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Household Gods
When a troubled housewife awakens one morning as a tavernkeeper in the Roman frontier town of Carnutum around 170 A.D., she must face plague and war in order to survive, and prosper, in her new life. 35,000 first printing.
508 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
18 people are currently reading
1189 people want to read
About the author
Judith Tarr
121 books419 followersAKA Caitlin Brennan, Kathleen Bryan.
Judith Tarr (born 1955) is an American author, best known for her fantasy books. She received her B.A. in Latin and English from Mount Holyoke College in 1976, and has an M.A. in Classics from Cambridge University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from Yale University. She taught Latin and writing at Wesleyan University from 1988-1992, and taught at the Clarion science-fiction-writing workshops in 1996 and 1999.
She raises and trains Lipizzan horses at Dancing Horse Farm, her home in Vail, Arizona. The romantic fantasies that she writes under the name Caitlin Brennan feature dancing horses modeled on those that she raises.
Judith Tarr (born 1955) is an American author, best known for her fantasy books. She received her B.A. in Latin and English from Mount Holyoke College in 1976, and has an M.A. in Classics from Cambridge University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from Yale University. She taught Latin and writing at Wesleyan University from 1988-1992, and taught at the Clarion science-fiction-writing workshops in 1996 and 1999.
She raises and trains Lipizzan horses at Dancing Horse Farm, her home in Vail, Arizona. The romantic fantasies that she writes under the name Caitlin Brennan feature dancing horses modeled on those that she raises.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 170 reviews
April 29, 2022
Be careful what you wish for.
Solo mother Nicole wished for a simpler life.
In Los Angeles she was having a bad time because;
her husband divorced her for a younger woman,
her child support checks had not arrived,
her babysitter had quit,
her children came down with stomach upsets,
her legal firm did not make her partner,
her car needed repairs,
and now she has a pimple on her chin.
Whisked back in time to a city at the edge of the Roman empire by the statuettes Liber and Libera Nicole must cope with life in a simpler time. Just what she wished for - or was it?
How it all began . . .
In the dark, quiet bedroom, on the old, old plaque, Liber turned his head and smiled at Libera. She smiled back. Excitement sang between them. True, it was true. A prayer at last; a votary; a wish so strong, it had roused them from their sleep. How long it had been? Hundreds of years – a thousand, and half a thousand more. Bacchus, that simpering Greek, had never lacked for either prayers or devotees. Liber and Libera had been all forgotten.
And such an easy prayer to answer, though not – they admitted to each other – as strictly usual as most. Most prayers were for wealth or fertility or escape from the morning-after price wine inevitably exacted. Such a wish as this: how wonderfully novel, and how simple, too. Nicole had traveled to Carnuntum. This plaque, on which Liber and Libera’s power was now so singularly focused, had come from that ancient city. And, best of all, when the plaque was made, a woman of Nicole’s blood and line had been living in Carnuntum. Is it not wonderful? they said to one another. Is it not meant? Is it not a beautiful symmetry, as beautiful as we are ourselves?
What pleasure, too, in granting the prayer; what divine and divinely ordained ease. This woman’s spirit was as light as thistledown, for all its leaden weight of worry. Purest simplicity to waft it out of the flesh, to send it spiraling down the long road into that other, kindred body.
In Roman Carnuntum watch Nicole/Umma cope with;
being a slave owner,
chamber pots,
wine with every meal,
polluted water,
open sewers,
tooth ache,
lice and nits on everybody,
animal and child abuse,
public executions,
lead water pipes,
white lead face powder,
pestilence and plague,
barbarian invasion,
rape,
and no coffee.
A delightful point-of-view description of life in the Roman empire with a feel-good ending.
Enjoy!
Solo mother Nicole wished for a simpler life.
In Los Angeles she was having a bad time because;
her husband divorced her for a younger woman,
her child support checks had not arrived,
her babysitter had quit,
her children came down with stomach upsets,
her legal firm did not make her partner,
her car needed repairs,
and now she has a pimple on her chin.
Whisked back in time to a city at the edge of the Roman empire by the statuettes Liber and Libera Nicole must cope with life in a simpler time. Just what she wished for - or was it?
How it all began . . .
In the dark, quiet bedroom, on the old, old plaque, Liber turned his head and smiled at Libera. She smiled back. Excitement sang between them. True, it was true. A prayer at last; a votary; a wish so strong, it had roused them from their sleep. How long it had been? Hundreds of years – a thousand, and half a thousand more. Bacchus, that simpering Greek, had never lacked for either prayers or devotees. Liber and Libera had been all forgotten.
