The Last of the Wine: A Virago Modern Classic

Name: The Last of the Wine: A Virago Modern Classic
Rating: 4.5 (8 reviews)

Mary Renault

Aug 2015 · Hachette UK

8 reviews

Ebook

416

Pages

Eligible

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About this ebook

A VIVID, SWEEPING SAGA OF QUEER LOVE AND POLITICS IN ANCIENT GREECE, FROM THE QUEEN OF HISTORICAL FICTION, FOR FANS OF SONG OF ACHILLES AND THE ODYSSEY

'Renault's eye for intimacy is amazing' DOUGLAS STUART

'Arresting and beautiful and moving . . . decades ahead of its time' LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS

Your love made me. Do not take it away; for without love I am a temple forsaken by its god

Athens and Sparta, the mighty city states of ancient Greece, have been locked together in conflict for a quarter of a century. Alexias the Athenian comes of age in these turbulent times, as the golden age fractures into uncertainty and chaos. No longer protected by his family's noble status, he is drawn to the controversial teachings of Socrates - and to another of the philosopher's young followers, Lysis.

The two young men form a passionate bond, becoming both friends and lovers. Together, they learn to hunt and to love, to debate and to wrestle, to grapple with family and loyalty. But all the while, fate leads Alexias to the moment he must stand alongside Lysis in the last great battle of the Peloponnesian War.

'A remarkable novel, vivid and moving . . . a glowing work of art' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

'Of her Greek fictions, The Last of the Wine [is] her most moving' EMMA DONOGHUE

A VIVID, SWEEPING SAGA OF QUEER LOVE AND POLITICS IN ANCIENT GREECE, FROM THE QUEEN OF HISTORICAL FICTION, FOR FANS OF SONG OF ACHILLES AND THE ODYSSEY 'Renault's eye for intimacy is amazing' DOUGLAS STUART 'Arresting and beautiful and moving . . . decades ahead of its time' LONDON REVIEW OF BOO...

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Ratings and reviews

8 reviews

J D

November 13, 2017

A wonderful book, full of feeling. Some of the writing conventions may be difficult for the modern reader, and also how much is left unsaid. Not a beginner's book, but for an accomplished reader very satisfying, and heartbreaking. All the relationships are fraught with tragedy, and all the more poignant for it. An excellent book, thick with historical veracity and some romantic licence.

Thato M

December 5, 2022

Felt like I was among the greeks

About the author

Mary Renault (1905-1983) was born in London and educated at St Hughs, Oxford. She trained as a nurse at Oxford's Radcliffe Infirmary, where she met her lifelong partner, Julie Mullard. Her first novel, Purposes of Love, was published in 1937. In 1948, after North Face won a MGM prize worth $150,000, she and Mullard emigrated to South Africa. There, Renault was able to write forthrightly about homosexual relationships for the first time - in her masterpiece, The Charioteer (1953), and then in her first historical novel, The Last of the Wine (1956). Renault's vivid novels set in the ancient world brought her worldwide fame. In 2010 Fire From Heaven was shortlisted for the Lost Booker of 1970.

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