The Aeneid is one of the most well known works in Western literature. Le Guin is one of the strongest writers of fantasy, and she is trying her hand at presenting a presentation of this Classical work.

Aeneus was a young man from Troy who fled the city as it was falling to the Greeks at the conclusion of the Trojan War. He lost his wife and child to the massacres there. He also spent 7 years roaming around the Mediterranean Sea, which was better than Odysseus from The Odyssey. He eventually found his way to Italy, where he met and married Lavinian, the daughter and only surviving child of the king of Latium, an important kingdom in the core area that will one day become Rome.

Le Guin's book presents the story of Lavinia herself, even though the character plays a very minor role in Virgil's original work. Readers get a chance to experience what it was like to be a woman at such a difficult time. Prior to Aeneus' arrival, she is being courted by a number of young suitors who hope to not only win her hand, but the future throne that will come with it.

In all honest, she is not all that keep on any of them, particularly her cousin Tarsus, who seems to be the leading contender in her mother's eyes. Fortunately, the oracles indicate she is fated to marry an unknown foreigner. It is pretty clear that man will be Aeneus, who will found what will eventually become the great Roman Empire. The only challenge is that all of that is likely to happen after a Civil War that will be caused by their marriage.

While the original epic work focuses on their brief three-year marriage and the great battles that result from it, the focus on Lavinia allows the reader to experience what it was like to be an early Roman citizen and how the civil war causes a great many challenges in everyday life and affects neighboring kingdoms like Etrusca.

The work is presented in the first person, which allows the reader to enter the mind of Lavinia, including her internal conversations with Vergil [sic] who visits her after his death in the future in order to sort through his failings in the writing of this tale, including his premature death before its completion. While he provides her a unique perspective on Lavinia's futuer and what is happening to her, she takes on a unique roles as his muse.

The writing is strong and rich. The only challenge for the reader is a need to be familiar with The Aeneid and the fact that Lavinia has a hard time focusing on the chronology of events. Tangents jerk the reader back and forth through the timeline that is her life. At the same time, it gives a wonderful, strong voice to a very minor character and her period's women, which are often given secondary status.