And such an easy prayer to answer, though not – they admitted to each other – as strictly usual as most. Most prayers were for wealth or fertility or escape from the morning-after price wine inevitably exacted. Such a wish as this: how wonderfully novel, and how simple, too. Nicole had traveled to Carnuntum. This plaque, on which Liber and Libera’s power was now so singularly focused, had come from that ancient city. And, best of all, when the plaque was made, a woman of Nicole’s blood and line had been living in Carnuntum. Is it not wonderful? they said to one another. Is it not meant? Is it not a beautiful symmetry, as beautiful as we are ourselves?
What pleasure, too, in granting the prayer; what divine and divinely ordained ease. This woman’s spirit was as light as thistledown, for all its leaden weight of worry. Purest simplicity to waft it out of the flesh, to send it spiraling down the long road into that other, kindred body.
In Roman Carnuntum watch Nicole/Umma cope with;
being a slave owner,
chamber pots,
wine with every meal,
polluted water,
open sewers,
tooth ache,
lice and nits on everybody,
animal and child abuse,
public executions,
lead water pipes,
white lead face powder,
pestilence and plague,
barbarian invasion,
rape,
and no coffee.
A delightful point-of-view description of life in the Roman empire with a feel-good ending.
Enjoy!
August 27, 2016
Yuck. Sanctimonious self-righteous nineties divorced lawyer and mother of two has a bad day, gets sent back in time to the second century CE, has a bad life, comes back to the present all wise and everything, and is just as sanctimonious and self-righteous but now with "good" (for her, anyway) outcomes.
Unpleasant character who should have been crucified. Time travel was nicely handled. Nothing, but NOthing, should cause you to pick this book up as anything other than a defensive weapon (500+ pages in 6 x 9 trim size = hefty!). It wasn't execrable, merely average for the genre. No excuse for that kind of book taking up your eyeblinks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Unpleasant character who should have been crucified. Time travel was nicely handled. Nothing, but NOthing, should cause you to pick this book up as anything other than a defensive weapon (500+ pages in 6 x 9 trim size = hefty!). It wasn't execrable, merely average for the genre. No excuse for that kind of book taking up your eyeblinks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
April 7, 2012
Time travel to ancient Rome? Yes! Except... ugh. Could we have a better protagonist, please?
So, we've got this nineties single working mother who, upon having an incredibly shitty day, wishes to go to a simpler time and is sent (mind, not body) to a second century Roman town. Sounds like fun, except that Nicole Gunther-Perrin is apparently the stupidest, most uneducated lawyer that's ever existed, and that severely diminished my enjoyment of this story. For one, she's feels likes a liberal feminist as written by someone who has never met an actual liberal feminist and definitely has a poor opinion of us: open-minded when it conveniences her, and snidely dismissive of men, no matter how they treat her. Nicole sees ulterior motives in men everywhere and comes off as stuck-up and narcissistic. She's incredibly judgmental, somewhat condescending, and barely even thinks about her children when she's in the past.
More disturbing is the fact that apparently Nicole has never studied ancient history. The fact that people (including children) in the past drank wine and beer regularly HORRIFIES her, she's SHOCKED by the existence of slaves, she's APPALLED by parents smacking their children, etc. It's very, very hard to root for a 30-something heroine that is so ignorant.
The writing here contains a lot of telling, not showing, which served to make me constantly think I'd missed something. Nicole reminisces about her daughter doing a certain activity, but we've never been shown that. She remembers a conversation--that we never read. It's a weird, amateurish writing decision, and ultimately distracting.
So, we've got this nineties single working mother who, upon having an incredibly shitty day, wishes to go to a simpler time and is sent (mind, not body) to a second century Roman town. Sounds like fun, except that Nicole Gunther-Perrin is apparently the stupidest, most uneducated lawyer that's ever existed, and that severely diminished my enjoyment of this story. For one, she's feels likes a liberal feminist as written by someone who has never met an actual liberal feminist and definitely has a poor opinion of us: open-minded when it conveniences her, and snidely dismissive of men, no matter how they treat her. Nicole sees ulterior motives in men everywhere and comes off as stuck-up and narcissistic. She's incredibly judgmental, somewhat condescending, and barely even thinks about her children when she's in the past.
