Our book for March was Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn. I almost didn’t leave a book review, because it comes with mixed reviews. I recommended it to my book club based on a friend’s very high recommendation. Also, it’s a best seller! I didn’t think we could go wrong.
I understand why my friend liked it. The setting of first century Rome was intriguing, the author did a good job of maintaining historic accuracy including some real historic people, and it follows some strong women throughout the book. I learned a lot about the role of Domitian (the last of the really bad Emperors, and that dude was ba-a-a-a-d) as well as gladiators, the games, and how women matriculated their way through society. I didn’t realize gladiators were like our modern day athletes, and while they were technically slaves, they were revered by the community because of their position in the games. Similar to our celebrities, women would fall at their feet. Tim also filled in some information about this time period in Rome that helped me appreciate the history.
However, my book club hated it. 🥴🙄 Some of them didn’t even finish it! 😭😭 I knew they were going to be careful about revealing their honest thoughts as no one wants to hurt the feelings of the person who recommended the book. So, I started the meeting off with, “First of all, I want to apologize. I thought this would be a good book but it wasn’t.” I could see a wave of relief spread across the room, and we were all able to laugh after that 😂😂. We had previously read another novel by Kate Quinn (The Rose Code), and it was absolutely wonderful! So, we were all disappointed to say the least.
The story follows two women primarily, Thea, a slave girl from Judaea, who was purchased as somewhat of a “pet” for Lepida Pollia, who is a spoiled socialite and daughter of the creator of the games. They attend the games on a regular basis, and Thea has to answer all of Lepida’s whims. One thinks they might mature and become friends, but that is not in the cards. Thea falls in love with a gladiator who becomes the best and most well known. He continues to win because of his obsession with killing. Lepida is jealous, because she wants him for herself, so she sells Thea to a brothel and tears them apart.
There were a lot of graphic descriptions about the games, how (specifically) gladiators would kill, with all the blood and gore, and I think this is primarily what turned off our readers. The crowds would cheer with each death, more loudly when more gruesome, and there did not seem to be any remorse to the killings. I was aware of Christians being thrown out to the lions, which was also discussed in the book. I felt like I had a front row seat to what the early Christians endured, and a glimpse into the suffering Christians experience in other parts of our world even today. While hard to read, I was glad to experience a greater understanding of their hardship.
It was a very depraved society in so many ways. In addition to the blood and gore, women in first century Rome were basically sex objects, so they used their bodies as a means to advance themselves in society. There were descriptions of some of the sexual exploits, orgies, prostitution, and other conniving actions of women, especially those of Lepida. Again, the author was true to historic first century Rome, but it just wasn’t a “feel-good” book.
One member said she finally ran into a character (Lepida) she actually hates. I felt the same way. Lepida was so conniving and had only one mission in mind, to become the Emperor’s mistress. She would stop at nothing to fulfill that mission. I didn’t care for this book overall. I found it hard to pick it up after the first page which finds Thea self-mutilating into a blue bowl, but I did finish it. This just goes to show that not every book is for every person. Authors of all types are needed. Some people love this book–it is a best-seller–while others are put-off by it.
We had some fun discussing the book and laughed about our feelings, but everyone agreed they would not read any more books in this series. This is now the second book I have recommended that my book club didn’t care for. I have decided to buy a book and read it first before I make my recommendation next time. 😂😂 Here are the notes from our book club meeting.
Eight of us gathered this afternoon to discuss Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn. We all giggled about this book because we were so disappointed in this Kate Quinn novel especially after reading The Rose Code in January of 2022. Lisa couldn’t finish it which she always finishes a book. We all agreed that it was a struggle to get through and found the book a lot like the movie “Gladiator”. We thought it gory, abusive even though it was during the Gladiator times. We did appreciate that some of the characters were real and her research in this book. We rated the book a 4.5.
À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!
À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!
