Curses and Smoke: A Novel of Pompeii

Shecter (Cleopatra’s Moon) returns to the ancient world, following star-crossed lovers in shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. Curious Lucia, who longs to discuss the tremors shaking the city with the great naturalist Pliny the Elder, faces a life of intellectual stagnation with her much older betrothed. She sees herself as being sold to the highest bidder, but as her childhood friend, the Etruscan slave Tag, reminds her when she compares their fates, the restrictions on her freedom are nothing compared to his daily reality. Including detailed descriptions of ancient medicine, religious practices, and gladiatorial combat, Shecter explores Roman society from the perspective of the oppressed. Minor hitches—Lucia seems unrealistically surprised by the then-standard practice of abandoning unwanted infants—are outweighed as the author tackles complex topics like intersectionality vividly and comprehensibly. As Tag and Lucia begin a forbidden romance, Lucia’s ambitious father, in many ways a perfectly normal man of his time, becomes a bigger threat than even the volcano looming over Pompeii. Shecter makes clever use of the historical eruption to give her tragic climax a bitterly ironic twist. Aged 12–up. Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (June)