More disturbing is the fact that apparently Nicole has never studied ancient history. The fact that people (including children) in the past drank wine and beer regularly HORRIFIES her, she's SHOCKED by the existence of slaves, she's APPALLED by parents smacking their children, etc. It's very, very hard to root for a 30-something heroine that is so ignorant.
The writing here contains a lot of telling, not showing, which served to make me constantly think I'd missed something. Nicole reminisces about her daughter doing a certain activity, but we've never been shown that. She remembers a conversation--that we never read. It's a weird, amateurish writing decision, and ultimately distracting.
September 13, 2010
Absolutely one of my favorite books ever! I read it twice, which, given how many books I have yet to get through, says alot. A modern day woman, fed up with the demands of her professional life, and a deadbeat ex-husband, wakes to find herself in the body of one of her ancestors, a tavern keeper, that lived in the city of Carnuntum in Roman times (around A.D. 170 or so). This take on "the grass is always greener" is eye opening and sometimes tragic, as she witnesses the plague sweep through her city and comes to genuinely care about the people around her. There's even a bit of romance:) Just a wonderful book!
August 12, 2019
More like 3.5. Time-travel is not something I'd read by choice but I'm so very desperate for novels set in Rome I haven't read I picked this one up. Delightful and quick read--most of it taking place in the Pannonia of Marcus Aurelius' time--but for a beginning and ending telling how the heroine got to and from the city of Carnuntum, which I found out actually existed, as well as the main male character, the [in the novel] fuller/dyer Titus Calidius Severus, historically a former Roman soldier stationed in that area with Legion XV. We know him by a funerary monument commissioned by his brother; I commend the author for inventing a personality for him and using him in a story.
Nicole is a lady lawyer, a divorced, single mother of two preschoolers. She has had a terrible day--an understatement. She's been passed over for partnership in her law firm and her child care worker has quit on the same day, as well as her ex-husband's ignoring child support payments and they are piling up. From her honeymoon in Austria, land of some of her ancestors, she has a souvenir kept by her bedside: a plaque of a god and goddess. Frustrated, angry, overwhelmed, she offers a facetious prayer that they take her to their world, somewhere "not so...artificial, not so hateful."
The main thrust of the novel is how a 20th century woman--fully aware of male chauvinism, modern society and all its amenities and comforts--copes with a society so different. It's dirty, unhygienic, smelly, primitive but peoples' personalities after millennia haven't changed. She goes to sleep in modern L.A., awakes in this garrison town in the body of her ancestress, a widowed tavern keeper, single mother of two and slave owner of one female. The deities have given her a bonus: ability to speak, understand, read and write in Latin. We witness her comparisons of everything in the 2nd century A.D. with modern times. We see Nicole first as an obnoxious, arrogant, self-righteous know-it-all but her experiences with this simpler time--lice [ugh], mores, war, deadly pestilence [probably measles], rape, AND a romance with the aforementioned Titus, an all-around nice guy--cause her to reflect, empathize, and to change her attitude, once she returns to the present.
The book was dated somewhat by its references to popular culture of when it was written--1999. And it was probably average for its genre, but I did get the lesson, the old saw, "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it". It's a book I won't soon forget. Recommended.
Nicole is a lady lawyer, a divorced, single mother of two preschoolers. She has had a terrible day--an understatement. She's been passed over for partnership in her law firm and her child care worker has quit on the same day, as well as her ex-husband's ignoring child support payments and they are piling up. From her honeymoon in Austria, land of some of her ancestors, she has a souvenir kept by her bedside: a plaque of a god and goddess. Frustrated, angry, overwhelmed, she offers a facetious prayer that they take her to their world, somewhere "not so...artificial, not so hateful."
The main thrust of the novel is how a 20th century woman--fully aware of male chauvinism, modern society and all its amenities and comforts--copes with a society so different. It's dirty, unhygienic, smelly, primitive but peoples' personalities after millennia haven't changed. She goes to sleep in modern L.A., awakes in this garrison town in the body of her ancestress, a widowed tavern keeper, single mother of two and slave owner of one female. The deities have given her a bonus: ability to speak, understand, read and write in Latin. We witness her comparisons of everything in the 2nd century A.D. with modern times. We see Nicole first as an obnoxious, arrogant, self-righteous know-it-all but her experiences with this simpler time--lice [ugh], mores, war, deadly pestilence [probably measles], rape, AND a romance with the aforementioned Titus, an all-around nice guy--cause her to reflect, empathize, and to change her attitude, once she returns to the present.
