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A.D. 62: Pompeii, by Rebecca East
Mar. 5th, 2007 04:46 pmStrangely enough, I liked A.D. 62: Pompeii far better than my previous read, Ruler of the Realm (even though the latter has much more polished prose). At least in this book, the characterization is good and the plot is compelling. The basic premise: Miranda, a shy and reclusive Harvard professor, travels back in time to Pompeii during the time of the Roman Empire. She ends up being sold as a slave into the household of Marcus Tullius.
I have a rather morbid fascination with slavery and unequal-relationship themes, so I'd had my eye on this book for a while. In a sense, I began the book with very high expectations, and Rebecca East failed to meet all but one of them (the exception ). The prose is clunky--I kept having the urge to whip out a red pen--and the author apparently hasn't heard of the age-old advice "show, don't tell." Description is presented in heavy historical blocks, and I really hated how the first-person narrator kept hinting at knowledge kept from the reader. If you're proud of a plot point, fine, but don't point it out five times at the end of every earlier chapter. Also, the entire thing stinks of wish fulfillment.
Oh yeah, and the cover is really ugly.
But despite all of these drawbacks, I found the novel difficult to put down. I can forgive the novice mistakes since the writer is actually a university professor and amateur archeologist, more interested in the historical than the fictional. The plot is interesting, even if I continually thought of how I could write/edit it better. And the characterization is really not bad.
Maybe it's just my bias toward slave stories, but I think this book is worth the price, especially if you are aspiring to write in the historical fiction genre--you'll see what works and what doesn't work, for one. It did garner Tamora Pierce's recommendation, so I can't be completely insane. Anyway, if you're interested, the companion website www.rebecca-east.com has links to probably more detailed reviews and other information.
I have a rather morbid fascination with slavery and unequal-relationship themes, so I'd had my eye on this book for a while. In a sense, I began the book with very high expectations, and Rebecca East failed to meet all but one of them (the exception ). The prose is clunky--I kept having the urge to whip out a red pen--and the author apparently hasn't heard of the age-old advice "show, don't tell." Description is presented in heavy historical blocks, and I really hated how the first-person narrator kept hinting at knowledge kept from the reader. If you're proud of a plot point, fine, but don't point it out five times at the end of every earlier chapter. Also, the entire thing stinks of wish fulfillment.
Oh yeah, and the cover is really ugly.
But despite all of these drawbacks, I found the novel difficult to put down. I can forgive the novice mistakes since the writer is actually a university professor and amateur archeologist, more interested in the historical than the fictional. The plot is interesting, even if I continually thought of how I could write/edit it better. And the characterization is really not bad.
Maybe it's just my bias toward slave stories, but I think this book is worth the price, especially if you are aspiring to write in the historical fiction genre--you'll see what works and what doesn't work, for one. It did garner Tamora Pierce's recommendation, so I can't be completely insane. Anyway, if you're interested, the companion website www.rebecca-east.com has links to probably more detailed reviews and other information.
