Betray the Night: A Novel about Ovid

by Benita Kane Jaro

In the year 8 AD, at the age of fifty, the most famous poet in Rome, Publius Ovidius Naso, known to us as Ovid, is suddenly exiled by the Emperor Augustus for an unknown reason. His young and beautiful wife Pinaria stays behind to try to salvage something of their lives and to work to bring him home. A woman alone, she is handicapped by the powerlessness of her position. It is not until she leaves behind the world of men to search among the people Rome has the women, the slaves, the runaways and temple prostitutes, that she begins to understand what has happened to her life and her husband s, and what the world around her really is. Historically accurate, deeply researched, and poetically written, Betray the Night is a sympathetic reading of the position of women, and a study of the terror of power. Exciting and fast moving, it may be read as on its own or as a companion to Benita Kane Jaro's trilogy The Key, The Lock, and The Door in the Wall. Special Features * Written with scrupulous attention to historical accuracy * Supplied with reader-friendly
-List of principal characters,
-Chronology of events * Provides insight into the position of a high-born Roman woman * Gives an alternate view of Caesar Augustus * Provides a view of Ovid when relegated For over 30 years Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers has produced the highest quality Latin and ancient Greek books. From Dr. Seuss books in Latin to Plato's Apology , Bolchazy-Carducci's titles help readers learn about ancient Rome and Greece; the Latin and ancient Greek languages are alive and well with titles like Cicero's De Amicitia and Kaegi's Greek Grammar . We also feature a line of contemporary eastern European and WWII books. Some of the areas we publish in Selections From The Aeneid
Latin Grammar & Pronunciation
Greek Grammar & Pronunciation
Texts Supporting Wheelock's Latin
Classical author Vergil, Ovid, Horace, Catullus, Cicero
Vocabulary Cards For AP Vergil, Ovid, Catullus, Horace
Greek Mythology
Greek Lexicon
Slovak Culture And History

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fascinating and enthralling novel was the author's speculation on why Ovid was relegated to Tomis on the Black Sea. He tells us himself in his later poems it was because of Carmen et error [a song and a mistake] and also that he saw something, but nothing criminal. The poet's wife, Pinnaria, after the relegation, tries in vain talking to nobility and the imperial family to have him brought back. In her attempts, while searching a house in the slums, she finds a scrap of a leather book cover. This is the first clue as to the reason for Ovid's disgrace. Her wanderings lead her from talking to slaves, freedmen, then to disgraced royalty. She finds out which of her friends and relations present their true faces to her.

This was quite an interesting speculation, which the author has reconstructed from primary sources. I liked Pinnaria's transition from ordinary Roman matron to a strong female figure when she takes control of her own life. Lyrical and descriptive writing made the book out of the ordinary. The impressionistic front cover done in shades of green showing her on the shore and the ship bearing her husband away, was something special. The title is taken from one of Ovid's poems in his Heroines: about Penelope, in myth the wife of Odysseus, she exhibiting the same determination and patience as Pinnaria. Each endures a long separation from her husband. To me there was an implied comparison between the two.

I did find several errors on p. 147 in my copy which someone should have noticed: Pinaria's cousin, Macer, tells her about the Varian Disaster in the Teutoberg--Legions XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX should have been XVII, XVIII, and XIX. The German leader's name was Arminius, NOT Ariminius. Although the mistakes should be corrected, they did not interrupt the flow of the story.

Highly recommended. Upon rereading I did not change my opinion.

[Minerva B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. I liked the historical aspect and attempts to build an accurate narrative with a focus on Ovid's wife.

I do have to say there were quite a few grammatical errors and some of the syntax didn't make sense in some phrases. Thought it was better in the second half of the book.

One other thing that annoyed me about this book is the in your face info dump, especially in dialogue when they're referring to people. This is set in ancient Rome so they're talking about people that truly existed, but all these characters are talking to each other like they're not aware of these characters. Conversations often go like "X character, the son of Z who did Y?"

The explanations are so obviously there for the benefit of the reader but it doesn't feel natural. And the constant use of people's names in dialogue felt really unnatural.

I also found that sometimes the narrator's thoughts don't segway too well from paragraph to paragraph.