The book was dated somewhat by its references to popular culture of when it was written--1999. And it was probably average for its genre, but I did get the lesson, the old saw, "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it". It's a book I won't soon forget. Recommended.
October 31, 2011
Be careful what you ask for. You might just get it. Nicole Gunther-Perrin has had a bad day. Her ex-husband is late (as usual) with the child support, her baby-sitter is decamping to Mexico, her law career is in trouble, and her 4-year-old has just puked in her car. In despair at the struggles of her modern life, she wishes to be transported to simpler time--and the Roman gods Liber and Libera take pity on her and grant her wish. She wakes up in the 2nd Century AD, in the body of a tavern-keeping ancestress, in a small Roman town on the Danube. She soon discovers just how good she had it in 20th Century America. Roman life is short and lousy (literally), and pestilence, war, and famine are never that far away. Violence is immediate, commonplace, and a subject of entertainment. Slavery exists. Sanitation is spotty, and alcohol is the only safe thing to drink. Her ancestress has a lover whose business requires collecting urine from passersby. And Nicole's 20th-Century knowledge doesn't give her the ability to remedy any of these things, although her customers at the taberna do notice she's come up with a really good new way to fry fish. To this casual scholar of ancient history, Tarr and Turtledove have done an excellent job of re-creating the sensual experience of living in an ancient town--the tastes, the sights, the feels, and the smells, oh God, the smells. It's fun watching Roman life break down Nicole's 20th-Century prejudices and prudery, and turn her into a more likeable human being--although it is a little hard to believe that a well-educated lawyer could be *quite* as ignorant as Nicole about some well-known facets of ancient life. This book also features a cameo appearance by a Well-Known Historical Personage, which seems to be mandatory in historical fiction; as well as the sack of a city by barbarians, which makes it exciting. Is it good? Well, it won't rival _Gone With the Wind_ for character development, although the historical detail is similarly evocative. The resolution seemed a *little* weak, but all-in-all it's a gripping, and just plain *good* time-travel novel, and I recommend it not only to fans of the authors but to any readers of the genre or with an interest in the period. You won't be disappointed.
May 2, 2010
This is one book that has stayed with me. Great read. I absolutely loved discovering what life was like in a 2d century Roman frontier (Carnuntum: Vienna) town along with the protagonist who finds herself transported back in time from modern day. While she suddenly now speaks and understand Latin she still thinks like a 21st c woman and remembers modern life so the lifestyle changes are a bit overwhelming. Far from landing in a "simpler time" she finds all the same problems -and more- just dressed differently. Very dense in detail. It almost seemed like a game of Survivor: can she make soap?, 'invent' healthier foodstuffs? I learned more than I ever wanted to know about Roman sanitary (or lack of) practices in the provinces & general bodily functions but it gave me plenty to think about from child care to more philosophical questions. Loved it.
January 25, 2016
Tarr and Turtledove have written a novel, which is hard to put down, thoughtful, and brings ancient history to life. They send the spirit of a modern-day lawyer into the body of an ancestor, who runs a tavern in the second-century Roman city of Carnuntum (now in Austria). Depressed with her job prospects, office sexism, her kids and ex-husband, and modern life in general, she wishes for a simpler, less "artificial" and less "hateful" time in which to live; but when she arrives there, she finds slavery, animals tearing people apart in the arena, pestilence (probably smallpox), war, starvation, lice, and terrible sanitary conditions. She also finds love, companionship, self-awareness, and inner strength. Having a tooth pulled, without novocaine, becomes one of the worst experiences of her life! But she also petitions the emperor, Marcus Aurelius, for some justice and compensation, after she is brutally raped by one of his soldiers, and gets a fair hearing.
The authors have done their homework about everyday life in a Roman city. Their descriptions of the baths, amphitheatre, food, drink, sanitation, housing, early Christianity (and attitudes about it), and various trades are well done. The main character's coping skills are admirable, generally, and her application of modern, scientific principles to solve ancient problems is good, as well (although it does take her an awfully long time to realize that she should boil the water). She even "invents" baked apples.
I enjoyed reading this book very much, and I believe that most readers will, too. It provides fascinating details about daily existence in the Roman Empire—not just the usual wars, politics, and gladiators. It is also a good coming-to-maturity story, and an interesting contrast between modern and ancient life.
