The author of the bestselling Leonardo’s Swans traverses the centuries into the hearts of two extraordinary women to reveal the passions, ambitions, and controversies surrounding the Elgin Marbles.
The Elgin Marbles have been displayed in the British Museum for nearly two hundred years, and for just as long they have been the center of a raging controversy. In Stealing Athena, Karen Essex chronicles the Marbles’ amazing journey through the dynamic narratives of Mary Nisbet, wife of the Earl of Elgin, the British ambassador to Constantinople, and Aspasia, the mistress of Perikles, the most powerful man in Athens during that city’s Golden Age. At the height of the Napoleonic Wars, the twenty-one-year-old, newly wed Countess of Elgin, a Scottish heiress and celebrated beauty, enchanted the power brokers of the Ottoman Empire, using her charms to obtain their permission for her husband’s audacious plan to deconstruct the Parthenon and bring its magnificent sculptures to England. Two millennia earlier, Aspasia, a female philosopher and courtesan, and a central figure in Athenian life, plied her wits, allure, and influence with equal determination, standing with Perikles at the center of vehement opposition to his vision of building the most exquisite monuments the world had ever seen. Rich in romance and intrigue, greed and glory, Stealing Athena is an enthralling work of historical fiction and a window into the intimate lives of some of history’s most influential and fascinating women.
Reviews:
Rebecca (USA: NM) (2008/08/20): Stealing Athena is a wonderful historical novel about two relatively unknown women from completely separate time periods. Mary Nisbet and Aspasia of Miletus may have lived more than 2200 years apart, but Karen Essex’s new book shows the similarities between them, both in their lives and in their personalities. A slightly larger portion of the book is from Mary’s point of view, and we are first introduced to Aspasia when Mary begins reading Plutarch’s Life of Pericles. Aspasia was the lover of Pericles, who commissioned the Parthenon Marbles. Mary’s life became forever intertwined with the Elgin Marbles, as they are also known, when her husband, Lord Elgin, set out on his quest to ‘rescue’ the marbles from Athens for the glory of Britain. Stealing Athena spans the entirety of Mary’s marriage to Lord Elgin, including the years it took to obtain the Parthenon Marbles, and parts of Aspasia’s life with Pericles. Essex’s book gives very interesting insights in the women’s relationships and how they assist their partners in their endeavors, despite the prejudices against women in both eras. We also are given a window into the cultures and beliefs of their society, which made it easy to understand what motivated them and their peers. Overall, it is a great book to read, for either the relationships and character dynamics, or for the historical settings and culture. I personally believe if you like historical fiction or character driven novels, you’ll love this book.
