This shrewdly plotted thriller from Thomas (author of the Detective Rachel Storme series, among others) grips with cliffhangers, thrills, and smart suspense until the final pages, with a Secrets bind them together: In 2019, Pamela Carter is interning for the Fortune 500 company, Clifford Investments, a dream she’s had since she was a young girl moving to California-but not simply to build up her resume. Takeaway: An immersive time-travel epic of politics in Bronze Age Florence.Ĭomparable Titles: Conn Iggulden, Mary Renault. Still, the twists and surprises (including much ado over Claire’s menstrual cycles) will reward patient readers of serious historical fiction with a touch of the fantastic. The book’s long, demanding commitment, and the choice to keep much of Claire’s backstory a mystery-her plans and feelings about her plight feel distant -may test that resolve for many readers. The story bursts with scheming, sieges, debates, and portents, all vividly evoked, but the pacing’s more thoughtful than potboiler. Maidman steeps readers in the era with thrilling oratorical dialogue, rich historical detail, finely tuned prose, and a commitment to the textures of ancient life. These include a high priest who sees her arrival as “an invasion by a foreign god” Cleon and Barbarossa Constantine, disgusted at the ascent of “alley rat” Marcus and most memorably Lady Vara, of the marvelously barbed tongue. Fail, and he most likely dies”-to the fortunes of Ambrosius’s reign, and the bulk of the novel concerns the politics of Florence, as Claire faces the city’s brutal ways, factionalism, and a brace of memorable adversaries with complex motives. Maidman ties Claire’s uncertain fate-“Do well, and Ambrosius may get you home. First, though, she must winter in Florence, where King Ambrosius, her apparent ally, faces political unrest.
Soon, she’s ushered in an uneasy peace, while Marcus Irenaeus and his Thousand-the soldiers loyal to him-vow to return her to her distant home, Zanzibar. “Sons of Florence and sons of Genova, send for your kings,” she declares. But Claire, unlike many fictional time travelers, immediately understands her situation-and her power. Yes, when student Claire, attempting a thesis project, somehow emerges from a golden palanquin in the past, in the midst of a Bronze Age battle between the armies of Florence and Genova, she quickly encounters a handsome, street-smart warrior, Marcus Irenaeus, who dedicates himself to her protection. This historical time-travel epic from Maidman ( Theseus: Vincent Desiderio on Art) immediately upends genre expectations.
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