The authors have done their homework about everyday life in a Roman city. Their descriptions of the baths, amphitheatre, food, drink, sanitation, housing, early Christianity (and attitudes about it), and various trades are well done. The main character's coping skills are admirable, generally, and her application of modern, scientific principles to solve ancient problems is good, as well (although it does take her an awfully long time to realize that she should boil the water). She even "invents" baked apples.
I enjoyed reading this book very much, and I believe that most readers will, too. It provides fascinating details about daily existence in the Roman Empire—not just the usual wars, politics, and gladiators. It is also a good coming-to-maturity story, and an interesting contrast between modern and ancient life.
November 19, 2012
A good insight to the Roman world.
August 18, 2015
Brilliant time travel depiction of ancient Rome, with plenty of humor and color thrown in.
Turtledove and Tarr make a good combination.
Turtledove and Tarr make a good combination.
June 25, 2016
This book has stuck in my mind for years. An excellent story to get lost in.
August 26, 2012
The first half of the book amazed me with the depiction of a completely neurotic, puritanical and ignorant single mom. Nobody in their right minds would really believe that a woman's life in the roman empire would be better than in the 1990's. And the notion that women in the second century AD were equal in social status to the men... Even as ignorant as Americans tend to come out in folklore, surely they are not that ignorant...
If you manage to get past the first half of the book and bear with the protagonist, the book itself is a good depiction of everyday life in the second century AD roman empire. Not very heavy on the plot, it does however keep you turning the pages.
August 13, 2016
Initially I was quite excited to read this book as I'm a huge fan of time travel. And it's not often you find a book set in Ancient Rome. I thought it would be a really interesting combination. Sadly though, I was very disappointed and I couldn't have been more wrong. This book was an absolute bore and I really struggled to get through it. Not only was the main character incredibly annoying but the whole time it felt like we were being told what happened rather than shown what happened. It is a true testament to my stubbornness that I actually managed to finish this book.
February 17, 2008
Nicole, In her fantasies, she thinks about a simpler time and makes a wish to a statue of a Roman god that she could go back to the simple, happy days when the statue was made.
She wakes up the next morning smelling the incredible stench of a Roman city and speaking Latin. She's as ignorant of history as most people, but soon figures out that she's living in a time after Julius Caesar and before the Fall of the Roman Empire. Beyond that…who knows?
She wakes up the next morning smelling the incredible stench of a Roman city and speaking Latin. She's as ignorant of history as most people, but soon figures out that she's living in a time after Julius Caesar and before the Fall of the Roman Empire. Beyond that…who knows?
August 4, 2012
This book had so much potential!! What an amazing idea: leaving 20th Century LA for 2nd Century Roman Europe. And I should end this review there on that happy note. Because this isn't the book it could have been and I'm so disappointed!
Part of the problem is the main character, Nicole Gunther-Perrin. She is brittle and unlikable from the first page. And her story is predictable in spite of the wild premise. (Except when she meets the emperor of Rome. Really??? That scene felt like a movie where some overzealous producer said "Hey, we haven't used any of these costumes over here. Make her meet the Emperor." Thank God that producer wasn't trying to pawn off a clown suit or a talking fish, it could have just as easily been added here and would have fit as well. It would have been as believable.) Nicole also feels like...a character. She isn't a person. Though someone has taken the puppet out of the cupboard and dressed her in different costumes, she remains a puppet. She never comes to life.
And that may be the main problem with the book. It reads more as textbook than novel. There is copious research reflected here, and some of it is fascinating. But the style is clunky and repetive, and the old saw "show, don't tell" kept ringing in my ears. This book tells, and tells, and tells.
This isn't a bad book, by any means. It is worth reading. But it doesn't rise to what it could have been. More vivid language could have had the reek of the market in my head, and nose, after the book was done. Instead, I found myself thinking "Yeah, yeah, it smells bad. You TOLD me that! Twenty times!"
Part of the problem is the main character, Nicole Gunther-Perrin. She is brittle and unlikable from the first page. And her story is predictable in spite of the wild premise. (Except when she meets the emperor of Rome. Really??? That scene felt like a movie where some overzealous producer said "Hey, we haven't used any of these costumes over here. Make her meet the Emperor." Thank God that producer wasn't trying to pawn off a clown suit or a talking fish, it could have just as easily been added here and would have fit as well. It would have been as believable.) Nicole also feels like...a character. She isn't a person. Though someone has taken the puppet out of the cupboard and dressed her in different costumes, she remains a puppet. She never comes to life.
