The Secrets Of Life
By (Author) Margaret Doody
Cornerstone
Arrow Books Ltd
3rd May 2004
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Historical fiction
Fiction: Traditional stories, myths and fairy tales
823.914
Paperback
528
Width 110mm, Height 178mm, Spine 32mm
278g
Murder and mystery in Ancient Athens. It is 330 B. C. The Macedonian Alexander the Great has conquered Asia Minor but now his armies are far from Athens, and those who support Athenian independence are beginning to chafe and plot against him. Foreigners, like Aristotle, and those suspected of befriending foreigners, such as Stephanos, are threatened. A series of threats persuade these two that they will be best served quitting the mainland for a while and so they both find suitable excuses- Aristotle has to transport a sick student home to Rhodos, while Stephanos must find a relative of his bride-to-be Philomela to clear up an inheritance dispute. With a varied cast of travellers they set sail across the Aegean to the sacred Isle of Delos, to Mykonos and beyond to the coast of Asia Minor. There they will soon be embroiled in investigating conspiracy and murder. But first they must survive life on the high seas where storms and piracy honour no man, least of all the greatest philosopher who has ever lived.
Well paced and memorable not only for its marvelous evocation of what it must have been like to sail the Agean 2,300 years ago, but for...breathtakingly beautiful descriptions * Times Literary Supplement *
Margaret Doody is a professor of literature at the University of Notre Dame. She is also the author of The True Story of the Novel.