BKMT READING GUIDES
A. D. 62: Pompeii
by Rebecca East
Paperback : 292 pages
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2 members have read this book
Introduction
A twenty-first century woman is stranded in first century Pompeii when a time travel experiment goes awry; she is sold to a wealthy family as a house slave. This provides her with an intimate, upstairs/downstairs perspective on household life in ancient times. At first she does menial work, but she improves her situation by telling stories and making prophecies. As her influence grows, she wins the love of her master and his daughter and provokes the vengeful jealousy of his wife.
In this gentle fable about the power of stories to change people's lives, the heroine uses sources that include fairy tales and great works of literature to argue for women's rights and the humanity of slaves, and to inspire herself and others to be resourceful, courageous and independent. Miranda's own life becomes as mythic as the stories she tells. In a narrative that is part adventure, part romance, and part fantasy, the heroine triumphs over adversity and makes a place for herself in the world of the past.
Excerpt
Excerpts from Reviews:1. Midwest Book Review, April 2003: A.D. 62: Pompeii is an engaging time-travel novel about a twenty-first century woman who is sent to first century Pompeii when a time travel experiment fails to work as planned. Adopted into a wealthy family as a house slave, Miranda manages to improve her lot through telling stories, yet the master's wife becomes jealous and plots vengeance against her. Superbly written, A.D. 62: Pompeii is a compelling and imaginative saga of romance, adaptation, and adventure. ... view entire excerpt...
Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions for: A. D. 62: Pompeii by Rebecca East1. Why does Miranda feel so out of place in the modern world? What is she looking for at the beginning of her journey?
2. If you could escape to another time, or another place – what era, or what culture, would you choose? Why?
3. Early in the story, Demetrius becomes Miranda’s informant and guide. Did their relationship develop in the way that you expected?
4. Why is the cutting off of Miranda’s hair significant? How does this event help to establish her status in the household, and her relationships with other women in the household?
5. Miranda struggles with two issues in her relationship with Marcus: the slave/ master relationship involves intimacy, but it also involves an extreme inequality of power. How does she feel about this inequality? What other kinds of relationships involve inequalities of power along with intimacy? What relationship problems arise when there is an inequality of power?
6. Did you feel that this story ignored or minimized many of the problems of slavery? (Another time travel novel about slavery is Olivia Butler’s “Kindred”; the heroine of that novel has much more painful experiences as a slave).
7. In many respects this novel is a “fairy tale for grownups”, that is, it uses storytelling conventions that are familiar from childhood fairy tales. What features of this story reminded you of fairy tales?
8. There are numerous stories within this story. How does the story of Dick Whittington’s Cat foreshadow events in Miranda’s own life? What messages does Miranda try to convey when she tells her master the Hans Christian Anderson story of The Nightingale? The legend of the Selkies? Is Marcus always receptive to these messages?
9. What thematic repetitions occur in the story? (For example, what types of rings are used throughout the story to symbolize different types of relationships? In what ways is Miranda a “daughter of Neptune”?)
10. In the end, did Miranda find what she was searching for? Is she ambivalent about her decision? Did the end of the story seem natural to you? Why or why not? What choice would you make, if you were in Miranda’s situation?