And that may be the main problem with the book. It reads more as textbook than novel. There is copious research reflected here, and some of it is fascinating. But the style is clunky and repetive, and the old saw "show, don't tell" kept ringing in my ears. This book tells, and tells, and tells.
This isn't a bad book, by any means. It is worth reading. But it doesn't rise to what it could have been. More vivid language could have had the reek of the market in my head, and nose, after the book was done. Instead, I found myself thinking "Yeah, yeah, it smells bad. You TOLD me that! Twenty times!"
July 4, 2012
I had difficulties with this one.
The whole point of the book is to look at the time of ancient Rome through the eyes (and morals) of a 1990's California liberal.
My problem is that I had major issues with the filters the main character was using.
For example, I have problems with an educated person insisting that you shouldn't drink wine, and should only drink (untreated) water. My umbrage is towards how she insists (briefly, of course) that others under her control only drink water - and unsurprisingly, they all get sick.
The history itself was interesting, and the main character is much better by the end of the book than earlier on. I am glad I read the book, but it was a much more difficult read than I had expected.
The whole point of the book is to look at the time of ancient Rome through the eyes (and morals) of a 1990's California liberal.
My problem is that I had major issues with the filters the main character was using.
For example, I have problems with an educated person insisting that you shouldn't drink wine, and should only drink (untreated) water. My umbrage is towards how she insists (briefly, of course) that others under her control only drink water - and unsurprisingly, they all get sick.
The history itself was interesting, and the main character is much better by the end of the book than earlier on. I am glad I read the book, but it was a much more difficult read than I had expected.
March 30, 2019
A-, well-done but a bit heavy-handed. Stands up well to re-reading. See Rich Horton's fine review,
https://www.sfsite.com/11b/hous69.htm
Recommended for Portal/time-travel story fans.
https://www.sfsite.com/11b/hous69.htm
Recommended for Portal/time-travel story fans.
March 14, 2022
3.5 stars
April 17, 2008
An excellent historical novel. The story centers around Nicole, a divorced mother of two attorney. She is passed over for promotion, she thinks because she is not part of the old boys network at the firm. Her ex husband runs off with a young coed and her life just too stressfull, hectic, and complicated. She wishes for a more simple life where her accomplishments can be appreciated without regard to her gender. She just happens to be making this wish next to an idol of the Roman god and goddess Liber and Libera. These gods are so grateful to have someone praying to them for the first time in millenia that they immediatly send her back in time to the Roman city of Carnuntum around 170 A.D. She is thrilled at first, things have to be better here. Right? She is soon disenheartened to learn everyone drinks wine, even the kids, she has very few rights as a woman, pestilence and disease are rampant, and the only thing keeping the barbarians away is a Roman legion camped down the road.
The story manages to keep moving and kept me very interested. I was a bit disapointed that the otherwise intelligent Nicole was surprised that the world of almost 2,000 years ago was so different from hers. Her astonishment at things like corporal punishment, or that the Romans really did throw people to the lions astonished me. I suppose she is the "typical" American, so sure that her way of doing things is right, that she never even considered other points of view. This allows for character growth as she learns new things about her new life.
Overall, a great read, if a bit long. But the length is due to the richness of detail in describing the daily life.
The story manages to keep moving and kept me very interested. I was a bit disapointed that the otherwise intelligent Nicole was surprised that the world of almost 2,000 years ago was so different from hers. Her astonishment at things like corporal punishment, or that the Romans really did throw people to the lions astonished me. I suppose she is the "typical" American, so sure that her way of doing things is right, that she never even considered other points of view. This allows for character growth as she learns new things about her new life.
Overall, a great read, if a bit long. But the length is due to the richness of detail in describing the daily life.
December 31, 2013
Pro: 1) It was fun to get a more personal view of life for an average person in ancient Rome. 2) The novel has a good heft—I like a chance to get to know the characters. 3) There is definitely a “feminist” bent to the novel, and indeed the main character is a woman. Personally, I found that this added to the novel, both in the present and ancient times (that is, it was a nice change to get a woman’s point of view). 4) The ending was a good extension (a follow-up) to the main part of the story that took place in ancient Rome.
