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A Novel
From the author of the bestselling Clytemnestra comes another intoxicating excursion into ancient history, painting the brutal and captivating empire of gods and men, and the one queen destined to rule them all.
A common woman. The governor she married. The king who loved them both.
Babylonia across the centuries has become the embodiment of lust, excess, and dissolute power that ruled Ancient Assyria. In this world you had to kill to be king. Or, in the case of Semiramis, an orphan raised on the outskirts of an empire:
Queen.
Nothing about Semiramis's upbringing could have foretold her legacy. But when she meets a young representative of the new Assyrian king, a prophecy unfolds before her, one that puts her in the center of a brutal world and in the hearts of two men - one who happens to be king.
Now a risen lady in a court of vipers, Semiramis becomes caught in the politics and viciousness of ancient Assyria. Instead of bartering with fate, Semiramis trains in war and diplomacy. And with each move, she rises in rank, embroiled in a game of power, desire, love, and betrayal, until she can ascend to the only position that will ever keep her safe.
In her second novel, Costanza Casati brilliantly weaves myth and ancient history together to give Semiramis, the only female ruler of the Assyrian Empire, a voice, charting her captivating ascent to a throne no one promised her.
What are your reading this week? (12-12-2024)
I finished Babylonia, by Costanza Casati yesterday for the upcoming BookBrowse discussion. I thought it was much stronger than her previous book, Clytemnestra , and I'm looking forward to having a chance to talk about it with others. Next up is Let's Call Her Barbie, also for a BookBrowse discuss...
-kim.kovacs
Which authors should we interview?
I just finished Babylonia for the BookBrowse discussion (it was excellent, BTW). I'd love to hear more from the author, Costanza Casati, for starters, how she stumbled on this historical figure & what made her want to write about her.
-kim.kovacs
"Casati chronicles the ruthless rise of Assyrian queen Semiramis in this masterful saga...No matter how much cruelty Semiramis dispenses, Casati never loses sight of what drives her heroine to achieve a status where she need not obey anyone else. Admirers of Robert Graves's Claudius novels will be riveted." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"There is an entrancing quality to Costanza Casati's writing that transports us to other worlds and past times, then holds us there―willingly enmeshed in story―until the final page is turned. Reading Babylonia is like reading an enchantment on the page, in which the unfathomable heroines of legend and history become living people, who suffer, bleed, dare, and love; they carve out their space in our hearts, and in our shared humanity." ―Annie Garthwaite, author of Cecily
"A stirring, addictive and intoxicating tale with a deft weaving of myth and history. Emotionally rich and lyrically genius, Babylonia cements Costanza Casati as one of the most skilled and exciting writers of historical fiction, bringing an incomparable vibrance to the genre. An incredible novel." ―Bea Fitzgerald, bestselling author of Girl, Goddess, Queen
"Babylonia was, in short, a vicious delight. With the resplendent prose that truly distinguishes her work, Casati plunges us into an untapped age of antiquity. In doing so, she also draws us into a world of intrigue, beauty, and necessary ruthlessness in the name of power. Readers will revel in the tale of the enigmatic Semiramis from its first page to its last. This is a story richly rendered and utterly captivating." ―Ayana Gray, New York Times bestselling author
This information about Babylonia was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Arianna Genghini
Costanza Casati was born in Texas and grew up in a village in Northern Italy, where she studied Ancient Greek, and Ancient Greek literature, under one of the country's most rigorous academic programmes. She is a graduate of the prestigious Warwick Writing MA in the UK, and has worked as a screenwriter and journalist. Her debut novel, Clytemnestra, was a Saturday Times bestseller and shortlisted for the HWA Debut Crown Award. Babylonia, set in the fierce world of the Assyrian Empire, is her second novel.
Name Pronunciation
Costanza Casati: koh-STAN-zuh kuh-ZAH-tee
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