[KRG]⇒ PDF Gratis Stealing Athena A Novel Karen Essex 9780385519717 Books

Stealing Athena A Novel Karen Essex 9780385519717 Books

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Stealing Athena A Novel Karen Essex 9780385519717 Books

This is a double novel; a story of two strong women, Mary Elgin in the 19th Century and Aspasia in the 5th Century B. C. One was the wife of an ambassador to Turkey in Istanbul and the other a consort of Pericles in Ancient Greece. One will observe the marble friezes of the Parthenon being taken down and the other will watch the friezes of the Parthenon being raised into position. Inside of this majestic building and inside of each woman, the ferocious spirit of the goddess Athena throbs.

Mary is riding the chariot of Phaeton and is slammed to its deck by a lightning bolt of Athena's father Zeus as the novel lurches into action in its first paragraph. We know immediately we are in for a tumultuous ride of classical proportions, even before we meet the fiery wench that Alcibiades is taking to Pericles. Aspasia was to be Pericles' wife, but by the time Alcibiades arrives with the Miletus woman, he discovers that Pericles has passed a law to forbid the marriage of Athenians to foreigners. But Pericles takes her into his confidence and his heart anyway. How could he not? He discovers that her teacher Thales of Miletus was as clever as his own.

Later Pericles and Aspasia walk toward the Parthenon and we catch a glimpse of the huge temple to Athena in the process of construction. And we hear an ominous warning from Pericles to anyone who would dare to steal Athena's treasures from her temple.

Mary Elgin, some 2400 years later, visits the same temple to watch as her husband, Lord Elgin, steals Athena's treasures to transport them to a museum in London. One wonders what fate awaits the modern day plunderer of Athena's temple. His plunder has the goal of preservation of Athena's treasures by saving them from being pulverized to recover the lead which holds them together to make bullets and turn the limestore into cement for homes. The Turks who govern the land of Greece care little about preserving the antiquities in situ and are willing to allow Lord Elgin to remove whatever he wishes. Will this goal of saving the antiquities sit well with the goddess Athena or will she interpret it as an act of destruction?

Will the new Parthenon Museum in Athens, Greece, retrieve from the British Museum the precious objects that Lord Elgin saved from being turned into bullets and concrete by Greek peasants. Inquiring minds want to know and can read the rest of my review in DIGESTWORLD ISSUE#088 by me, Bobby Matherne


Tags : Stealing Athena: A Novel [Karen Essex] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The author of the bestselling Leonardo’s Swans </i>traverses the centuries into the hearts of two extraordinary women to reveal the passions,Karen Essex,Stealing Athena: A Novel,Doubleday,0385519710,Biographical fiction.,Elgin marbles;Fiction.,Greece;History;Athenian supremacy, 479-431 B.C.;Fiction.,1765-1815,1777-1855,American Historical Fiction,Elgin marbles,Ferguson, Mary Nisbet,,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction Literary,Hamilton, Emma,,Lady,,Literary

Stealing Athena A Novel Karen Essex 9780385519717 Books Reviews

I really enjoyed this book which provided a glimpse into ancient times and the 18th Century when they were excavating the Greek ruins. I learned more about the building of the monuments and their creators than I had ever known before. One must compliment tha author for her extensive research. In addition, the storyline was entertaining and provoking. The comparison of life, especially for women, from the two periods was a revealing insight. It certainly makes one appreciate the strides made throughout history toward equality of the sexes. I enjoyed and appreciate this book very much!
For the first chapter or so, Stealing Athena threatens to be a bodice ripper. But hang in there and it quickly becomes a very compelling tale of the beautiful and wealthy Mary Nisbet, who marries Lord Elgin and follows him to Constantinople, where he is to be ambassador for several years. Lord Elgin is also using his rich young wife and her parents to fund his project to excavate Greek antiquities and works of art from the Parthenon either in order to save them, or in order to secure his own place in history, or possibly both. In Karen Essex' capable hands Lord Elgin's intentions are wonderfully ambiguous until the very end of the novel. Until then, the early 19th century comes alive in all of its wonderful detail -- the politics, the social scandals, the food, the fashion, interior design, social norms and the proper role of women, family law rights, etc., in several different locales London, Scotland, Constantinople, Athens, and Paris, in particular. Essex has also done the same for ancient Athens in the time of Perikles, through the voice of Aspasia, Perikles' courtesan who is his wife in all but name.

