Very enjoyable novel shifts between Mary, wife of Lord Elgin (you know, the one who nabbed the Elgin Marbles) and Aspasia, companion to Pericles, who built the Parthenon.

I wanted more of both stories -- which I think is a good sign, and there were a few details that didn't really hang together for me, but there are two really interesting women here, treated with thought and compassion in two spots of history that haven't come across my radar much. ( )

Very boring. I love the idea of structuring a novel to highlight the parallels in the lives of two women separated by two thousand years, but Essex apparently does not have the skills to white such a novel. ( )

I stopped worrying about historical accuracy or purple prose writing @ p.100 and gave myself over to the book which was just good, old-fashioned fun. Spoiler: Lord Elgin was a shit. ( )

Now this book also promised an exciting historical adventure but lapsed so quickly into romance novel cliche that I had to put it down after only 5 pages. Drek. Sad. ( )

A fairly decent historical fiction, especially if you are interested in art. While I was not particularly impressed with the details or style, nor was the story itself overly memorable, it was a pleasant enough way to spend a few evenings before retiring. ( )