Customer Reviews

Beacon at Alexandria

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is, without a doubt, my favorite book of all time. I discovered it languishing in my high school library, not checked out in years, and after I read it I ran to the bookstore and tried to buy a copy. No luck -- it was out of print at that time -- and so, I am ashamed to admit, I swiped my high school library's copy and paid the exorbitant fine.

It was well worth it.

Bradshaw's conversational writing style hooks you immediately and takes you into the vast Roman empire shortly before its downfall, makes you feel as if you're really there, by focusing on one young woman, Charis, and her struggle to find her identity and be true to herself. The characters are people you wish you knew, the situations Charis finds herself in keep you on the edge of your seat, and the incredibly researched detail and descriptions add depth to the narrative without ever overpowering the story. Indeed, such meticulous detail only increases the reader's feeling of actually being there, actually seeing what Charis sees and smelling what she smells and feeling her emotions as real as you feel your own.

BUY THIS BOOK. NOW. TODAY. Even if you've never liked historical novels, you'll like this one. Because it's not about the history -- although there's lots of it, and it's well-presented, since Bradshaw has a Master's degree in classics from Cambridge -- but about Charis, and what she goes through to discover her inner strengths and desires. She's a complex character who undergoes changes as she ages and learns, and she's a remarkable heroine who's honest, hardworking, dedicated, and very human. Some book characters you want for your real-life friends; Charis is the kind of character you wish you were.

I read this book every year, and every year I'm amazed by how much I learn from it, how much it affects my outlook on life, and how indescribably enjoyable I find the time I spend in cultured Ephesus and learned Alexandria and wild Thrace with the most esteemed Charis and her wonderful friends. This is a fabulous character-driven novel for anyone -- lovers of adventure, history, medicine, LIFE.

Set in the 4th century of Roman Empire on the eve of its military collapse, the story pits a Greek/Roman noblewoman and a naturalized German prince against the arrogance, corruption and cruelty of an imperial culture they nontheless loved and hoped to preserve. A poignant classic told from the viewpoint of perpetual outsider

There are not many historical novels about late antiquity (with the exception of the ages of Attila and Justinian), so I was eager to find what Bradshaw had made of the years leading up to the Gothic incursion in 378. In fact, she has done quite well, turning out a very readable story told from the point of view of an interesting if somewhat unlikely character, while being true to the facts as we know them. She has obviously done her homework, which makes it all the more surprising that (judging from her introduction to the original edition) she was completely unaware of J.C. Rolfe's 20th-century translation of Ammianus Marcellinus, the contemporary historian whose influence, as she acknowledges, is evident on every page.

At times it does feel as if the author is manipulating the story to cram in as many historical characters as possible (are we to think, for example, that the slave boy Alaric in the last chapters grows up to be the sacker of Rome?), but in general the scholarship is woven effortlessly into the background, and we get a reasonably accurate picture of fourth-century Roman and Gothic society.

As for the sensibilities, though, I don't find the book so convincing. Not that feminism was a complete impossibility in that era (one need only think of Hypatia), but Charis is just too modern in her outlook, to say nothing of her understanding of infectious diseases. And the world she moves through, despite its institutions of slavery and torture, simply doesn't feel foreign enough. The illusion that we're reading history rather than romance is shattered completely in the last chapter, where the awful catastrophe of Adrianople fades to insignificance beside the too-neat resolution of Charis's conflicting emotional needs.

I recommend the book as a good read, and you will learn something about the tumultous and fascinating fourth century, as long as you don't mind a little Harlequin mixed in.

Historical fiction and gender bending go hand-in-hand. It can almost seem like a hoary cliche, but this is an exceptional play on the usual idea. In this novel, Gillian Bradshaw's protagonist dons the garb of a eunuch with dual hopes. An impending marriage to a loutish Roman governor prompts Charis to take the alternate path in life that will allow her to pursue her dreams of healing.

No historical novel is any good unless it is delivering all sorts of period detail. Bradshaw wraps Charis' tale in fine paper, depicting early Hippocratic techniques, fourth-century political and religious struggles, and life on the Roman frontier. Slavery gets off with a light slap, but attitudes towards it are probably portrayed accurately.

