August 1, 2024
Shepperson follows Phaedra (2022) with the story of the three women whose lives are upended by Aeneas, the son of Venus who survived the Trojan War to found the city of Rome. Shepperson introduces Aeneas, who has led the survivors of the war to Laurentum, through the eyes of Lavinia, the princess whose father betroths her to Aeneas, enraging hotheaded prince Turnus, who wants Lavinia for himself and vows to plunge that region into war. Lavinia has little interest in marrying either man, but finds she has little choice despite her political savvy and access. Her reluctance grows when she learns the fates of Creusa, the ill-fated Trojan princess who was Aeneas' first wife and great love and the mother of his son, and Dido, the Carthaginian queen who fell in love with Aeneas and tricked him into marriage to solidify her rule and keep him with her. Like Claire Heywood's The Shadow of Perseus (2023), Shepperson's second outing centers three complex, fascinating, pivotal female figures of the ancient world in a beguiling narrative.
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