Babylonia
The instant Sunday Times bestseller and gripping mythological retelling
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4.2 • 20 Ratings
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
The Orphan Queen Who Changed the Fate of an Empire - An Addictive and Stirring Tale.
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER
‘A stirring, addictive and intoxicating tale. . . Casati’s Babylonia has cemented her as one of the most skilled and exciting writers of historical fiction’ BEA FITZGERALD, author of GIRL, GODDESS, QUEEN
'An astounding achievement, one of the most vivid, powerful works of historical fiction I have ever read. . . I was utterly swept up in the world of this novel' ELODIE HARPER, author of THE WOLF DEN
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Babylonia – the Assyrian city of the Gods – is home to the strong and ambitious.
Into its streets steps an orphan, Semiramis, new wife to a broken warrior. There she meets King Ninus - who soon wants her for himself.
Semiramis will bow to no man. For who will stand in her way? A husband? A lover?
For in this world, kings fall while queens rise.
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‘Reading Babylonia is like reading an enchantment on the page, in which the unfathomable heroines of legend and history become living people’ ANNIE GARTHWAITE, author of CECILY
PRAISE FOR CLYTEMNESTRA
'Vivid with fury, passion and strength, this is a fabulous myth retelling' JENNIFER SAINT
'A blaze of a novel, fiery and furious - and alight with murderous revenge' DAILY MAIL
'A powerhouse of a novel. Clytemnestra's rage, heartbreak and determination radiate off the page' ELODIE HARPER
'A thrilling tale of power and prophecies, and the fierce Queen who fought back at those who wronged her' COSMOPOLITAN
Instant Sunday Times bestseller, July 2024
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Casati (Clytemnestra) chronicles the ruthless rise of Assyrian queen Semiramis in this masterful saga. In 823 BCE, the Assyrian empire is in the midst of a civil war between Assur and Ninus, two opposing sons of the late King Shalmaneser. The conflict extends to Eber-Nari, the western province where Semiramis was raised by Simmas, a shepherd, after she was abandoned as an infant by her mother, who then died by suicide. The fearless and resourceful Semiramis views Shalmaneser's illegitimate son, Onnes, as a way out of her harsh life, and after framing the abusive Simmas for theft, she persuades Onnes to take her as his wife to the capital city of Kalhu. There, Semiramis continues to challenge norms, training in combat and navigating palace intrigue fomented by Ninus's mother and by a rival for power who commands the Assyrian army. Five years after Semiramis leaves Eber-Nari, the Assyrians come under threat from Babylonia, and her machinations culminate in her becoming Assyria's leader. Casati excels at depicting the stark brutality of the period, contrasting matter-of-fact descriptions of impalings and mutilations with Semiramis's determination to survive: "To die is to travel to the land of no return. She has seen that land from afar: it waits for her every time her father strikes her." No matter how much cruelty Semiramis dispenses, Casati never loses sight of what drives her heroine to achieve a status where she need not obey anyone else. Admirers of Robert Graves's Claudius novels will be riveted.
