Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin

 

Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin is a book I only recently learned was available.

Started: 5/4/2024
Completed: 5/7/2024
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is sort of a riff on a minor character in Virgil's Aeneid.  Le Guin writes strong characters and this book is full of the same.  Small details matter (like the corner of the toga being pulled over the head) and this book is lush with those details.  It is amazing to me that someone can take a passing reference and build an entire novel from it.  Clearly Le Guin was well versed in classical literature and she brings to life a character in the gritty circumstances that are more likely than Virgil's god filled hazy conception yet still true to that conception.