- Paperback: 520 pages
- Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (3 Jan 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0099286645
- ISBN-13: 978-0099286646
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 758,923 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Image Magazine
'The period detail is fascinating, rendering faithfully the energetic Europe of the 1640s.'
Sunday Telegraph
'Perfectly persuasive. I was both moved and fascinated by this story of illicit love.'
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an intelligent novel and one with an unusual love story at its centre: that between a 50 year old ex-African prince, ex-slave, now a scholar in C17th Netherlands, and the 40-something Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of James 1, sister of Charles 1, and widow of the Elector Palatine. However the story itself seems de-centred, and lacks a clear narrative pull to hold it together.
The first third focuses on Pelagius and his relationship with his ex-owner who free him and now uses him as his assistant in the work he is writing on Eastern flora. While there is much interest in the printing and publishing trade of the time, and some interesting sidelights on the characters and relationship between the two men, this reads like a prologue before the story really gets going: we keep wondering why this is all important.
The story-line of the relationship between Pelagius and Elizabeth seems very artificial: there's no sense of any social, racial, cultural gap between them, and the transition from friendship and affection to passionate love is an uncomfortbale one for me since we never see this developing. There is a hunt where Elizabeth rides a horse called Dido which flags up Stevenson's debt to Vergil's Aeneid, and while the marriage isn't consummated in a cave and has the authorisation of some of the court, the ending is still a bleak one.
The last third seems to drift loose from what has gone before with much more of a concentration on European politics.
For me, there was very little sense of the C17th although that may be because the Netherlands are much less of a known setting.
So overall I think this is an intelligent book (as we would expect it would be written by an English professor) which takes an interesting idea but doesn't manage to make me care about either the story or the characters. I finished the book and put it down - and that's it. A book that engages the head, I think, far more than the heart.
The first third focuses on Pelagius and his relationship with his ex-owner who free him and now uses him as his assistant in the work he is writing on Eastern flora. While there is much interest in the printing and publishing trade of the time, and some interesting sidelights on the characters and relationship between the two men, this reads like a prologue before the story really gets going: we keep wondering why this is all important.
The story-line of the relationship between Pelagius and Elizabeth seems very artificial: there's no sense of any social, racial, cultural gap between them, and the transition from friendship and affection to passionate love is an uncomfortbale one for me since we never see this developing. There is a hunt where Elizabeth rides a horse called Dido which flags up Stevenson's debt to Vergil's Aeneid, and while the marriage isn't consummated in a cave and has the authorisation of some of the court, the ending is still a bleak one.
The last third seems to drift loose from what has gone before with much more of a concentration on European politics.
For me, there was very little sense of the C17th although that may be because the Netherlands are much less of a known setting.
So overall I think this is an intelligent book (as we would expect it would be written by an English professor) which takes an interesting idea but doesn't manage to make me care about either the story or the characters. I finished the book and put it down - and that's it. A book that engages the head, I think, far more than the heart.
Format:Paperback
I found Astraea to be hard going at first, but as the story line progressed and grew it became very hard to put down. I finished the book happy that I had perservered through the heavy first couple of chapters to get to the real storyline. Very enjoyable it encouraged me to buy the rest of the series and I look forward to reading them all.
6 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was extremely impressed by Stevenson's writing style in this novel. Not only is the employment of English superb, but the plot is engaging and believable, and owing to the detailed descriptive language, the reader feels completely immersed in the historical and geographical setting. I very much look forward to reading the next instalment of this trilogy.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
astraea
I HAVE READ MANY, MANY BOOKS IN MY LIFE AND THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND SATISFYING OF THEM ALL....
Published on 20 May 2006 by Mrs. E. A. Boyle
Stevenson presents a sense of 'being there' in 17thc. Neth
Stevenson succeeds again in providing the ultimate entertainment with her story telling. I enjoy her work so much I can't wait for it to get to the United States, therefore, I... Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2001 by marilynsandswest@earthlink.net
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