Con: 1) I do not care for the “mechanism” of time travel. I prefer something physical that was invented or discovered. 2) Some aspects seemed implausible. For example, the idea that an intelligent woman from the 20th century would assume that ancient Rome would be a fun place to live (one example—lice), and that women naturally were treated better than in the present time. Also, it was hard to believe that the woman described in this story could be transported away from her children (in the present time) and not, at least at first, seem to be particularly bothered by it (then again, I do not have children, so perhaps the idea of escaping from them would be pleasing at first). 3) I did not find the narrative compelling. I enjoyed reading the book, but it was not a “page turner” that I had difficulty putting down each night.
Overall, I would give it 7 out of 10.
Con: 1) I do not care for the “mechanism” of time travel. I prefer something physical that was invented or discovered. 2) Some aspects seemed implausible. For example, the idea that an intelligent woman from the 20th century would assume that ancient Rome would be a fun place to live (one example—lice), and that women naturally were treated better than in the present time. Also, it was hard to believe that the woman described in this story could be transported away from her children (in the present time) and not, at least at first, seem to be particularly bothered by it (then again, I do not have children, so perhaps the idea of escaping from them would be pleasing at first). 3) I did not find the narrative compelling. I enjoyed reading the book, but it was not a “page turner” that I had difficulty putting down each night.
Overall, I would give it 7 out of 10.
January 11, 2024
DNF at 65%
At first I had a whole review planned pointing out some writing issues and how in the first half of the book the protagonist is the dumbest person alive; seriously, what woman thinks the patriarchy only started to exist in the 90s??
Then we got to the German invasion, and the brutal gangrape scene. It bothered me more that there was so much detail as opposed to any of the other sex that was not only consensual but helped Nicole grow. Her first time with a man after her divorce was a fade to black, but we get to know all the ways Antonina is getting taken apart in the street. Whatever, I thought, I’ll make a note of this in my rough draft of the review and keep going.
And then we got Another Highly Detailed Rape scene. Nicole’s rape goes on for three to four pages, in detail, and it’s awful. I had to put the book down at page two. Does that mean it was good writing? Maybe. But a book that’s meant to analyze the rights of women in the ancient world vs the modern world also seems to have a bit too much fun with assaulting them in the narrative, and letting you know every. Single. Detail.
Call me sensitive or woke or a snowflake or whatever. Those aren’t scenes I want to see, and this isn’t a book I want to finish.
At first I had a whole review planned pointing out some writing issues and how in the first half of the book the protagonist is the dumbest person alive; seriously, what woman thinks the patriarchy only started to exist in the 90s??
Then we got to the German invasion, and the brutal gangrape scene. It bothered me more that there was so much detail as opposed to any of the other sex that was not only consensual but helped Nicole grow. Her first time with a man after her divorce was a fade to black, but we get to know all the ways Antonina is getting taken apart in the street. Whatever, I thought, I’ll make a note of this in my rough draft of the review and keep going.
And then we got Another Highly Detailed Rape scene. Nicole’s rape goes on for three to four pages, in detail, and it’s awful. I had to put the book down at page two. Does that mean it was good writing? Maybe. But a book that’s meant to analyze the rights of women in the ancient world vs the modern world also seems to have a bit too much fun with assaulting them in the narrative, and letting you know every. Single. Detail.
Call me sensitive or woke or a snowflake or whatever. Those aren’t scenes I want to see, and this isn’t a book I want to finish.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2012
I think that I would rate this 3.5 stars if I could. I liked all the descriptions of ancient Roman life, the details that were described here, but it was not a perfect book and there were a couple of other things that just bugged me the whole time I was reading it.
For instance, the main character - she was just so wooden and naive and constantly blindsided by basic stuff - like the fact that historically, life smelled much worse. She was incredibly uncurious, for a supposed intellectual, although I am more likely to believe that one, since I actually know people who are like that. This was less of an unbelievable feature and more of a really annoying one. I also felt that the descriptions of nineties life dated the book incredibly, even only 12 years out from publication.
I thought the main character seemed like she existed mostly to serve as a vehicle to display the research efforts of the authors. The plot itself was not so exciting.
I think that this genre - time travel and forced to live in a different era - has been done much MUCH better by Connie Willis.
For instance, the main character - she was just so wooden and naive and constantly blindsided by basic stuff - like the fact that historically, life smelled much worse. She was incredibly uncurious, for a supposed intellectual, although I am more likely to believe that one, since I actually know people who are like that. This was less of an unbelievable feature and more of a really annoying one. I also felt that the descriptions of nineties life dated the book incredibly, even only 12 years out from publication.
