Camilla: Queen of the Silver Arrow

Tales from Virgil’s Aeneid

by Caroline Lawrence, Flora Kirk (illustrator)

The king tied his baby daughter to a spear and hurled her across a raging river.
Camilla’s life begins with her father's desperate that she will serve Diana, Goddess of the Hunt, in exchange for her survival. Raised in the wild, Camilla grows into a fierce warrior, mastering the art of hunting and fighting like an Amazon.

But when refugees from the Trojan War invade her homeland, Camilla faces her greatest challenge yet. With four brave teenage girls by her side, she must defy tradition and prove that courage knows no gender. Can they stand against seasoned male warriors? And will their courage be enough to protect their people?

Inspired by Virgil’s Aeneid, this fast-paced YA adaptation brings to life Camilla, Queen of the Silver Arrow—a bold heroine unlike any other in Roman mythology. Perfect for teen readers who crave stories of friendship, loyalty, and daring women who fight for what they believe in.

Genres: Greek Mythology

108 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 15, 2016

About the author

Caroline Lawrence won a scholarship to Cambridge to read Classical Archaeology, then did a degree in Hebrew and Jewish studies at University College London. She now lives in London with her English husband and teaches Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Art and French to children.

Series:
* Roman Mysteries
Western Mysteries

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

*ugly cries*
Loved the development of the relationship between Camilla and Acca- Acca is only mentioned once in the Virgil and I always imagined them having a kind of sister relationship, but Caroline Lawrence managed to turn that on its head and neatly stomp on my heart in the process! I also got the feeling that she was really trying -*trying*- to make Aeneas and the Trojans the bad guys here but at the end she just kind of gave up! That's the only way to give it a conclusive end really, or Camilla's death would feel like it was in vain, like it says in the book
More Aeneid novellas please!

[Greer Nadeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella tells the story of Camilla, a warrior queen in Virgil's Aeneid, through the eyes of her best friend. Lawrence does an excellent job of humanizing these young girls and adding depth to the Aeneid by giving an alternate account of the events through these young girls' perspectives.

[Heena Mohammed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Caroline Day Lawrence’s retellings of the Aeneid! They are written so clearly and easy to read, while not at all shying away from the reality and tragedies that Virgil wrote about. They are accessible for children and entry points to classics for adults alike! Camilla was such a compelling hero and warrior!

[John Fulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Queen of the Silver Arrow, by Caroline Lawrence, is a retelling of part of Virgil’s Aeneid – the story of Camilla, huntress and warrior, who comes to the aid of Prince Turnus against the invading Trojans, led by Aeneas, who are fleeing the sack of Troy and looking for a new home in Italy.

I love Virgil. When I was in second year in Portree High School, anyone who’d shown a decent level of language ability in first year (in either French or Gaelic) was given the opportunity to take a second language class. The choices were German or Latin – and for me, it was no choice. Mr Nicol, the Latin teacher, had a classroom full of amazing books. Whole shelves of black-spined Penguin Classics. I’d already borrowed Homer’s Iliad from him, and devoured it, and wanted something similar – “Do you have the Aeneid?” I asked. Except I didn’t know how to pronounce Aeneid, only ever having seen it written down, and asked for the AYE-knee-id, rather than the aye-NAY-id.

He let me borrow the book anyway. I loved it. When we got onto reading parts of the poem in the original Latin (I seem to recall the first part we did was Aeneas battling Turnus from right at the end of Book XII) it was a revelation. Through O Grade and Highers, sections of the Aeneid were a constant companion. At St Andrews, studying Classics, the Latin department regularly set several books of the Aeneid as summer reading – and we were tested on them the first week back. I recall vividly sitting at the desk of my summer job one lunchtime, the Latin text in one hand and my C. Day Lewis translation in the other.

It didn’t feel like work at all.

I’m sure I’ve read the whole thing in Latin – although probably not in order.

I’d even put together some notes for a possible YA novel based on the Camilla episode – but Caroline Lawrence has beaten me to it!

And a splendid job she’s done of it, too. There’s not a huge amount in the Aeneid about Camilla – there’s an origin story, told by the goddess Diana to one of her nymphs, how Camilla’s father saved her by tying her to a spear and throwing her across a river; and a long battle scene, where Camilla slaughters the Trojans before being cut down herself. There’s also a little bit of an inconsistency where Camilla is the leader of the Volscians, while elsewhere being described as an exile; Lawrence has filled in the gaps nicely, and even managed to reconcile the contradictions cleverly.

