The Stolen Women

by Alysandra Dutton

A case of missing noble women and a determined young warrior who sets out to bring them home in this new and exciting ancient historical set just before the founding of Rome, for fans of The Song of Achilles, Circe, and A Thousand Ships.

Safinia is fine to focus on her training as a warrior, providing for her sisters, and minding her own business. She feels no great need to meddle in anyone else's, until women in her town, including her former lover, begin disappearing. Quietly, at first, but disappearing just the same. All of the missing women have vanished from powerful households, but their formidable fathers are in utter denial, claiming their daughters are off on trips, sure to be back shortly, with perfectly reasonable explanations for their absences.

Dissatisfied with the half-hearted attempts to hand wave away the alarming and mysterious cases of the vanishing women, Safinia takes matters into her own hands, embarking on a journey to a neighboring village in search of answers or at the very least clues that might unearth threads she can begin to pull at. Along the way, she meets an unlikely yet helpful search partner, a historian who calls himself Livy. But despite his eerie sense of knowledge, Safinia is unable to uncover to missing women, thwarted more often than not by the girls' fathers themselves. As war with Rome looms on the horizon, Safinia must face the reality that the only one she can trust to bring them home is herself.

Alysandra Dutton has crafted an expertly researched and indepth look at the Sabine women, one of history's most overlooked yet crucial stories that has inspired countless works of art throughout the centuries. It's a fresh, page-turning adventure, perfect for readers of Madeline Miller and Natalie Haynes.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mythology, Historical, Adult

Kindle Edition

Expected publication October 27, 2026

Reviews

[Eshani Agrawal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am totally obsessed with THE STOLEN WOMEN! Before reading, I knew very little about Sabine culture—but Alys Dutton knows how to do her research and share it with her reader in an engrossing way. I was so pulled into this book, especially because Safinia is the kind of protagonist you would go anywhere with. And in the end, I was left really thinking about how this book connects with our world (especially America) today. What does it mean to want to write history and empire, and who suffers in the process?

Thank you to Alys Dutton and Park Row for sending me an advanced copy!

[Remy Pinc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved my experience reading this book! The world is so full and the characters are beautifully complex--they've got edges, they've got teeth. Imagine a noir set in Ancient Rome with a lovable, grumpy, queer detective embroiled in her own relationship drama, trying so hard to keep her family together but also beholden to her own morality. The inclusion of Livy especially gives the book this wonderful strangeness that somehow made the story feel more real.
Thanks for the advanced copy!