I thought the main character seemed like she existed mostly to serve as a vehicle to display the research efforts of the authors. The plot itself was not so exciting.
I think that this genre - time travel and forced to live in a different era - has been done much MUCH better by Connie Willis.
September 23, 2019
2019 bk 305. Our single mom, lawyer, exhausted, broke, passed over for a promotion and then sexually harrassed cries out to the wall plaque dedicated to two Roman Gods "I wished I lived in simpler times", the two bored minor deities decided to answer her quest. It was easier because she had an ancestress living in the city of Carnuntum. When she woke the next morning, she was in her ancestresses body. Most time travel books leave out the small things that comprise the culture shock of a different time and culture. The authors do a wonderful job of weaving these in - no wristwatch or clocks to plan a time to meet, the problem of lead lined jars holding water, the illnesses that cause massive numbers of death (which may or may not be measles or chicken pox, certainly something with a rash), and most of all the odors. This book does such a good job of describing odors that there were times when I found myself retching. A wonderfully written book and one that I inter-library loaned. I may have to purchase this one - it demands to be read anytime I become to complacent about living when and where I live.
January 5, 2009
So... what if you went to bed an exhausted , newly divorced mom of two who can't get her ex to keep up with child support...and who is also full time lawyer who just found out she didn't make partner, on the same day that her day care provider closes down with no notice....wishing you could live long ago when things were less complicated and "real"... ... and what if you woke up in an unfamiliar bed, to an overwhelming stench, forty pounds lighter, with darker hair and eyes and a really good tan, and wearing a burlap robe and missing a few teeth, one of which aches awfully.... ta da.. you're in ANCIENT GREECE. As outlandish as this premise sounds, it makes perfect sense as you read Household Gods... I'm about 100 pages in, and loving every bit of it so far. If it's still cold weather tomorrow (it's -50 below right now) I'll be off work and I plan to tackle at least 100 more pages by noon!
July 9, 2011
I was skeptical when given this book to read. I am not typically a fan of time travel type books, or at least I didn't think I was. But I must admit I really enjoyed this book. I have read a lot of the reviews from other people complaining about the heroine. Frankly I don't agree with them at all. Not everyone remembers everything about ancient history so that when they are transported back in time they can cope better or understand the struggles they are up against. Frankly, as much as I love ancient history the heroine did a hell of a lot better then I would have if I were in her place. And the moral of the book is to cherish what you have and stop complaining, things could be much, much worse. Noted.
May 2, 2012
A woman, Nicole, is dissatisfied with her life and wishes for what she thinks is a more honest, simpler, less sexist time, ending up in second century Roman Empire. There's a line in an old Joanie Mitchell song that goes "You don't know what you have till it's gone". So true. This "simpler" time is full of slavery, disease, pain, hunger, inequality, war, violence and just plain hard work. So how does she get back to where she belongs? That's the trick.
The books was well written and entertaining. Thoroughly enjoyable. A bit of Wizard of Oz with a good dose of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The lesson to be learned--be careful what you wish for. It may come true.
The books was well written and entertaining. Thoroughly enjoyable. A bit of Wizard of Oz with a good dose of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The lesson to be learned--be careful what you wish for. It may come true.
February 5, 2008
I put this under historical fiction, because I think Tarr always walks a fine line. Sure, it's about a woman who goes back in time and inhabits the body/life of an ancient Roman ancestor, but other than that, there is no magic. It's a straightforward look at the life of a widow during Marcus Aurelius' time. A wonderful book!
October 14, 2011
Wonderful book. I have read it twice over the past 5 years or so and it is easily one of those books that you can treat like an old friend. I have introduced it to many of my other friends, think about it and its lessons at odd moments, and plan on visiting it again soon. The story is well written, the settings detailed w/o being overbearing, & the characters are believable.
June 14, 2009
This is a weak book in some areas. As in some time travel novels, Nicole accepts things a little too easily. What saved the book is watching Nicole grow. Despite her status as a single mom, she is almost unlikable at the beginning of the book. By the end she has grown as a character.
September 30, 2016
This was a very entertaining time travel/adventure/romance story.
Light on the science fiction side (the time travel happens when two little god statuettes act), but
the main character is very well done and the ancient denizens of Rome are portrayed in an interesting way as well.
Light on the science fiction side (the time travel happens when two little god statuettes act), but
the main character is very well done and the ancient denizens of Rome are portrayed in an interesting way as well.
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