Nobilissima

by Carrie Bedford

Nobilissima is the story of Placidia, a Roman princess who marries the King of the Visigoths and later becomes Empress of the Roman Empire. It is a story of love, ambition and war, set against a backdrop of barbarian invasions and the Empire's turbulent transition from paganism to Christianity.

In 410 AD, the Visigoths sack Rome and seize hostages. That dark, violent night marks the beginning of a perilous journey through Italy, Gaul and Spain for Placidia and her companions. She survives immense hardships and an attempt on her life to find happiness in her marriage to the new Visigoth king and the birth of their son. But a series of terrible tragedies forces her to return to her brother’s court, where further trials await her. A strong and courageous woman, Placidia is also a skillful politician capable of building alliances with popes, kings, senators and generals. She gathers power and influence, but all seems lost when a scandal erupts and her life is again threatened. She flees to Constantinople, only to learn that her brother has died and a usurper has seized the crown. At the head of an army, she returns to Ravenna to fight for the throne.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Amazon, Ebooks

360 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 24, 2012

Reviews

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life in Rome, among the Goths, in Ravenna, and Constantinople in the 5th century. A story of love, friendship, loss, ambition, war, and religious debates as two strains of Christianity and pagan religions collide and the Roman empire is attacked on all sides.

A review said that it was too long and too detailed. I disagree . . . I loved it!

No sex
Violence associated with war; non graphic

[Lee Holz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nobilissima is the highly fictionalized partial biography (from the sack of Rome in 410 c.e. by the Visigoths under Alaric I to approximately 424 c.e.) of Placidia, the sister of the late Roman Emperor Honorius. As such, the book is highly readable and very entertaining.

[Eileen Iciek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am rating this book 3 stars since I found it to be historically accurate. The author clearly did her research and did a decent job of filling in the historical gaps as well as telling the story of Galla Placidia, who must have been quite a dynamic character. The only likely anachronism I found was Pulcheria's use of the word "Mass", to describe attendance at the divine liturgy. I believe Mass is a slang term derived from the Latin "Dismissa", so it is unlikely to have been used in Constantinople, especially at that early date. I also think that the primary bishop in Constantinople has always been referred to as the Patriarch, rather than bishop.

One aspect of the book that bothered me was all of the "I" statements. Clearly, the book is written 1st person POV. But almost every sentence involved "I" or "me". I began to think - is it all about you, Placidia?? Most first person POV novels can manage to have a few paragraphs that do not include I or me. There were also some awkward transition points in the story and a certain shallowness of the characters, as another reviewer mentioned. A sharper pencil when it was edited would have helped.

[Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought a POD edition of this book. I wanted to read about Galla Placidia and that time period. I feel the author was historically accurate; but her style was so childish, I abandoned the book halfway through and gave it away. A month or so later, I don't even remember what it was about. I was disappointed and felt let down. Also, like Eileen mentioned in her review, there were inaccuracies about the Orthodox religious services, e.g., 'Mass' for 'Divine Liturgy', the Orthodox communion service, being the most glaring. Writers or translators usually fall into that trap.

[Nicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5* Some bits grabbed me but.. It was historically PG & 2D. No matter how horrid the situation it glossed to rainbows & bunnies. I just couldn't connect w/the characters, sometimes their emotions/reactions(?) seemed more towards a younger set of characters.

[Telesilla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yet another example of a mediocre writer tackling a fascinating historical character. Bedford deserves three, maybe four stars for the quality of her research, but her storytelling leaves a lot to be desired.

[Jessamy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the author's debut novel and it has a marvelous amount of detail of imperial Rome. Her characters are interesting and the plot compelling.

[Mollyjr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and researched

I really enjoy her books. I read up on the history of Placidia and the basic facts were all there. When I absolutely had to put the book down to go to work or some such trivial pursuit, I couldn't wait to get back to it. There was always some action or palace intrigue to keep me fully engaged.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book

You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so.Shelley MA

[lori vander laan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

I learned a lot about this period of Rome's history with an engaging story line. Found myself comparing facts often.

[Scot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wonderful choice of a character to learn about via historical fiction: Galla Placida, a daughter of Theodosius I, the Emperor who divided the Empire up into the distinct Western and Eastern regions. She started out in Constantinople, born in 392 A.D. and was raised in the home of Stilicho the Vandal and his wife, her cousin Serena, who is not going to get much of a thank you in the opening chapters of this work, but whose brief presence is intended to set a tone to drive the novel forward. The book itself opens as the Visigoths sack Rome in 410.

