The Door in the Wall

This assiduously researched, intelligently written yet ultimately unsatisfying historical novel is set in 48 B.C., near the end of the long and bloody civil war between Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar. Marcus Caelius Rufus is a young Roman noble who at first sides with Caesar but becomes disenchanted after witnessing a massacre that he has commited. He feels compelled to compile a report of the internecine struggle so far, although he does not know who will read it, for he is uncertain which of the warriors he hopes will win. Not only Pompey and Caesar but all the major historical characters of the epoch are here: Cicero, Cato, Mark Antony and even Marcus Brutus (of ``et tu'' notoriety). Karo has fine credentials in writing about this period (her first novel, The Key , about the poet Catullus, involved many of the same people) and her brisk prose rings true. The protagonist's situation is also compelling, but after a while it becomes difficult to sympathize with the brutal and somewhat callous Caelius. Moreover, Karo seems more interested in her characters' public squabbles than in their internal lives. On the other hand, readers interested in the period will find this book more lively than the McCullough sagas currently on the market. (Jan.)