I was initially excited about this book. The opening was catchy and the writing very descriptive. I always like the idea of turning a mysterious actual event into fiction. In this case, Ovid, the Latin poet of the Roman Empire, was banished from Rome by decree of the emperor Augustus. The reasons for his banishment are not known. Alison demystifies the historical event by making the exile the result of a smashup love affair between Ovid and a witch named Xenia and a plot by Augustus's granddaughter Julia. The love affair, she posits results in Book VII of the Metamorpheses: Medea.

At some point, I became aware that I was "plodding" through the book. Almost nothing happens on the page, but rather one feels as though one is reading about events that happened long ago. Now, this IS a historical novel, but I want to feel some immediacy when I'm reading it.

The writing became overly florid. Or as one reviewer said: The writing IS lyrical - and many times too much so. You're left floating in a sea of prose and often the ground of reality is left so far below you can't even see it.

Ovid and Julia had no (for lack of a better word) character arc. Xenia was more complex, but rather predictable. In the end, I wondered if one of Rome's greatest writers wrote only because he worried about being forgotten. I suppose if the result is The Metamorphoses, he might be forgiven for that.

I also wondered if people unfamiliar with Augustus's Rome would follow some of the events that are only obliquely referred to? I have read a lot of novels and studied the history of that period, and I was left scratching my head.

Here’s the backstory on why Ovid was exiled. Seems he fell in love with a witch and brought her back to Rome with him, plus he was conspiring with the emperor’s wicked granddaughter.

This novel has some beautiful writing, although at times it’s a trifle overblown. The plot is pretty melodramatic, as you can see, but it makes sense that the mortals in Rome would imitate the behavior of their gods – passionate, impulsive, jealous and selfish. In this novel, Ovid is like that. He’s possessed with a desire to know whether his fame will endure, and his witchy girlfriend can see the future, so she knows – but she refuses to tell him. Driving him pretty much crazy.

There are some fascinating ideas in this book, and some lovely prose, but it feels like an overinflated short story. Either there's not enough substance for a novel or I just don't have patience for this many pages of self-consciously poetical writing. (It's not that long of a book, either, but it feels way longer than it needs to be for this story.)

The Love Artist
I really wanted to like this book. The beginning was superb and the obvious immersion on the author's side with the subject (and her subjects) really made me want to like this book. But in the end it had too many things working against it.
Over all, I did like the writing, style and tone of the book a lot. It has been criticized for its lack of plot and dialogue etc (also the ever lamented "misbalance" of tell over show, even though I do not see that here so much, as with a lot of inner monologues and emotions etc ...) and these are things that I won't miss. I don't like dialogue. I can take it, if it's necessary and well done, but in general, the less of it the better imo. And I also never understood this plot obsession. Here's a story being told, not necessarily a plot, though, but the story is what matters to me.
And I also did not find the much criticized "too much" or "trying too hard" in the writing style. The style I liked.
So why the rather low rating... Probably because after the exceptional and great beginning I felt a bit disappointed by the rest of the book.
Many things were left untold, but not in a good way, rather in a way that left the reader feeling a bit stupid. Yes, I could have gone and googled all kinds of historical or poetical (literary, rather) details, but I didn't. In that case ( and if you are writing such a special book, especially if you've done an immense amount of research, that went into it), why not a glossary. Why not use that research and let the reader know about the details outside of the novel itself?
But there were some other things left untold, which left me kind of clueless, too. BIT OF A SPOILER HERE! Like how this sudden and so absolute switch from lovers and artist/muse relationship turned into something else entierly right after they came to Rome. I could make up some explanations, but leaving the reader on his own here also took away a lot from the reading experience of the rest of the story.
Especially towards the end the book also lost too much coherence for me. It became harder and harder to read and I really had to make myself read the last 40 pages or so.
So this is acutally a 2.5 star rating. I wanted to like it, but it was not easy. I'm glad I read it, though.

This historical novel about the background and inspiration for Ovid's play *Medea* brought the artistic Rome of Augustus Caesar to life. Of particular interest was the theme that everyone operates from opposing motivations; motivation from the consciously preferred self, and motivation from an opposing self (good and bad, selfish and generous, etc.).

Ovid wants love, the personal kind given by a significant other and the public kind given by adoring fans. The problem is that, while he is a fabulous word smith, he isn't a particularly creative one. He models his characters on real life, and manipulates events so that his models respond in ways that further his imagined plot. He observes and records. He meets and falls in love with a foreign woman, an herbalist and witch, or is it that he falls for a woman who can be manipulated to become the perfect model for a character in his most famous play?

The book is engaging for its plot and characters. The writing is solid, if not transporting. It made me want to read *Medea* again.

Ovid, the Roman poet, was exiled to Tomis on the Black Sea for what he says in his "Tristia": Carmen et error [A poem and a mistake].

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tu...

From this ambiguity, scholars and historians through the years have tried to puzzle out why he was exiled. Alison presents us with her speculation, giving us a lush, sensuous tale of Ovid and a mysterious "witch", Xenia, he meets at the Black Sea area [a more salubrious part than his final home]. They fall in love and he takes her to Rome--returning to Rome in the midst of his exile sounded incredible. He begins writing a tragedy of Medea with her as muse and model for the priestess. Xenia feels he has betrayed her with another woman. Jealous of his patroness, Julia, of the imperial family, she exacts a horrible vengeance on him.

I could SEE all scenes before me vividly, despite the author's sometimes purple prose. Besides the jealousy and betrayal, a main theme is the permanence of art and the artist [in this case Ovid.] Will he always be remembered through the years? As Xenia has the gift of seeing into the future he keeps asking Xenia. This is an obsession with him. The novel took awhile to pick up steam, but finally rolled on swiftly to its inexorable conclusion. With not much dialogue, this contemplative novel expresses the inner life of its characters and may be too slow-moving for some readers.

Recommended. On rereading in November 2016, I lowered my rating to a 3. This time around I felt it compared unfavorably with the other speculations on Ovid-in-exile I have read by not adhering more closely to what might have been from what we know and this iteration being too unbelievable.
There was no mention of his writings from that time: The Tristia of Ovid orTristium Libri V. Et Epistolae Ex Ponto Libri IV,

This is a gem of a book. Sometimes the subjects are not believable but the character of Ovid does come to lifee. Based on some myths and truths about Ovid, Alison spins a good yarn.

I enjoyed this and found it very atmospheric but would have liked the plot line to be a little more definite and resolved. Was Xenia mad? What happened to Ovid's work? Maybe the book assumes a little more background knowledge than I have

Well written.

For a short book, this took me a long time to read... it was slow to start and I just couldn’t really get into it. It was an intriguing story, loved the Ancient Rome culture and learning about Ovid, but I found it a little oblique and sometimes hard to figure out what was happening. I would have liked a little more depth, a little more delving into characters. However, Ovid and Xenia were glamorous and sexy together, and Xenia a beautiful mystery. I wish I’d liked it more.

2,5/5

Why was Ovid exiled to the Black Sea? Whatever Augustus' reasons for kicking him out of Rome, there's not one to be found written anywhere in existence. One of the most celebrated of Ancient Roman poets, Ovid comes alive in Jane Alison's first novel, The Love Artist. Alison's poetic story-telling of the old world befits the opulence and archaic beauty of the age. Sensual and bewitching, intelligent and unforgettable.