Judith‘s review of Beast of Caledonia by Kate Poole
In an ancient time, in an ancient land, their worlds collide. Can their love survie? Can they?
Sara is the daughter of the emperor’s legate in Caledonia, the Roman name for Scotland. Annachie is a Pictish warrior captured by her father’s soldiers and made a slave. Their friendship grows into a love neither of them can even acknowledge, much less consummate.
When her father finds them in what he things is a compromising position, he gives Annachie to a notorious slave trader and takes Sara back to Rome. Thinking that she will never see Annachie again, Sara agrees to become a Vestal Virgin. But six years later, her world is turned upside down shen the games in the Coliseum feature the renowed gladiator, the “Beast of Caledonia”–Annachie.
Only for him would Sara forsake her vow of chastity and risk her life. And when she faces the ultimate price for loving him, only Annachie may be able to save her.
Set in the historical period c. 149 AD, author Kate Poole has presented a wonderful historical romance novel that has depth and dimension only the best historical fiction can boast. The central figures are the daughter of a Roman official sent to Scotland as the emperor’s representative and a slave of the Pict peoples, ancient residents in what is now Scotland and who were ultimately absorbed by the Celts and the Scots. Their friendship began when Annachie saved a young Sara from a boar attack, and from that time on she saw in him the hero every young girl desires. As the years move on, their friendship grows into a deep and abiding love, yet there has been no physical involvement between them in spite of what Sara’s father choses to believe.
Their personal journeys take them away from each other, with Sara and Annachie believing that they will never see one another again. It is not a small miracle that Annachie is even alive six years later. By then Sara is one of the famous Vestal Virgins, young aristocratic women who are allowed to become priestesses of the goddess Vesta, and whose continued celebacy are valued as insurance of Rome’s glory. Once a girl enters the service of this goddess, marriage, love, sex are forever denied her. Sara is at peace with this choice until she realizes that Annachie is alive and in Rome as the infamous “Beast of Caledonia.”
Poole’s writing brings the reader into the complex life of the Roman Empire with its warring and subjugation of many peoples, disregard for the value of human life, violence and blood sport as entertainment, slavery as a way of life, and politics that overrides even family loyalty and love. It is a story that is set in the times of Rome when the emperor holds the fragile weight of every one of its citizens in his hand, and he easily dispatches hundreds to their deaths without a backward glance. Yet in the background is the faith of the persecuted Jews and Christians, the many groups that are seeking to live out their lives beneath and apart from the emperor’s political “radar,” and the ways creative people found to circumvent the irrevocable nature of Caesar’s edicts.
Without giving away the story I think it is safe to say that Annachie and Sara go to Hell and back before it is all over. Their lives are never far from the possibility of death and their fragile love is far stronger than anyone realizes. This is not a simple story. It is multi-layered with a plot and sub-plots, characters that move in and out of the flow of the story, and binding it all together is Sara’s and Annachie’s love. It is one of those stories that takes time to read but it is not only entertaining but instructive as well. So while the historical purists may be somewhat miffed that there is literary license taken with the context from time to time, nevertheless it is a very good book and one that historical fiction fans will enjoy. I liked this book a great deal and feel that it is one that is well worth the time taken.
I give this book a rating of 4.5 out of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.