I really like Baltimore. Damned if I know why, precisely, since there are about three positive things in the city (Inner Harbor, Fells Point, and...uhh...there's a pretty tree near my apartment). Maybe I like the place out of sheer spite. Whatever the reason, I'm increasingly happy with my choice to live here another year. Could be closer to Jersey, could have a lower crime rate, could have a better school system, could have a better library...could have a lot of things. But it's got it's own bizarre charm, and I respect that.
On the book front, I just got off a minor women's studies bender. (Don't judge me.) Dad always buys me books about the classical world, and he went for fiction this time. So I wound up a journalists's recreation of the life of Pilate's wife (Pilate's Wife, by Antoinette May). We don't know anything about the woman, so the biographical detail is a moot point, but she put in a lot of detail work on the lives of women in the Empire.
Obviously, Pilate's wife managed to get caught up in a great deal of historical drama. (Yes, she did meet Jesus. Not to mention Caligula.) The historical detail is interesting, if often somewhat bizarre. Yes, there *was* a cult of Isis in Roman Egypt, but it wasn't catering to the daughters of disapproving Roman officials, and I call shenanigans on some of the author's claims. Artistic liberty aside, WTF? Crypts of Nile water imported to the far side of the Red Sea? Mmmno.
Once I stopped worrying about the pandemic crazy (the heroine keeps hallucinating images of Isis, which made me raise an eyebrow) the fun part kicked in. The story is an epic tale of unhealthy relationship dynamics. I loved it. Seriously. The author probably thought she was writing a carefully researched historical novel on Roman times and a woman in a turbulent era. Nope. That's incidental. She was writing about someone dealing with an unhealthy obsession and a strained marriage, and she did a good job.
The premise is that Pilate is chronically unfaithful, and more Claudia tries to win Pilate over, the more obsessed she becomes. Eventually, a percieved betrayal nearly makes her leave him entirely, and she starts to get over him...and he becomes completely obsessed with her. Both keep cheating on one another, and the affairs add another level of general messiness as Clausia tries to figure out why she ever liked Pilate in the first place and how to manage her feelings for her new boyfriend. Then, once both spouses realize that they've botched the whole marriage, they get to pick up the pieces and try and fix things.
Maybe what's so appealing about the story is that it follows the arc of pretty much every relationship.
1: Oh, s/he is the most amazing, flawless, and generally desirable being ever! La, la, la, everything's perfect.
2: Crap. S/he has flaws, is probably cheating on me, and doesn't feel at all the same way I do. Maaaaaybe, if I'm MORE perfect, and a BETTER significant other, s/he will love me, too!
3. Shit, shit, shit. This isn't working. Must be even more perfect and obsess more!
4. Fuck this. Time to find someone else.
Okay, not every relationship, but a substantial chunk of them. It amused me to find such an honest portrayal in a book that markets itself as historical fiction, focusing on the history. Definitely worth a read...just make sure you're not in a skeptical or cynical mood. And, for the love of god, ignore everything that woman says about Egypt and Isis. Holy historical faux pas, Batman.
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2 comments:
That doesn't leave a warm fuzzy feeling...
It sometimes seems that everybody feels that there's an open literary season on all Egyptian gods (and to some extent the old Celtic ones as well) – they can represent anything you want them to without you having to research anything. Still, sounds like it could have been a good read. It's good to hear that you're liking Baltimore.
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