Characters were fairly shallow here; their emotions tended to be two-dimensional and I never really worked up much concern for them as a result. The plot line, however, was riveting. That's because it's based on what really transpired historically. I was intrigued enough to go research the true history after I had read about 3/4 of the way through the book and I was glad to see the author tried to be true to history as she understood it. Still, too often the mindsets seemed too modern and, as I said, shallow to me. Maybe I'm setting the bar too high: I think Stephen Saylor has probably spoiled me when it comes to what I expect in such historical fiction about classical Rome. For example, I would have appreciated a richer, and deeper, evaluation and contextualizing of the competing religious traditions as well as the competing strains within Christianity in that early 5th century world.

[D. Krauss · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fictional account of Placidia, daughter of Emperor Theodosius. She's plucky. She's stalwart. She's the fearless single mother raising children while working and keeping a strong moral compass in the face of adversity...no she's not!! She's an EMPRESS, for godssake! (okay, an Augusta, but that's a quibble). She's not worried about the mortgage or how the kids are doing in school. No, more like whether her son is going to be Emperor or not, and whether to execute a pesky cousin.

And that's the big problem: Placidia is one gigantic anachronism. She's how you expect your Mom's friends to be, not an Empress (Augusta, whatever.) Annoying. Further annoyance: the exposition. About the first three chapters are Placidia engaging with servants and friends while keeping one eye cocked at the reader..."This is the late Roman Empire, get it? Get it?" Almost threw the book across the room over that. Almost.

But, I didn't. I actually liked it, comments above notwithstanding. First, it covers a really confusing period of history, and hats off to Bedford for tackling it. Second, Placidia is an interesting character. I'm a little suspicious of recent efforts to rehabilitate historical characters (White Queen, for example), but gotta give kudos to writers like Bedford and Carr for bringing them to our attention.

Now if y'all would just stop making them Danielle Steel heroines...

[Verity Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story had so much potential. The woman this story is about--Aelia Galla Placidia--had a pretty remarkable life. She was the daughter of Theodosius I (last Emperor of the full Roman Empire), wife of both a Visigoth king and of a co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, and also the mother and regent of the Western Emperor Valentinian III.

So what went wrong? Nothing really wrong, as such. The writing isn't bad at all--the English language isn't mangled, nor is there anything overwrought in style or plot. Frankly, the only problem this book has is that it is astonishingly boring.

Part of the reason, I think, is that it reads like a very, very dull chronicle. This happened. Then that happened. We do get some dialogue and occasionally some emotion shown by the characters, but every incident remains subservient to the plodding nature of the history being recounted. A true plot arc never develops. Without any ebb and flow to the storytelling, this book was never able to engage me to the point where I wanted to keep reading. I got through it, although much slower than I normally would a book of this length, and I'm now a little better informed about this period of history; sadly that's all I can say for it.

[Laurentiu Lazar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book follows Aelia Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius the Great, while she succumbs and raises from defeat, over and over again. Admirable, her ambition to survive and to adapt to every situation such that she always ended up on the bright side of it.

My history knowledge when it comes to that period was very poor. I had no clue about this "iron" lady, but... wow her story is intriguing. Political hostage, Queen of the Goths, refugee, empress dowager... Immediately after I finished the book, I started my own research and reached the conclusion that the accuracy of the book is remarkable.

Nobilissima is written in first person. You won't blow your brain out when reading it since the language is straightforward. Unspectacular, simple dialogues, with few battle scenes which are not very graphic.Its strong point is the historical truth.

[Sophie Cayeux · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating heroine, historical fiction made vivid. Battles and sieges. It is the story of a powerful woman, the Empress Placidia, who is beneath it all a woman like any of us. The reader shares her responsibilities and her doubts, her loneliness and her friendships and her desperate need for an entourage she can trust. An endearing character. Enchanting descriptions of places and people. The author has such an eye for details and her writing is beautiful. I found myself reading some sentences again and again, the pleasure of listening to wonderful words.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story the author is trying to tell is an interesting one, but poorly executed. You only need to read less than halfway through to see a resolution of the problems set forth in the beginning of the book, thus providing no motivation to continue reading the rest of it. The writing style is at times childish and very important scenes are completely glossed over. There's no sense of the passage of time. Placidia is an interesting character, though, but once the main issues were resolved so early in the book, even she wasn't enough to keep me interested.

[Micaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was an entertaining read, I enjoyed it and would recommend for someone looking for historical fiction that isn't too dense or intense (I wanted an easy bedtime read). Certainly encouraged me to go back to historical sources to read up on the Roman Empire and the historical Nobilissima.

[Paul Burnette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Getting caught . . . in the historical detail was okay, but didn't really develop characters other than the narrator. Important characters came and went as history has recorded, but only Noblissima became in any way as real as one would hope a real person might become in a historical novel.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was action packed, while being a light read at the same time. The characters all had their own flaws, and grew and changed throughout the book.

[Erina · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-3 stars but I'll round up.

[Yaël · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poorly written but she was a fascinating woman so I had to finish it!