Charis is a great creation. In fulfilling her dreams of healing for a living, she endangers her hopes for, ahem, true love. She can be a little saintly, but she makes mistakes and suffers the consequences, putting her career and romantic pangs in jeopardy. She makes a great narrator, and you'll wish your own doctor had her sense and compassion.

The Beacon At Alexandria is one of the best historical novels I've read. It really gave me the feeling that the past was a foriegn country, or (for the SF-lover) an alien landscape, painted vividly. But that wasn't the only appeal. What with a strong heroine, intrigue, politics, a "secret identity", narrow escapes, an unrequited love, hardship, rescue, and a happy ending, it really has everything to make an enjoyable, absorbing read.

Marvelously atmospheric, this Roman adventure is replete with medical details and eating habits as well as political intrigue, danger and romance.

In 371 A.D. young Charis catches the eye of a despotic, repugnant and powerful official. To avoid a forced marriage, she disguises herself as a eunuch and leaves Ephesus for Alexandria, where she pursues the passion denied to her as a woman - medicine.

Charis' hard-won apprenticeship to a dedicated Jewish doctor who practices among the poor provides ample opportunity to describe the squalor and wealth of the city, its prejudices and divisions and its ambitious medicine.

Drawn through no fault of her own into the wrangling of early Christians, Charis is forced once again to flee and accepts a position heading up the hospital in a remote army outpost in Thrace where she triumphs over superstition and charges of witchcraft only to be captured by Goths and kept prisoner - her gender revealed.

Bradshaw, a classics scholar, is also a compelling storyteller. Historical detail wells up organically through the action without ever seeming forced or artificial. Thoroughly enjoyable.

I was first made aware of this book by my Latin Teacher she said that I would like it, and boy was she right i have read it numerouse times since. I find that Gillian Bradshaw creates her characters so well. Charis seems so strong you want everything to work out for her the way she wants and you know that they will. This is a wonderful blend of history and romance and adventure. I guarantee that you will not be able to put it down.

Every once in a while one finds an author who reaches out and grabs the reader within the first pages of the book. This is a fabulous read......colorful, detailed, rich.....a book for young and old, male and female. I would love to find a hardcover for my permanent library.

Captivating! It gave me a real insight on what life was like in the 4th century. Gillian Bradshaw did an excellent job, and I'll be looking out for more books by her. The only reason I don't give it a ten is because of the ending-I wanted to know what happened next

Once again Gillian Bradshaw comes up with a novel that immerses you into the rich classical settings to which its reluctant heroine Charis of Epheseus must travel. From her native Greece to Egypt and to the frontiers of the far northern boundaries of the Roman Empire -the land of the Goths, this adventure is a roller coaster of non stop action across the Easter Roman Empire circa 4C AD.

The beautiful daughter of a rich Greek father she is blessed with a secure and pampered life of nobility and status in the province of Epheseus. However she is rebellious and determined to study medicine - something forbidden to women in her times. Charis see's her life planned out in all its dull glory; herself, the trophy wife in waiting for some influential suitor to be chosen by her father. When her weak willed father is pressured into betrothing her to a cruelty loving and dictatorial Roman Governor - Charis decides its time escape and seek a life of her choosing.

With support of her brother and governess she embarks on a lone journey to the strange city of Alexandria disguised as a male eunuch under the name of Chariton. Though her resources are meager to sustain her; she is determined to succeed and study medicine and heal people in this city - the centre of high learning in the Roman Empire.

Gillian Bradshaws beautiful prose brings the fictional Charis/Chariton to life and makes the reader identify and side with this unlikely but charming heroine as she encounters obstacles,predjudices and dangers and overcomes them with the assitance of her cunning and skills + a varied ensemble of unlikely supporters and admirers across the breadth of the Eastern Empire. Just when all sometimes seems lost and Charis/Charitons adventure at an end Gillian surprises the reader and a surprising twist takes place in the plot that keeps the story fresh and exciting.

Gillian ties all the ribbons together and the action flows fast and furious as the novel drives to its climatic stages and we find out what fate has in store for Chariton/Charis.

If you love a novel packed with excitement,adventure and intelligent writing coupled with rich but not overbearing descriptions of a mysterious classical era long gone then this novel is truly enjoyable read.