She takes a single mention of Acca, friend and companion of Camilla, “one who had been her confidante and of all her companions was the truest” and makes her the narrator. This allows her to maintain some of the mystery of Camilla – some of the hidden past of the half-wild huntress of the woods. Everything we see of Camilla is through Acca’s eyes. She’s the one who brings Camilla out of the woods and into civilisation, and encourages her to teach Acca and her friends how to become hunters and warriors – occupations normally denied to girls.

This is the perfect mechanism to tell the story and fill in the gaps without having to interpolate too much – Acca doesn’t know everything about Camilla, so it makes sense that she retains her mystery. Telling the story from Camilla’s viewpoint (which would have been my instinct) would require an awful lot of making stuff up – and the danger when interpolating into an existing story is that the reader will see the joins.

There are no joins here – the story works brilliantly and coherently as a tragic adventure.
Because the story is tragic – the Aeneid is the tale of Aeneas, whose descendants will be the founders of Rome, and Camilla is on the wrong side of that battle. She dies in battle – heroically, but horribly, having forgotten her own advice about a warrior needing the hundred eyes of Argus, not the single eye of the Cyclops.

This volume is published by Barrington Stoke, who specialise in books for people with dyslexia and reluctant readers. As such, the book is short (just over a hundred pages), has clear, large type, no text justification, and simple language. The language is simple, but the story is not dumbed down in any way – so it’s ideal for teens who might struggle with 400-page YA adventures, but still want mature, exciting reads.

It’s a nicely-produced volume, too, with a striking cover (illustration by Paul Young) that should appeal to readers looking for any one of “War, Ancient Rome, Girl Power,” as the tags say on the back cover.

It’s a book I thoroughly enjoyed, and it made me dig out my old translation from the bottom of my bookcase and re-read Book XI. Who knows? It might encourage other people to read Virgil, and that can only be a good thing.

[S.J.A. Turney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caroline Lawrence is an established author of chidren's historical tales. In fact, there are probably few to match her. She is perhaps even the 21st century's Rosemary Sutcliffe. There are books that I consider to be children's books, and there is another section, not quite this whole Young Adult thing, but clearly above the true children's band. It is an interesting world, where the writing must still be aimed at young readers, but the content and themes can be more adult. Lawrence is the mistress of this style, for me.

I read QOTSA to my kids over a number of nights, and we all enjoyed it. They are a little young in truth for the book, but both mature enought to handle everything within. Callie enjoyed it for the tales of the heroic princesses. Marcus enjoyed it for the battles. I enjoyed it for the history.

QOTSA is a fascinating book. Firstly, though, a word about content. As with most great tales of the classical era, it is filled with a number of darker moments. Death in battle, the killing of animals, parental abandonment and so on. If your son or daughter is old enough to understand these things and not be adversely affected, then this book is pure gold. As I said, mine are still quite young, but we have finished the book without them being troubled by anything. In fact, I laud Caroline for tackling the more adult themes in a sympathetic and readable manner.

But what is Queen of the Silver Arrow, you say? Well, it is one of Lawrence's current series of reworked classics. Like her other book in the series - The Night Raid - this is a retelling of a tale from Virgil's Aeneid. This is the tale of the Trojans arriving in Italy and the native peoples rising to meet them, especially the young huntress Camilla, beloved of the Goddess Diana, who with her few companions will attempt to turn the tide against the invader only to learn harsh and unexpected truths in the end.

The final chapter, something of an epilogue, was really quite impressively emotional.

All in all, a great tale, challenging, yet interesting for kids, fascinating and strong for adults too.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel. The way Caroline Lawrence wrote the story is brilliant.
I really liked the fact that i thought i knew what the story was about but the end was really surprising.
I am happy that we see believable heroine's in this story. The choice to tell the story of The Queen of the silver arrow through other eyes makes this novel even more interesting.
Lovers of history will also not be disappointed!
Conclusion:
Caroline Lawrence has created a lovely world with characters you care about!

[Zoe James-Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A retelling of a young girl Camilla who became a warrior princess while fighting the Trojans. The author of the hugely successful Roman Mysteries takes her inspiration this time from Virgil's Aeneid. Friendship, loyalty and girl power are all tested in a brutal war that really packs an emotional punch. The eloquent writing makes it great for struggling and dyslexic readers but also the story will appeal to fans of Katniss, Celaena and mythology loverogs.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

The narrator was super gay for Camilla. It was a good read although it was too short for my liking, and the ending made me sad.

[readingcactuss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing. I loved every word. Short, well thought out and beautifully executed. If you’re a mythology lover. you need to read this and the others.