Book Review

[kenjari]

Lavinia
by Ursula K. Le Guin

This beautiful and thoughtful historical novel retells the last part of Vergil's Aeneid from the point of view of Lavinia, the Latin princess he marries when he arrives in Italy. Lavinia does not speak in the original poem, but Le Guin gives her a full inner and outer life. In the process, she also explores what it

Comments

[a_dodecahedron]

Thank you for this review! I have this book but I haven't read it yet. I also don't know much about the Aeneid other than it's long and Roman. In your opinion, should I familiarize myself with it before I read Lavinia?

[kenjari]

I don't think it's necessary to be familiar with the Aeneid beyond the absolute basics. I wasn't (except for knowing Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas), and I didn't feel lost or confused at any point.