Review + Giveaway - Eromenos by Melanie McDonald

Last Thursday we enjoyed a visit and guest post from Eromenos author Melanie McDonald.  Today I am sharing my thoughts on the book and will be hosting a giveaway.

TITLE:    Eromenos

AUTHOR:    Melanie McDonald
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 158 pages
PUBLISHED:   Seriously Good Books, 2011
SOURCE:   Received from Author for Review and Book Tour

FROM GOODREADS:    Eros and Thanatos converge in the story of a glorious youth, an untimely death, and an imperial love affair that gives rise to the last pagan god of antiquity. In this coming-of-age novel set in the second century AD, Antinous of Bithynia, a Greek youth from Asia Minor, recounts his seven-year affair with Hadrian, fourteenth emperor of Rome. In a partnership more intimate than Hadrian's sanctioned political marriage to Sabina, Antinous captivates the most powerful ruler on earth both in life and after death.

This version of the affair between the emperor and his beloved ephebe vindicates the youth scorned by early Christian church fathers as a "shameless and scandalous boy" and "sordid and loathsome instrument of his master's lust." EROMENOS envisions the personal history of the young man who achieved apotheosis as a pagan god of antiquity, whose cult of worship lasted for hundreds of years—far longer than the cult of the emperor Hadrian.

In EROMENOS, the young man Antinous, whose beautiful image still may be found in works of art in museums around the world, finds a voice of his own at last.

MY TAKE:   I wasn't really sure what to expect when I agreed to review this book.  Hadrian is a historical figure that I had heard of before, but I wasn't familiar with his personal story or that of his beloved Antinous.  The fact that this is in actuality a love story piqued my interest and made me want to find out more.  Especially when I read that a grief-stricken Hadrian had immortalized Antinous and literally put him up on a pedestal next to his own.
I learned a lot about Hadrian and the times he lived in.  This story is about a powerful man and the boy he loved. The young and attractive Antinous caught the great emperor's attention at a very early age.  Extra opportunities and advantages were bestowed upon Antinous, including an excellent education.  Hadrian enjoyed quick minds as well as youthful beauty and was grooming Antinous to be his companion or courtesan, if you please.  
Told from Antinous' point of view as he looks back over his brief life, it shares the details of a close relationship that is doomed because of the society they live in, the expectations that are put upon them and the simple fact that the wheel of time turns.  Melanie McDonald has given Antinous a voice to tell his story in his own way.  I enjoyed seeing the Romans through his eyes and seeing how the different levels of society lived and were treated by each other.  It truly is a story of love between two people that are at different stages in their lives and on two completely different Socioeconomic levels. 
One of the things that really jumped out at me was the author's attention to detail.  It is very obvious that she put a lot of research into the time period and what was normal for both the upper and lower classes.  I was amazed when the dishes of one of the feasts were being listed and it included hummingbird!  I was horrified to think of the little beauties that come to my window every day being in a dish.  But then my logical side took over and I started wondering about who would have to catch the little hummers, pluck them, clean them, etc.  I started feeling sorry for that person.  Can you imagine having that task?  Especially since the birds would barely be a mouthful for all of that effort...  (Be sure to read Melanie's guest post about Food and Feasts in Ancient Rome).
I do recommend this book to those who enjoy a fresh look at an important time and person.  It's a much more intimate and personal look into the story of a larger-than-life man in Rome's history.  The author does a beautiful job of sharing a poignant and tragic tale that will stay with you long after you've finished reading the book.  There is also a helpful section at the end of the book with questions for reader's groups or book clubs.   

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

To get your own copy, try:  Amazon, The Book Depository, Barnes & Noble

The author is generously offering one copy of Eromenos to one lucky winner here at One Book Shy!  The contest is open INTERNATIONALLY to readers 13 years of age or older.  To enter just leave a comment with your email address.  Tell us if you've ever heard of Antinous before now.  Drawing will close at midnight PST Friday, September 9th.  Winner will have 48 hours to respond to notification.

Thank you Melanie and Amy for including One Book Shy as a tour stop for Eromenos. 

