In Search of a Homeland: The Story of The Aeneid

by Penelope Lively, Ian Andrew (Illustrator)

A glorious gift book from an award-winning storyteller and a much lauded illustrator, who evoke the high drama of mythical Greece and the prehistory of Rome in this retelling of "The Aeneid."

Taking his old father on his back and his young son by the hand, Aeneas flees the sacked city of Troy, entrusted by his goddess-mother, Venus, with a daunting mission: Find a new homeland for his people. It is an arduous journey. At every turn, unimaginable dangers await him: terrible monsters and giants; supernatural hazards sent by the enraged goddess Juno; and worst of all, an eerie, death-defying descent into the Underworld, where he will be allowed a glimpse of his Roman descendants' glorious future.

Genres: History, Ancient History, Mythology, Childrens, Roman, Middle Grade, Classics

120 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2006

About the author

Penelope Lively is the author of many prize-winning novels and short-story collections for both adults and children. She has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize: once in 1977 for her first novel, The Road to Lichfield, and again in 1984 for According to Mark. She later won the 1987 Booker Prize for her highly acclaimed novel Moon Tiger.

Her other books include Going Back; Judgement Day; Next to Nature, Art; Perfect Happiness; Passing On; City of the Mind; Cleopatra’s Sister; Heat Wave; Beyond the Blue Mountains, a collection of short stories; Oleander, Jacaranda, a memoir of her childhood days in Egypt; Spiderweb; her autobiographical work, A House Unlocked; The Photograph; Making It Up; Consequences; Family Album, which was shortlisted for the 2009 Costa Novel Award, and How It All Began.

She is a popular writer for children and has won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Award. She was appointed CBE in the 2001 New Year’s Honours List, and DBE in 2012.

Penelope Lively lives in London. She was married to Jack Lively, who died in 1998.

Reviews

[Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not suitable for adult readers. It’s too straightforward and simplified. On the other hand, it’s great for non-precocious YA readers. Penelope Lively does a wonderful job of bringing a classic of world literature alive for them.

[booklady]

Read this along with our last reading of The Aeneid fifteen years ago and again now. It helped me understand it then and now. The artwork in this is quite beautiful.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This fills the void left by Rosemary Sutcliff and Alan Lee (because they covered home but not Virgil). It's well written, but I much prefer Alan Lee's illustrations to Ian Andrew.

[carla · Rating 1 out of 5]

Vaya mierda

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was eager to read this book once I realized it existed--the Aeneid is a very important work to me, and I've read several of Penelope Lively's novels with great admiration. But I'm not sure what to say about this effort. She attempts to present the gist of the Aeneid for young readers (how young? The story seems too adult for anyone under about 14, but the oversized format--9x11 inches--makes it seem like a book for very young children.) Lively doesn't write down to them, she writes with dignity, and she judiciously cuts the most difficult parts. She also starts with the fall of Troy and tells the whole story in chronological order. The real Aeneid starts with a bang--a storm at sea in which a number of ships go to the bottom, and Aeneas's first words in the poem are essentially "I wish I were dead." Lively cuts that speech. In Virgil, only after they struggle to land near Carthage and meet Dido does Aeneas himself describe the fall of Troy (the locus classicus of what it feels like to watch your home destroyed by the enemy) followed by his wanderings up to that point. And the whole Dido-Aeneas story doesn't seem appropriate for children: the emotions are too raw and the issues too complex. Lively doesn't pull any punches in this part of the story. The illustrator gives us not one but two pictures of Dido run through with Aeneas's sword, one of them in the very moment of suicide. By contrast, some of the most beautiful similes--as when Aeneas sees the shade of Dido in the underworld--are omitted or flattened. It's an honest attempt, but I'm not sure it was a good idea.

[Paau ☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3'5⭐
Per a ser una lectura obligatòria de llatí no ha estat gens mal.
He de dir que el vocabulari es prou complex i de vegades es difícil d'entendre, però igualment al final del llibre hi ha un apartat on s'expliquen les paraules i la veritat que s'agraix.
En canvi, la trama ha estat bé i engancha.

(ara a esperar a la nota😬)

[Lydia Tyndall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do hope that I never find myself with a destiny because having one greatly limits you.

[Happyplace · Rating 1 out of 5]

0,5⭐️

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author, Penelope Lively, does for the Aeneid what Rosemary Sutcliff does for the Iliad and the Odyssey: makes it understandable to a grade school student.

It is the story of Aeneas very well told and the color pencil drawings by Ian Andrew are vivid and beautiful.

We appreciated the map at the back of the book detailing the sites traditionally associated with the voyages of Aeneas. And following that is a pronunciation guide for the Greek and Latin names so that read aloud you don't have to stumble about the names.

