Household Gods

You know how in time travel books the character who goes back in time is particularly well suited for the ordeal? No major health problems, no huge attachments, and skills like field medicine and a working knowledge of the time they got sent to? Well that doesn't happen in this book. The woman chosen for this gift bestowed by largely forgotten deities has few enough useful skills for the time period, and barely has a working knowledge of human nature. This, in my opinion, made it a much more imaginative book than many of its kind. If you can get through the first several dozen pages without throwing the book at the wall in rage at yuppie-kind everywhere, you're in for a treat. The story aside, which is a must for anyone wishing longingly for a bygone era which they percieve as somehow simpler and more wholesome than today; the historical detail is amazingly well researched and colorfully laid before the reader. The wealth of detailed descriptions strangely do not bog down the action, but make it seem as though you are there, unfortunate smells and all. The prose also tends to instill a desire for sweet wine and fresh bread. Have these ready to hand and enjoy.

Many of the reviewers here have criticized this book for the lack of a traditional plot, and for how personally unlikeable the main character is. These two things don't bother me in the slightest. As for the first criticism, well, this novel is supposed to be, first and foremost, a realistic account of what it would be like to be a citizen of the 2nd century A.D. Roman Empire. For most people, real life is not like a story. There is no plot with appropriately dramatic climax. Life just plays out from one day to the next. This story is written to reflect that. The people who criticize this story for its lack of a plot seem to have completely missed the point of what this book was supposed to be. Now ordinarily I do not care for "slice of life" fiction, because such stories are usually set in a contemporary setting, and I am familiar enough with what real life in the present day is like from my own experiences. What makes this story different is that it is set in a past time, which was so different from our own that even the day to day details are novel and unusual, and present the character with problems very unsimilar to those faced by a person of modern times. The second criticism -- that the protagonist is such a man-hating, judgemental, smug, self-righteous, and appallingly ignorant person -- has more merit. But this doesn't bother me either. After all, there really are people in the world who are like that. I've known more than a few. I've even known a few who were as well educated as Nicole Gunther-Perrin is. I will allow that the authors stretch her ignorance a little bit too far, perhaps. Anyone who was awake enough to pass a college western civilization course shouldn't be unaware that women were not equal in Roman society, whatever other misconceptions they may have about it. But it's still not TOO much of a stretch. Similarly, it shouldn't have taken her very long to figure out that if drinking the water gives you a case of Montezuma's revenge, all you need to do it boil it first. However, I think the authors actually had a purpose in mind when they made Nicole both ignorant and arrogant. Because she's ignorant, she has to find things out the hard way, which is more dramatic. Because she has to struggle to get by in her new setting, the authors can show just how hard life was then in a way that would be far more interesting that if she adroitly coped with each new dilemma. This approach also allowed her to have her nose rubbed in the fact that not all of her assumptions about life and about people hold up under the harsh glare of reality. She finds out, again the hard way, that not everyone who takes a drink is an alcoholic, or that a swat on the fanny of an unruly child is not abuse. Every time Nicole acts or reacts to something with the attitudes of a late 20th century woman, and finds her attitudes and assumptions at variance with those of her new companions, and especially when she finds out that maybe, in so

I'm LOVING this book! True, it is not 'heavy reading' and at times the editing is on the rough side (with misspelled words here and there!)The main character, Umma/Nicole, is in some ways a charicature of a young upwardly mobile professional, and recently single, mother of two. She is frazzled and self-righteous. It is easy to see that her misery in the opening section of the novel is of her own making. She is, in a word, insufferable (and as a result, she thinks she is suffering!)This book is refreshing to me! It points out "pointedly" the fallacies of so many of our politically 'correct' and oh-so-gaggingly 'modern' attidues and ideas.. and does so without being so sensitive as to not point fingers! Turtledove and Tarr take on gender roles, ethnocentrism, the question of whether all our modern conveniences have helped us or harmed us as a so-called social species... and reminds us to remember that the good old days were not necessarily all the good!Fortunately, Nicole is far more resourceful than our initial glimpses of her would indicate. She manages to find her place in ancient Rome even though she is in another woman's body.I bought the book for the title, and for entertainment. Since I'm feeling extremely well-entertained by the story, I feel i truly got my money's worth on this one!

As an avid reader of historical fiction, who possesses a compelling interest in the Ancient Romans, I found the book a quick and satisfying read. The authors use details to make the story much more than the classic "fish out of water" plot. For example, the descriptions of the implements and interior of Umma's tavern are similar to the ruins of one I saw in Pompeii. The authors describe Roman religion, the roles of men and women, and the society's higher tolerance for aggressive behavior to communicate an authentic flavor of just how foreign life under the Caesars would be.I was a bit surprised at the protagonist's unpleasantness. She appeared incredibly ignorant and close-minded, but this is an opinion from someone who loves to learn and travel. My interest in continuing to read about her increased when I began to imagine how they were transforming her. She began a spoiled, take-everything-for-granted, gratify-yourself-immediately type of person. By the end, the protagonist had learned some humility about her opinions and a bit about accepting the behavior of others. More so, she had learned to appreciate just how fortunate she was to live in our times; a place with amazing medical advances, general literacy, and a desire to treat everyone equally (even if it tries more than it succeeds).Other reviewers have commented on the protagonist's man-hating worldview and her use of the rhetoric of political correctness. This language tapers off throughout the book. I believe the authors wrote her this way for two reasons. First, it makes it easier for us to note her transformation from close-minded prig into a more accepting individual. Second, it shows how the protagonist uses her education to rationalize her feelings, rather than to understand the world. As the experiences transform her, she begins to try and understand people around her rather than draw upon cliche phrases, which she had used without true understanding in the beginning.On the whole, I recommend this book primarily to anyone with an interest in everyday life in the ancient world. It would also be interesting to anyone who imagined what it might be like to be cast into the distant past.

A wonderful tale of a modern American liberated woman awakening to the most unpleasant reality of life in the Roman Empire, circa 2nd century AD. (A turnabout of Richard Ben Sapir's The Far Arena.) Turtledove and Tarr follow Nicole's education in cultural relativity, as she discovers the poor standing of the masses (in particular, women) in a world lacking the technological and scientific advances of 20th century America--medicine, self-defense, human rights come to mind for a start. Yet she also is confronted with the fact that, even without these advantages, people in ancient times could be, and were, often happier than the people of our "advanced" culture, with all of our amenities. They often just didn't enjoy it for as long... It may be instructive to note that the one (so far) awful review of this book comes from someone unwilling to claim that opinion by revealing his/her name.