhaps because she is a little in love with him herself is never really made clear. Of course, prophesy eventually dictates that Lavinia is meant to marry a foreigner, and Turnus in his anger incites a civil war against Aeneas and his men.

Le Guin follows Vergil’s work closely; she simply fills in the areas that Vergil left sparse, and thus illuminates corners of the Aeneid that we never knew existed. This is an excellent book for those interested in the classics or historical fiction. Read another quote from Lavinia!