Stealing Athena by Karen Essex
Captivating!
Stealing Athena is about two influential and custom defying women in history. Both caught between the conventions of their time and trying to help the men they loved.
At 21, newlywed, Mary, the countess of Elgin used her charm and influence with the Ottoman Empire to gain permission for her husband Elgin to deconstruct what was left of the Greek Parthenon and bring it's amazing sculptures back to England, during the Napoleonic wars.
Two millennia earlier, Aspasia, courtesan to Perikles and philosopher, used her charm and influence to get Athens to allow the building of the Parthenon and all of its amazing monuments.
The flow of the book going from one time and place to the other was weaved in perfect synchronization by Karen Essex. Her descriptions of both the construction and deconstruction of the Parthenon made me feeling like I was there, witnessing it for myself. Essex poet pose made me race through the pages, but not wanting the book to end.
This is historical fiction at its finest! Highly recommended!
5/5
Thanks to Adrienne C. Sparks of Doubleday for a copy of this book!
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I'm glad you liked this! I thought it was really good and plan of reading her book "Leonardo's Swans" for the Art History Challenge.
Lezlie
Lezlie said... January 28, 2009 at 2:37 PM
Lezlie, I really enjoyed Leonardo's Swans but not near as much as I loved this. I'll be interested to see what you think.
Teddy Rose said... January 28, 2009 at 3:29 PM
This sounds really neat. I saw the Elgin marbles in London -- amazing how some of the ancient structures were dismantled and brought back to the west!
This one might fit right into the art history challenge. Thanks for the review.
Beth F said... January 29, 2009 at 4:02 AM
I really enjoyed this one too! I have Leonardo's Swans on my TBR pile, but I'm not sure when I'll get to it. Maybe in a few months!
Anonymous said... January 29, 2009 at 4:56 AM
Sounds like a great book, Teddy! I love the idea of telling the stories of the building and deconstructing of the Greek Parthenon, intermittently. I'm putting this one on my "someday" list.
Wanda said... January 29, 2009 at 9:10 AM
Sounds like a very interesting book, Teddy, and I will definitely keep it in mind.
Gayla
Anonymous said... January 29, 2009 at 10:48 AM
Beth, that's so cool that you saw the marbles. I find it so amazing that they were able to move all of the heavy marbles back in the days before craines. LOL! I think that this would fit the bill nicely for the Art history challenge.
Meghan, I think you will like Leonardo's Swans, it just isn't as good as Stealing Athena. I look forward to reading your thoughts.
Wanda, I think you will really like it. There were parts of the book that I didn't cover in my review because I didn't want to include spoilers.
Gayla, I really think that you would like it.
Teddy Rose said... January 29, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Sounds like an awesome book Teddy. Glad you liked it so much. It's already on my wish list.
Darlene said... January 29, 2009 at 11:48 AM
I am awarding you with a "My blog is Fabulous Award"
http://tinyurl.com/cf97px
Enjoy :)
sally906 said... January 29, 2009 at 12:18 PM
I really like this sound of this! And I've been craving some good historical fiction lately.
Ana S. said... January 29, 2009 at 2:49 PM
I really need to read this! Nice to see you recommend it so enthusiastically
Lenore Appelhans said... January 30, 2009 at 9:23 AM
Hi Teddy Rose,
I just gave you an award - please stop by my blog to pick it up!
Kristi
http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com
Oh - and yes, I did do the header!
Anonymous said... January 30, 2009 at 5:09 PM
I loved this book, too - and bought Leonardo's Swans because of it. Hopefully I'll enjoy that one, too.
Anonymous said... January 30, 2009 at 10:13 PM
Dar, Nymeth, Lenore,
I think you will really enjoy it! I look forward to reading your thoughts.
Nymeth, I am always craving historical fiction. LOL! I think this will satisfy your craving.
Sally and Kristi,
Thanks so much for the awards! I will stop by your blogs to pick them up.
Teddy Rose said... January 30, 2009 at 10:35 PM
Carrie, I look forward to reading your thoughts on Leonardo's Swans.
Teddy Rose said... January 31, 2009 at 3:52 PM
I really want to read this one..... I enjoyed reading Leonardo's Swans with my A Touch of History club last year.
Toni said... February 1, 2009 at 11:30 PM
Toni,
I haven't heard of A touch of History. is that by Karen Essex?
I think that you will really enjoy Stealing Athena!
Teddy Rose said... February 2, 2009 at 7:23 PM
Nice review, Teddy. I love books that move back and forth between two eras. I'll be looking out for this one.
Linda in New York said... February 3, 2009 at 3:07 PM
Linda, I also I love books that move back and forth between two eras. I think that you wouild really enjoy this one.
Teddy Rose said... February 4, 2009 at 1:18 PM
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