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Jul 02, 2019DorisWaggoner rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
If you read, or watched, "I Claudius," and loved it and the period of Roman history it's about, you'll probably enjoy this historical novel. It begins when, at 14, Livia overhears a conversation between her father and several other senators about a plot to assassinate Julius Caesar. They realize she's heard them, and suddenly her close relationship with her father becomes dangerous to her--and the plotters. She's talked into marrying a prominent military man for her family's sake--women don't get to choose their own husbands in any case. After Julius Caesar's assassination, and her marriage, she sees at a dinner party Caesar's adopted son, a stunningly beautiful and charming boy. They begin a friendship, which ends in an amicable divorce from her first husband, who agrees to give her away to the man she calls Tavia. This marriage is one of passion, ambition, and will to rule. A very different view of both Livia and her world. A page turner I kept thinking about when I was doing other things, and after finishing. An excellent first novel.