The two tales are interspersed, although a great deal more time is spent on the Elgins than on Perikles and Aspasia, and there is very little to tie the two stories together other than the fact that Lady Elgin reads Aspasia's name in a history of Perikles. Both Lady Elgin and Aspasia are women who work on their husband's behalf and achieve infamy and scandal as a result. Although the similarities between the two women are made apparent, there really isn't anything to tie them together other than that Aspasia was there when the Parthenon was going up, and Lady Elgin is there when her husband takes it down. It's one of the few weak points in the book that the two stories are not more and better tied together, especially since both time periods have been magnificently researched and both come alive with vibrant writing. This book falls just shy of a full five star rating for its somewhat modern, feminist tone toward the end, which is hammered home rather hard when it really doesn't need to be - the facts speak for themselves quite well. But the book achieves its goal of making the world of these two women come alive in all respects and making you care about the two of them greatly. Details of the artworks themselves are copious, but not overwhelming and never boring. The Turks and the Parisians get plenty of attention, as do the medical ills of the day and the rights women had (or more often didn't have) in both Britain and Turkey. This is one of the better historical novels I've read in quite some time. It makes you want to know more about the period and to go take another look at those Elgin/Parthenon marbles in the British Museum. And it makes you care about what happens to its protagonists. A very satisfying read.
Being Greek and wanting to see the Elgin Marbles returned to Athens, where they belong, I may be a bit biased in my review. I did enjoy this book and have recommended it to friends but it does get a bit slow at times. However, the author did her research and brought to life historical characters that are not well known today (sadly), so kudos for that. I really liked the way the book moved from one century to the other and character development was good. Without giving anything away, read this book if you're interested in how and why the Acropolis was built, what Greece was like under the Ottoman occupation and who Lord Elgin was and how he came about being one of the most despised men of the Greeks in regards to the Marbles. Spoiler alert it wasn't just the Greeks that didn't like him!...
This is a double novel; a story of two strong women, Mary Elgin in the 19th Century and Aspasia in the 5th Century B. C. One was the wife of an ambassador to Turkey in Istanbul and the other a consort of Pericles in Ancient Greece. One will observe the marble friezes of the Parthenon being taken down and the other will watch the friezes of the Parthenon being raised into position. Inside of this majestic building and inside of each woman, the ferocious spirit of the goddess Athena throbs.

Mary is riding the chariot of Phaeton and is slammed to its deck by a lightning bolt of Athena's father Zeus as the novel lurches into action in its first paragraph. We know immediately we are in for a tumultuous ride of classical proportions, even before we meet the fiery wench that Alcibiades is taking to Pericles. Aspasia was to be Pericles' wife, but by the time Alcibiades arrives with the Miletus woman, he discovers that Pericles has passed a law to forbid the marriage of Athenians to foreigners. But Pericles takes her into his confidence and his heart anyway. How could he not? He discovers that her teacher Thales of Miletus was as clever as his own.

Later Pericles and Aspasia walk toward the Parthenon and we catch a glimpse of the huge temple to Athena in the process of construction. And we hear an ominous warning from Pericles to anyone who would dare to steal Athena's treasures from her temple.

Mary Elgin, some 2400 years later, visits the same temple to watch as her husband, Lord Elgin, steals Athena's treasures to transport them to a museum in London. One wonders what fate awaits the modern day plunderer of Athena's temple. His plunder has the goal of preservation of Athena's treasures by saving them from being pulverized to recover the lead which holds them together to make bullets and turn the limestore into cement for homes. The Turks who govern the land of Greece care little about preserving the antiquities in situ and are willing to allow Lord Elgin to remove whatever he wishes. Will this goal of saving the antiquities sit well with the goddess Athena or will she interpret it as an act of destruction?

Will the new Parthenon Museum in Athens, Greece, retrieve from the British Museum the precious objects that Lord Elgin saved from being turned into bullets and concrete by Greek peasants. Inquiring minds want to know and can read the rest of my review in DIGESTWORLD ISSUE#088 by me, Bobby Matherne