You can also read what others on the tour have to say about this original and entertaining story by visiting the Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours site.
 Eromenos



~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Guest Post - Eromenos author Melanie McDonald with Food and Feasts in Ancient Rome

Today I am excited to welcome Melanie McDonald to One Book Shy.  She is currently on tour with her new historical fiction "Eromenos".

Melanie is stopping by today to talk to us about one of my favorite topics:  Food!  Take it away Melanie...
Food and Feasts in Ancient RomeBy Melanie McDonald
Julie, thank you so much for hosting me today at One Book Shy of a Full Shelf!
One of the most fascinating research topics for Eromenos involved food: What foods were available, how those foods were prepared, and how members of the imperial court ate, especially in comparison with the citizens in the street—all of this gastronomic information provided insight into what daily life was like in second-century Rome.
The Roman Empire had attained its zenith of wealth and power during the reign of Hadrian, the fourteenth emperor, and the Roman marketplace reflected this wide-flung dominion in the range and price of delicacies to be found in the stalls of Trajan’s Forum, including cheeses, olives and olive oil, herbs, fruits, nuts, honey, wine, fish sauce, fresh fish, smoked and dried fish, eels, shellfish, poultry, game, meats, sausages, and fresh baked bread. (Egypt served as the source of Imperial Rome’s breadbasket, providing about eight tons of grain per week to meet the Empire’s needs.)
Then there were the exotic spices, used not only to enhance cooking but also to provide fragrance for luxury products such as perfumes and scented hair pomades, that were brought to Rome by spice merchants who already had established a spice route to and from Asia and the East: frankincense, myrrh, ginger, turmeric, cloves, camphor, sandalwood, cardamom, sesame, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper.
  Imperial feasts, often underwritten by rich citizens who hoped to gain favor with the emperor, might include such exotic fare as hummingbirds, thrush tongues, dormice (often honey-roasted), caviar, crayfish, snails, oysters, eels, wild game, and exotic, expensive fruits and vegetables such as peaches and artichokes. Fine wines, such as Falernian, often were served chilled, via snow brought from distant mountains at great expense to the banquet sponsors for just that purpose.
Hadrian himself, however, often passed on rich fare in order to dine more simply on grilled fish or lamb with olives and bread, such as he had eaten as a soldier.
The citizens, too, ate simpler fare. For the average citizen, a soup made with day-old bread stewed with beans and grain and topped with olive oil and herbs (a recipe that sounds quite similar to ribollita, a hearty soup still made in Italy) would have been a common daily ration. Although they did without modern conveniences such as gas and electric ranges and refrigeration, they still found many ways to both prepare and preserve their foods (meat, for example, might be salted, or even preserved by full immersion in honey).
A Roman cookbook attributed to Apicius, a gourmet who lived during the first century AD, survives today in various Latin, German, Italian and English translations, and now is available to the public online as an ebook, courtesy of Project Gutenberg. Here, just for fun, is one of the ancient Roman fish recipes still preserved in its pages:
PATINA EX SOLEIS (Sole in White Wine)
A dish of sole is thus made: Beat the sole prepare and place them in a [shallow] sauce pan, add oil, broth and wine, and poach them thus; now crush pepper, lovage, origany and add of the fish juice; then bind the sauce with raw eggs [yolks] to make a good creamy sauce of it; strain this over the sole, heat all on a slow fire [to fill it with live heat] sprinkle with pepper and serve.
(From Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome, Apicius; translator Joseph Dommers Vehling; commentator Prof. Frederick Starr; Project Gutenberg EBook #29728)
Melanie, thank you so much for this fascinating post.  It's funny that you chose to discuss the food ~ one of the things that really grabbed my attention in Eromenos was their feasts and choices of foods.  I actually mention it in my review!  I'm also tickled that you tried out the Basil and Beer Bread recipe; it's one of my favorites and I'm glad you enjoyed it too.
Readers:  be sure to check out Melanie's website and find her on Facebook.  I will be back on Monday with my review and it is quite possible there will be a GIVEAWAY....hint hint

You can also read what others on the tour have to say about this original and entertaining story by visiting the Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours site.
 Eromenos



~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.