Notes From the Author to the Bookclub
Rebecca Brown’s eInterview with Rebecca East at www.rebeccasreads.com http://www.rebeccasreads.com/interviews/authors/061503_east_interview.html Rebecca The Editor: The setting of your book (which I thoroughly enjoyed!) is Pompeii, just before Mount Vesuvius blew. Have you seen Pompeii and what was it like? Rebecca East: Most parts of Pompeii are just the skeleton of a city: streets and walls and doorways. It’s crowded with tourists and stray dogs, and choked with weeds and dust. Unfortunately, the ruins are gradually being destroyed by exposure to the weather, and souvenir takers, and the wear and tear of more than two million pairs of feet a year. And yet there are places that are absolutely magic: you enter a courtyard and see a mural of Venus, and a few shrubs and plants, and from that you can picture what it must have looked like when people lived there. I found it helpful to bring along books such as the “Then and Now” picture books, that pair a photograph of the ruins as they look today with an overlay painting that reconstructs what was once there. I’ve visited three times, and I haven’t seen everything yet; many of the houses are locked and off limits to visitors; all you can do is peer through the gates. In some respects, a visit to Ostia is more rewarding; that’s the old port of Rome. Ostia is less popular with tourists and some of the buildings are in better condition. The material that made Pompeii truly wonderful as an archaeological find—the artifacts of everyday life such as dishes, jewelry, tools—was mostly taken to museums. Rebecca The Editor: When did your story appear to you and how long did it take you to write it? Rebecca East: Like many people, I’ve always wanted to write a novel; but I never had a story to tell before. Several things came together. My husband was teasing me; I spoke of wishing to go back in time to see Pompeii in its heyday, and he said “A little woman like you wouldn’t last a day in the ancient world.” That got me started thinking: what would it take to survive? I also overheard a woman in the bookshop at the gate to the Pompeii excavation; they sell many scholarly books about archaeology, but not much to answer the question she asked: “What did they do in those houses?” My first visit inspired me to start collecting books about the ancient world, and the details about daily life fascinated me; and I wanted to weave that information into the story. The story didn’t appear to me all at once: I started with the beginning (a female time traveler stranded in Pompeii) and the end (which I won’t reveal here), and then tried to imagine the events that would lead from one to the other. Often I was stuck. I would be out taking a walk, or digging in the garden, and suddenly I would see a scene (such as the one in which Miranda’s hair is cut off). Then I ran back to the word processor to write it out in detail. Then I needed to decide where each scene belonged in the sequence of events. I did a lot of rewriting and rearranging. Most of the writing was complete after about a year and a half of nights, weekends and holidays. I have no idea how many hours went into the project: certainly a great many! Rebecca The Editor: In this time travel adventure, modern Miranda wishes she were a heroine. What qualities does a woman from the present have to have to be a heroine in the past? Rebecca East: She needs the courage to face the unknown and to ask more of herself than she previously thought she could do; and willingness to learn from her mistakes. Gradually, Miranda became less self–centered and more concerned with the welfare of others. These are the same qualities it takes to be a heroine in any time period, I think. Rebecca The Editor: What do you think is the one reality modern women would have the most trouble with living in that day and age? Rebecca East: Slavery was something people took for granted in the ancient world. Many slaves had miserable lives of overwork, beating, malnutrition, and misery. But, as Miranda realizes in her musings: we haven’t entirely gotten rid of those evils in the modern world, either. Rebecca The Editor: Yes, 9–5ers are slaves to the paycheck, and whole countries are riddled with violence and malnutrition just so some elite can live in luxury. What do you think is the one thing from that long–ago time we could do well to remember? Rebecca East: The Romans wrote, and built, with posterity in mind; they wanted the things that they created to last forever. and in fact, there is a Roman aqueduct near Segovia that still provides some of that city’s water; there are Roman roads still in use; and we still read the words of Cicero, Catullus, and many other writers from that period. By contrast, much of what we modern people build is intended to wear out quickly: our roads and houses have design life times of 30 to 50 years. We are a throw–away society, and quite wasteful. I think we might do well to think about the future more than we do; and to act, and build, and write, in the hope of leaving something of value for the people who come after us. Rebecca The Editor: In England, where I came up, there are still Roman aqueduct bridges and portions of Roman roads to see. What would you like readers take away from your story? Rebecca East: I’d like readers to come away with a sense that the stories we believe in can become self-fulfilling prophecies. Miranda tells the story of Dick Whittington’s cat early on; it’s a story about a servant who works hard and eventually finds success and love. She doesn’t realize it at the time, but that story foreshadows her own life. Of course, having a dream is just the beginning; things don’t happen by themselves; we have to do things to make our dreams come true. But having a vision of where we want to go and what we want to be can help us to make things happen. Rebecca The Editor: Are you at work on another book? Rebecca East: Yes, I have several stories in mind. One set of stories follows Marcus and Miranda through the events of the next several years: the great fire in Rome, the year of four emperors, and the eruption of Vesuvius. I have ideas for other stories that are straight historical fiction (without time travel). Writing fiction was hard work, of course, as any writer will tell you. But it was also enormous fun. As I write the story unfolds for me and it’s often a surprise to see what develops. I can hardly wait to see what happens next! Rebecca The Editor: Oh good, a sequel! I look forward to it anticipation! Thanks Rebecca for a great eInterview! Readers, do catch my review of Rebecca East’s A.D. 62: Pompeii. If you’re anything like me, you’ve always wondered what living in the past might be like. Buy yourself a copy and enjoy this mature and thoughtful historical adventure. Rebecca The Editor (Published 06/15/03)Book Club Recommendations
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