"Venus had spoken. Aeneas knew that the task was his: he must lead his Trojan comrades in search of a new homeland, though none knew where they should go. They turned their backs on the devastated city and set about building a fleet of ships. When summer came, the ships rode upon the water and old Anchises, their chieftan, urged that the sails be raised and the Trojan survivors leave the shores of Asia in pursuit of their destiny."

That hopefully gives you a better idea of the style and ease of the writing.

I really recommend reading this and then reading Virgil's Aeneid. It makes it so easy to know what is going on, who the characters are etc. to read this version first.

[clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buena adaptación para el colegio. Hace que la Eneida parezca interesante, y sobre todo tiene una introducción muy buena, que te ayuda a comprender y apreciar detalles que probablemente pases por alto.

Relectura: Niso y Euríalo mis protegidos, ¿CÓMO LOS SIGUEN LLAMANDO AMIGOS DESPUÉS DE QUE LITERALMENTE DAN LA VIDA EL UNO POR EL OTRO? Justicia para ellos, que murieron con la cabeza en una pica y el corazón roto. ¿Dónde está mi retelling?

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter and I read this together and found it to be an excellent book to read aloud. The chapters are sized well for daily reading. The beautiful tale is abridged and made appropriate for children of all ages. An excellent introduction to an ancient story.

[Steve Hemmeke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good illustrations and adaptation of the story.
Great for acquainting children or adults with some Greek mythology

[Paula · Rating 1 out of 5]

Este libro no me gustó nada. Me pareció demasiado largo y lioso.

[Gonza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Estoy desesperado por completar el reading challenge😭

[satie · Rating 3 out of 5]

no se medio aburrido sobre todo si es para latin

[ines ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️✨️
Podría haber sido peor. Una lectura obligatoria, pero bastante light.

[Sofia Acevedo Castaño · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy entretenido, me amarró de inmediato y si no fuera porque era para una tarea lo habría leído mucho más rápido. Mucha muerte, mucha tragedia. Grité y lloré con él. A demás odié bastante a los dioses pero pues normal con el carácter que se llevan.

Para mí perdió puntos en cuanto a que había muchas palabras raras que perfectamente podían simplificarse, además de las notas que estaban hasta el final del libro por lo que debía ir de atrás a adelante todo el rato.

Puntos extra por las ilustraciones, son preciosas. Lo volvería a leer en un contexto no académico sin duda.

[Patopancito · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy entretenido, me amarró de inmediato y si no fuera porque era para una tarea lo habría leído mucho más rápido. Mucha muerte, mucha tragedia. Grité y lloré con él. A demás odié bastante a los dioses pero pues normal con el carácter que se llevan.

Para mí perdió puntos en cuanto a que había muchas palabras raras que perfectamente podían simplificarse, además de las notas que estaban hasta el final del libro por lo que debía ir de atrás a adelante todo el rato.

Puntos extra por las ilustraciones, son preciosas. Lo volvería a leer en un contexto no académico sin duda.

[Mónica Fernández · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lectura obligatoria. Siempre he pensado que los exámenes de libros de lectura estaban tirados, este lo veo complicado, me he tenido que hacer resumenes de cada capitulo para enterarme de la historia e ir viendo el recorrido en el mapa para enterarme un poco del viaje, estaría bien recalcar cuánto tiempo pasa de un sitio a otro, porque pensé que había pasado como un mes y de repente han pasado 7 añazos. No lo recomiendo, a pesar de que al final un poco me he enganchado en la guerra de Eneas contra Turno (Troyanos contra Latinos)

[Amy T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my introduction to the Aenied. This school year my kids and I have also read a retelling of the Iliad and the full-on Odyssey, so maybe I’m a little burned out on epics, but this seemed to drag. So much war. Anyway, I’m glad we read it. It will help inform our further study of ancient Rome.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book by any means, but the Rosemary Sutcliffe versions of Homer that we read earlier this year spoiled me, I think. I wish there was a similarly beautiful adaptation of the Aeneid.

[Andrés · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good adaptation for kids.

[Maria Punzón · Rating 4 out of 5]

la verdad me lo esperaba peor,pero me gusto mucho y además se lee súper rápido

[Laurie Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colorful picture book about the Roman epic of Aeneid that my kids and I read in our Classical Dialectic homeschool literature class.

[Melissa Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good retelling of the Aenid . The illustrations we're not as good .

[Triz]

colegio

[Alma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante, pero el colegio lo ha vuelto agobiante y sobretodo cambiaría la última parte porque las guerras de 7 años aburren pero bueno no estaba nada mal leeria más así.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is good because the Aeneid is good, but it just can’t live up to Alan Lee’s illustrations in the two Homer retellings.

[Noe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Por fin me lo acabo. Que suplicio.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

La verdad no ha sido tedioso de leer, era una lectura obligatoria, por lo que no me esperaba gran cosa, pero ha sido una lectura amena, con la que adentrarse en la literatura antigua.